Elenor Roosevet

I was born on October 11, 1884 in New York City to Elliot Roosevelt and Anna Hall. My father was the brother of Theodore Roosevelt, who would eventually become president. My family was wealthy, but I was emotionally deprived. My mother was cold and disapproving. My father was an alcoholic and was in and out of my life. My mother died when I was eight years old, and my father died two years later. My two brothers and I went to live with my grandmother. At age fifteen, I was sent to a "finishing school" in England called Allenswood. While I was in school in England, I began to develop a social conscience I would not forget when I returned home.

When I returned to New York City, I was not interested in the debutante parties and social events of high society. At age seventeen, I began volunteering at a Lower East side settlement house. At age eighteen, I joined the National Consumer's League. The goal of this league was to obtain health and safety for workers- especially women in clothing factories and sweatshops. I saw the misery of the working poor and this helped me develop a life-long commitment to their needs.

I married my distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt on March 17, 1905. I had six children of whom five survived. As a young wife and mother, I focused on helping my husband further his political career, while caring for my family.

When America entered WWI in 1917, I began to show the public side of my personality. I took charge of Red Cross activities and spoke at patriotic rallies. My interest in social welfare drove me to fight to improve conditions at St. Elizabeth's mental hospital. I made numerous visits to wounded soldiers. In 1920, my family and I moved back to New York City. I became active in the League of Women Voters. After I got married, I was initially opposed to women's suffrage- thinking it was inconsistent with a woman's proper role. Now, as the coordinator of the League's legislative program, I kept track of the bills that came before Albany legislature, drafted laws providing for equal representation for men and women, and worked on the league's lobbying activities.

In 1921, I joined the Women's Trade Union League, of which Lillian Wald was one of the founders. I worked for programs such as the regulation of maximum hours and minimum wages for women. I became friends with first and second generation immigrants, which showed how far I had moved from the upper-class background I was born into.

In the summer of 1921, while on vacation, my husband was paralyzed from the waist down by polio. I was determined to maintain my husband's political ties, so I quickly learned public speaking and political organization. I became Franklin's eyes, ears and legs. I fought for equal pay legislation and the child labor amendment.

By 1928, I was no longer just a "political wife." My husband was elected as governor of N.Y. and I became his "legs." I inspected state hospitals, prisons and homes for the elderly. I worked to make sure that the Democratic Party appealed to minorities and to women. I used many strategies to promote my ideas. I dictated as many as one hundred letters a day, spoke to countless groups, and acted as an advocate for social reform and women's issues. I walked on picket lines and edited the Women's Democratic News. I toured the country repeatedly. I surveyed conditions in the local coal mines and visited relief projects.

When Franklin ran for president in 1932, I coordinated the activities of the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee. I worked with Molly Dewson, the head of this committee to appoint women to office. I helped to bring many women activists to Washington, such as Ellen Woodward and Florence Kerr- both of whom held executive offices.

When my husband became president in 1932, it would be the first of four terms he would serve. From the moment I entered into the White House, I made it obvious that I would not be a typical First Lady. As well as helping to appoint women to executive offices, I provided a forum for women to share their views. I began holding press conferences to which only women were allowed. This gave women a chance to get involved in politics.

I grew up in a racist, caste-minded society. By the time I reached the White House, I was one of the few voices in the administration that felt racial discrimination had no place in America. I led by example. At a 1939 Birmingham meeting inaugurating the Southern Conference on Human Welfare, I placed my chair so that it straddled both the black and white aisles. I was criticized by the local authorities because they insisted that segregation must continue. Also in 1939, I resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution after the organization denied Marian Anderson (a black singer) permission to perform at Constitution Hall. I also acted as a behind-the-scenes lobbyist for civil rights legislation. I was the primary advocate for an anti-lynching bill in the White House. Although I lost this campaign, I continued to be outspoken about civil rights.

I also reached out to the younger generation. In 1936 and 1940, I became involved in activities of the American Student Union and the American Youth Congress. I became involved with these groups even though White House aides told me not to trust my young friends. I encouraged young people to become socially and politically involved and joined with them as they did so.

When Jewish refugees were looking for a safe haven from Nazi persecution, they were not welcomed by the State Department. I intervened repeatedly. Despite the national sentiment, I worked to improve their situation.

My husband became less and less tolerant of my advocacy of unpopular causes. When I had gone too far, Franklin would just throw up his hands and say, "Well, that's my wife, and I can't be expected to do anything about her."

In response to the suffering caused by the Great Depression, my husband proposed The New Deal. I helped to develop some of the programs of this plan and strongly supported them. I had direct access to New Deal agencies through their administrators, and became an intermediary between them and the president. What the New Deal essentially did was transfer the financing of social services from the private sector to the public sector. I did my part to help people during the depression. For example, I helped create the National Youth Administration, which gave thousands of high school and college students

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