Early life and marriage

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884, in New York City. Her parents, Elliott and Anna Hall Roosevelt, both came from wealthy families, but Eleanor had a difficult childhood. She was very awkward and shy. By the time she was 10, both of her parents had died. She and her brother were raised by their grandmother, Mary Hall, a stern and proper woman. At 15 Eleanor was sent to Allenswood School in England. There the young woman gained self-confidence and came to realize that it was her mission to help others.

At 18 Eleanor returned to New York. In 1903 she became engaged to a very distant cousin, Franklin Roosevelt. She and Franklin were married in 1905. Eleanor was escorted up the aisle at the wedding ceremony by her father's older brother, President Theodore Roosevelt. Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt had six children, one of whom died in infancy.

Career

During World War I, when her husband was assistant secretary of the Navy, Eleanor worked with the Red Cross in Washington, D.C. After Franklin was stricken with polio in 1921, she inspired him to return to political life. Eleanor also taught at a girls' school that she and two friends had bought. While Franklin served as governor of New York from 1929 to 1933, Eleanor toured the state on his behalf and became active in the Democratic Party. In 1932 she helped her husband win the presidential election.

The Roosevelts entered the White House in 1933. It soon became clear that Eleanor was a new kind of first lady. Travel was difficult for Franklin, who had never fully regained the use of his legs after the polio attack. So Eleanor crisscrossed the nation in his place, acting as his eyes and ears. In one three-month period alone, she logged 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers)—speaking, visiting schools and factories, and talking with Americans from all walks of life. She delivered her husband's messages—and her own—through press conferences with women journalists and through her many writings, including a daily newspaper column.

Eleanor was a firm believer in the New Deal, which was a collection of government programs all aimed at lifting the country out of the Great Depression. In 1935 she organized the National Youth Administration, which created part-time jobs for millions of college students. She also helped launch projects to employ out-of-work writers, artists, musicians, and actors.

Wherever Eleanor saw suffering or unfairness, she tried to bring about change. She gave up her membership in an exclusive club called the Daughters of the American Revolution after the African American singer Marian Anderson was barred from performing in its auditorium.

Franklin Roosevelt went on to win second, third, and fourth terms as president. After the United States entered World War II in December 1941, Eleanor played a less active role in making policy. Nevertheless, she continued to travel, visiting U.S. troops in Great Britain and the South Pacific.

Later life

Franklin Roosevelt died in office in 1945, but Eleanor Roosevelt remained active in public affairs. In December 1945 she was named as a United States delegate to the newly founded United Nations (UN). As head of the UN Commission on Human Rights, she worked on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). She traveled widely during the 1950s, discussing social problems, labor issues, and government policies. She also continued to write books, magazine articles, and newspaper columns. Following a period of illness, Eleanor Roosevelt died of tuberculosis in New York City on November 7, 1962.