Don’t Miss “Words Between Two Reformers: Mary McLeod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt” Precursor to Black Heritage Festival


Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt:

First Lady of the World by June Hopkins, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and

Head of the History

Department Armstrong Atlantic State

University

Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the best-known and most recognized figures of the 20th century, served her country as first lady during the two major crises of the 20th century: the Great Depression and the Second World War.

During her tenure (1933-1945), the longest and probably the most controversial of any, she redefined the role of first lady by wielding an unprecedented amount of political influence. Eleanor used her name, her position, and the political power she had amassed over the previous decade to initiate changes that she hoped would lead to a more egalitarian nation.

After President Franklin Roosevelt died, Eleanor remained an active politician, a human rights activist, and a journalist. During her lifetime, this remarkable woman wrote 27 books, more than 400 articles, and 8,000 newspaper columns. During the height of her political activity, each year she wrote about 21,000 letters and made 75 speeches. Her background suited her well to take advantage of the opportunities presented to her.

Born in 1884 into a world of privilege and wealth in New York, she nevertheless had a difficult childhood. Her much-loved father was an alcoholic; her mother was a great beauty who paid little attention to her rather plain daughter. By the time Eleanor was 10, both parents had died. The one bright spot in Eleanor’s young life was her time at Allenswood School, a private school for girls in England, where she flourished under the tutelage of Headmistress Marie Souvestre.

There, Eleanor learned that people must act on their beliefs and that individual action can improve social conditions. Eleanor returned to New York when she was 18 and began to practice what she had learned. She joined the Women’s Trade Union League and the National Consumers’ League and she worked at the University Settlement House in New York City’s Lower East Side.

She married her distant cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, on St. Patrick’s Day 1905 – her uncle, President Theodore Roosevelt, escorted her down the aisle. Between 1905 and 1916, Eleanor and FDR had six children; five lived. During these years, Eleanor tended to her domestic duties while FDR built a political career. However, she consistently felt torn between the claims her family made on her and her impulses to participate in the wider world of social reform during the Progressive era.

When President Woodrow Wilson appointed her husband assistant secretary of the Navy in 1913, Eleanor began to emerge from the domestic sphere and launched her political life in Washington, D.C. During the years of the Great War, she worked for the Red Cross and became involved in the peace movement. After the war, she had to deal with two personal crises. In 1918 she discovered her husband was having an affair with her private secretary, Lucy Mercer. While this devastated her, it also set her on a new path of political activism within the Democratic Party.

In 1921, her husband contracted polio and became a paraplegic. This, of course, changed the family’s life drastically. But, while Franklin Roosevelt sought to recover from his disease, Eleanor Roosevelt went about building an influential network of Democratic women who played an active part in New York State politics.

Towards the end of the decade, Eleanor encouraged her husband to resume his political career, despite his disability. When FDR was elected governor of New York in 1928, Eleanor (ironically) found that she had to curtail some of her own political activities. But she learned to operate very effectively behind the scenes. In Albany, Eleanor perfected the use of informal power and this became a skill that later was invaluable to her as first lady. When FDR was inaugurated president in 1933, during the depth of the Great Depression, Eleanor advocated tirelessly for destitute Americans, the vast army of unemployed men and women. She went out to see for herself how people were coping with the Depression, to see what they needed. This is when she earned the nickname, “Eleanor Everywhere.” She had the president’s ear and she pushed the administration to take a more active role in ensuring racial equality. She had enough political savvy as well as the political clout to shape much of the New Deal’s social policy.

When war broke out in Europe, the first lady supported peace and internationalism. But when the U.S. entered World War II in late 1941, she threw her efforts behind the fight against fascism. During the war years she traveled around the world, visiting troops, and always she carried with her a printed prayer that said: “Dear Lord, lest I continue in my complacent ways, help me to remember that somewhere someone died for me today and help me to remember to ask, am I worth dying for.” World War II only reinforced Eleanor’s commitment to social justice and a fully inclusive democracy in America and elsewhere.

After FDR died in April 1945, Eleanor emerged as a political powerhouse. President Harry S. Truman named her as a delegate to the UN General Assembly. As chair of the Commission on Human Rights, Eleanor helped author the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an effort she considered the crowning achievement of her political career. She influenced U.S. foreign policy during the early Cold War years; she fought against the tactics of Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare of the late 40s and early 50s; she participated actively in the presidential campaigns of ‘52, ‘56 and ’60; and she increased her efforts to ensure that African Americans would enjoy full political and economic citizenship. Eleanor Roosevelt died in 1962 and left behind a rich legacy that included a commitment to human rights and a belief that America has a responsibility to protect freedom and democracy worldwide and to ensure a life of decency and dignity for all people. Her life was a mixture of sharp-edged political activism and heartfelt compassion for the marginalized and dispossessed. Her life is an inspiration for anyone who has faith in the power of human achievement. * * * * * * * * * * *

The life of Eleanor Roosevelt will be explored during “Words Between Two Reformers: Mary McLeod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt,” which will be presented as a precursor to the 22nd annual Savannah Black Heritage Festival at 7 p.m., Sat., Jan. 22, at the Armstrong Atlantic State University Fine Arts auditorium.

Stage and film actress Linda Kenyon will portray Roosevelt, while Ysaye Barnwell of Sweet Honey in the Rock fame will play Mary McLeod Bethune in this original theatrical work written and produced by Jewell Robinson. The event is free and open to the public. The Savannah Black Heritage Festival is presented by the city of Savannah and Savannah State University. The 2011 celebratory theme is “Our Culture is Our Journey.” For additional schedule information, visit www.savannahblackheritagefestival.com .


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