After Roosevelt became president, his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt became famous for dramatically altering the role of First Lady. She was the first First Lady to hold a press conference and held many, despite the outcry from critics. Due to the exclusion of women in press conferences at the time, she only allowed women to attend. She was excellent at getting her opinions heard and had her own newspaper column called “My Day” which she wrote from 1935 until her death.
Eleanor also traveled around the nation to visit relief projects and to see working and living conditions of citizens. After her travels she would then report what she saw back to her husband. She was well known for providing important information to the president and was often referred to as “the President’s eyes, ears and legs”.
She stood strongly against and spoke out against racial discrimination. In 1939, when the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let an African American singer perform at their event, Eleanor withdrew her membership.
During World War II she made time to visit American troops abroad in order to boost their morale. She also went to see troops in England and the South Pacific to help increase relations between the Allies. Not only did she do these things as First lady during the war, she also held the first government position ever held by a First Lady. From 1941 to 1942 she served as Assistant Director of Civilian Defense. Although she had to step down after being criticized in the media, she was still able to support and help many volunteer programs on the home front while she served.
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/education/resources/bio_er.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Eleanor_Roosevelt.aspx
This is such and interesting post, Kim! I was interested in her newspaper column "My Day" so I looked up a sample. In June 1931, she published an editorial in "The Parent's Magazine" titled "Building Character". She writes about the developing relationship between parents and children and what happens when children resist authority. She urges children to make their own mistakes and learn from them and for parents not to safeguard their children so much... (interesting!). I wonder if there are any personal experiences she thought about while writing this piece. It's quite curious if you'd like to take a look!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/documents/articles/buildingcharacter_img.cfm
I absolute love Eleanor Roosevelt and I'm so glad you made this post about her Kim. I also want to add that she made huge contributions to the world after Franklin died, with her work in the United Nations.
ReplyDeleteIn the United Nations, Eleanor, having been elected to the Assembly by President Truman, served as the chair of the Human Rights Commission. Like Kim said above, Eleanor Roosevelt was devoted to the rights of the minorities. After much campaigning, and speaking, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. This document declared that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Later, President Kennedy appointed her the chair of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women. Roosevelt was a highly recognized leader of the equality and protection for all.
source: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/education/resources/bio_er.html
Thanks for the post Kim! This really got me interested with her work after FDR's office, not only with the United Nations, but within the United States. Most noteable her work trying to take down Tammany Hall boss Carmine DeSapio. She was angered when her son, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. lost the election for New York attorney general due to DeSapio and the boss system. DeSapio had lead a revial of Tammany Hall. Eleanor along with Herbert Lehman and Thomas Finletter created the New York Committee of Democratic voters to reduce DeSapio's influence. The committee successfully removed him from power thus marking the end of Tammany Hall and the boss system in New York.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/mep/displaydoc.cfm?docid=erpn-cardes
Thanks Kim for the great post! After reading your post, I remembered hearing that Ms. Roosevelt was one of the first "First Ladies", meaning she was one the first First Ladies who actually participated in political affairs and wasn't sidelined by her husband, like shown above in the comments and your post. She changed the role of the First Lady from just a bench warmer to not even a supporter but also a key player in the affairs of the country. We can see this change today in how Ms. Obama interacts with the public. She like Ms. Roosevelt uses the access created by being the First Lady to try to get her views across. For Ms. Roosevelt it was the rights of women, children, and humans in general and for Ms. Obama it is attempting to fix the problem of obesity and fast food in America.
ReplyDeleteSources:
Deletehttp://www.biography.com/people/eleanor-roosevelt-9463366#early-life
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/first-ladies/eleanorroosevelt
http://www.history.com/topics/first-ladies/eleanor-roosevelt
Ugh thank you so much!! I've always been a huge fan of Eleanor Roosevelt (she's on my wall of inspiration women in my room lol) and it's really cool to see a summary of her accomplishments written out like this. I was wondering if you had more information available about how her acts have influenced the First Ladies who would come after her?
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post! I researched her a little bit more and found out that she was not someone who enjoyed sitting back and watching her husband have all the fun. As it turned out, she actually rode in an airplane with Amelia Earhart and was promised lessons by her as well. After her flight she got her learners' permit. Although, she never got her lessons because Earhart went missing in 1937. That is why both FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt put out a massive search party for her (costing $4 million) but she was never found, and Eleanor never got her lessons.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-roosevelts
DeleteGreat post Kim! Eleanor Roosevelt connects very well with present day first lady, Michelle Obama. Like Eleanor, Michelle Obama is a very active first lady, and had taken initiatives to promote organic foods and fighting childhood obesity. Like Eleanor fought for equal rights for Africa Americans, Michelle is fighting for equal marriage rights for LGBT.
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http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/first-lady-michelle-obama
Unfortunately FDR had an affair with Lucy Mercer, Eleanor's social secretary, and that almost led to a divorce between the Roosevelts. Eleanor stayed with Franklin simply for convenience and also to save face - a divorce would have greatly tarnished FDR's image as the president. However the affair was never released to the public, even though FDR continued to see Mercer. Eleanor was definitely a very strong woman, as she continued to work hard for several causes and wrote her column until her death.
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