A “poor” rich girl who became the most loveable first lady and the world’s most famous human activist.
Born in a wealthy family, Eleanor Roosevelt did not seem like someone who would have a troublesome life. As a daughter of a public figure in New York, Eleanor grew up in a very luxurious and comfortable house. Eleanor was well connected starting from his uncle, President Theodore Roosevelt and her parents: a famous playboy and a great hunter, and the most attractive newcomer in New York.
However, Eleanor was a very shy, physically stiff, and socially unusual girl. He was neglected by his mother, who was very disappointed with Eleanor’s innocence and attitude – Eleanor called her “grandma” in front of the guests. Eleanor was only 8 years old when her mother died because of diphtheria, and she could not rely on her father. He idolized the man who enjoyed having fun like her father, full of love and attention – if he had had the time. As an alcoholic, he once asked Eleanor to wait in front of a club to have a drink. Six hours later, she saw her father dragged out of the club, unconscious, by the waiter of the club and later called a taxi to take him home. Her father was kicked out of the house and kept drinking until he passed away not long after that.
Young Eleanor stayed with her grandmother where she had a more stabile life, yet; uncomfortable. She was not allowed to play, she was expected to be present at all time but not allowed to speak. Her aunts, uncles, and cousins – some of them were also alcoholics – did not have time for her. Because of the gloomy situation of her house she lived in, there were no friends wanted to visit her, so she could not adapt well with the social situation when she was a teenager. Her family was applying a strict Victorian regulation which made Eleanor did not have any space for her. She was caught between her own life, felt like an outsider among her friends and her own family.
Boarding school gave Eleanor a short and fun break from her depressing childhood. Eleanor’s headmaster saw her potential, and under his guidance, Eleanor became a school’s favorite, loved by both teachers and students. In three years time, she grew up, talked in front of the class, led sport’s organization, and even joined some sport activities. However this golden era was halted by Eleanor’s grandmother who brought her back to New York when she was 18 to blend in with the society. Eleanor was afraid and did not like the whole process. Everyone acknowledged her as the first woman in that family who would not be the woman of the year, that’s why she left that world behind. However, she kept fulfilling her obligations to attend social activities. She was usually given a seat next to older guests on banquets because she was known as a mature woman and able to communicate well.
During the first year of her debut, she joined the Junior League, a social organization for woman who fought for defending the society’s interest. She found her place in the society; she underestimated all the charity parties that were attended by most women at that time and drowned herself in many physical works. In times when women were not allowed to leave their social societies, Eleanor was willing to go to a poor area on Lower East Side, New York City to give instructions about home for women immigrants. Moved by the place where all those women worked, she joined the Consumer’s League, who visited factories to observe their working condition. Eleanor was sad to see women who worked 14 hours a day, including 4 year olds. There was something about these immigrants’ condition that moved her.
Fortunately, she was able to share her experience with a new friend. She met her fifth cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt in her social society and invited him to accompany her in a charity event. Franklin was amazed with Eleanor’s intelligence and kindness. He was also deeply moved by the poverty that he witnessed. It was the experience that brought him all the way to the White House; this was not the first time Eleanor introduced Franklin to important matters or invisible suffering.
Eleanor and Franklin’s marriage finally made her found the right one in terms of intellectual, however she felt the pressure of her new role as a wife and a mother. After getting married, she felt that she had fewer options. The role as a mother of five children was not easy for Eleanor; she was not good at positive parenting. She was depressed. Franklin’s mother, who enjoyed making all the decisions for them, even asked to live side by side in with them in New York. Eleanor was afraid that if she agreed to it, she would become a person like they wanted, especially by letting their taste and interest dominated her. Because she resisted the way her mother in law was treating her, she was disclosed to her husband. This made the rumor about the affair between her husband and her secretary becoming difficult to deal with. She asked for a divorce, but her husband refused and tried to consolidate their wedding. Since then, their wedding was merely a matter political relationship.
Their relationship faced its toughest challenge when Franklin was suffering from polio. Paralyzed from the hip down, he was forced to let go of his political career which was on the rise and spent most of his time in rehabilitation center. Besides taking care of her sick husband, Eleanor had to take her husband’s responsibility as the head of the family. She became a mother and a father for their children; she even learned how to swim so she could teach the children and took their son to go camping in the Canadian jungle. She also decided to deal with her mother in law who insisted on taking care of Franklin.
Later in her life, Eleanor encouraged many people by saying, “You must do the things that you think is impossible,” this words might have been her turning point. One thing that Franklin needed was Eleanor’s efforts as an active lobbyer for Franklin’s political aspiration. After accompanying her husband in his campaign, and her success as a volunteer during the war for the Red Cross and League of Women Voter, Eleanor temporarily got involved in politics. Once stunned by the idea of voting right for women, she joined the women division of the Democrat Party state of New York, the place where she overcome her shyness to speak in front of public and developed a new chapter for women. Remembering her days at Lower East Side, she got involved in labor problem; working on shorter work duration and prohibition for employing children. She did interviews and wrote articles in newspapers and magazines, and soon after that Roosevelt’s name was related with progress. Eleanor wrote that Franklin’s polio “was proven as a hope in despair, because that disease gave Franklin the strength and courage that he never had before”. It gave Eleanor the same strength and courage too.
She was trying to maintain Franklin’s campaign until he was healthy enough to become a candidate for governor. After winning, he was elected once more with the largest number of electors on that state; presidency was only a matter of time, and Franklin’s victory was inevitable. Eleanor felt worried about moving to the White House; at that time she had learned about her own ability; she did not want to lose her right to speak and take actions. However, she was the governor’s wife; she became Franklin’s closest advisor-his eyes, ears, and feet to travel around the country and the world, to see things that could not be seen by Franklin.
Since she was travelling a lot, she received the name “Everywhere Eleanor”. She wrote articles in daily newspaper, held a press conference for a press company who run by women, and was teaching. She went to a slum area in Puerto Rico, coal mine in Appalachia, and farm development in the South. When World War II occurred and bombings happened everywhere, she flew to check out the soldiers’ condition in some of the most dangerous places in the Pacific battlefield; wearing a Red Cross uniform to visit the wounded.
Although she did not get much support from her husband, Eleanor worked hard as a defendant of the civil rights at that time, condemned discrimination, and spread the law of segregation on her visit to the South. When Daughter of The American Revolution did not allow an African-American woman opera singer, Maria Anderson, to perform in their auditorium, Mrs. Roosevelt resigned from the organization. Then she held a free concert at the Lincoln Memorial and was attended by 75.000 people. As a result of her neglected childhood, she kept on focusing on neglected people-the poor, jobless, and abused people-and tried hard to create a significant change in their lives. New Deal could even be
translated as her needs for focusing on neglected people in worldwide scale.
Eleanor kept her position as an advisor for the presidents even after Franklin had passed away. President Truman acknowledged his victory by choosing Eleanor as USA Delegation for the United Nations. As a leader in the commission of Human Rights in the United Nations, she helped perfecting the Law of Human Rights, the document which contains statements of civil rights in the world. By the time Mrs. Roosevelt passed away in 1962, she was elected as the most admired woman in America for 11 years consecutively. It was an honor that has no comparison even until now.
Born in a wealthy family, Eleanor Roosevelt did not seem like someone who would have a troublesome life. As a daughter of a public figure in New York, Eleanor grew up in a very luxurious and comfortable house. Eleanor was well connected starting from his uncle, President Theodore Roosevelt and her parents: a famous playboy and a great hunter, and the most attractive newcomer in New York.
However, Eleanor was a very shy, physically stiff, and socially unusual girl. He was neglected by his mother, who was very disappointed with Eleanor’s innocence and attitude – Eleanor called her “grandma” in front of the guests. Eleanor was only 8 years old when her mother died because of diphtheria, and she could not rely on her father. He idolized the man who enjoyed having fun like her father, full of love and attention – if he had had the time. As an alcoholic, he once asked Eleanor to wait in front of a club to have a drink. Six hours later, she saw her father dragged out of the club, unconscious, by the waiter of the club and later called a taxi to take him home. Her father was kicked out of the house and kept drinking until he passed away not long after that.
Young Eleanor stayed with her grandmother where she had a more stabile life, yet; uncomfortable. She was not allowed to play, she was expected to be present at all time but not allowed to speak. Her aunts, uncles, and cousins – some of them were also alcoholics – did not have time for her. Because of the gloomy situation of her house she lived in, there were no friends wanted to visit her, so she could not adapt well with the social situation when she was a teenager. Her family was applying a strict Victorian regulation which made Eleanor did not have any space for her. She was caught between her own life, felt like an outsider among her friends and her own family.
Boarding school gave Eleanor a short and fun break from her depressing childhood. Eleanor’s headmaster saw her potential, and under his guidance, Eleanor became a school’s favorite, loved by both teachers and students. In three years time, she grew up, talked in front of the class, led sport’s organization, and even joined some sport activities. However this golden era was halted by Eleanor’s grandmother who brought her back to New York when she was 18 to blend in with the society. Eleanor was afraid and did not like the whole process. Everyone acknowledged her as the first woman in that family who would not be the woman of the year, that’s why she left that world behind. However, she kept fulfilling her obligations to attend social activities. She was usually given a seat next to older guests on banquets because she was known as a mature woman and able to communicate well.
During the first year of her debut, she joined the Junior League, a social organization for woman who fought for defending the society’s interest. She found her place in the society; she underestimated all the charity parties that were attended by most women at that time and drowned herself in many physical works. In times when women were not allowed to leave their social societies, Eleanor was willing to go to a poor area on Lower East Side, New York City to give instructions about home for women immigrants. Moved by the place where all those women worked, she joined the Consumer’s League, who visited factories to observe their working condition. Eleanor was sad to see women who worked 14 hours a day, including 4 year olds. There was something about these immigrants’ condition that moved her.
Fortunately, she was able to share her experience with a new friend. She met her fifth cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt in her social society and invited him to accompany her in a charity event. Franklin was amazed with Eleanor’s intelligence and kindness. He was also deeply moved by the poverty that he witnessed. It was the experience that brought him all the way to the White House; this was not the first time Eleanor introduced Franklin to important matters or invisible suffering.
Eleanor and Franklin’s marriage finally made her found the right one in terms of intellectual, however she felt the pressure of her new role as a wife and a mother. After getting married, she felt that she had fewer options. The role as a mother of five children was not easy for Eleanor; she was not good at positive parenting. She was depressed. Franklin’s mother, who enjoyed making all the decisions for them, even asked to live side by side in with them in New York. Eleanor was afraid that if she agreed to it, she would become a person like they wanted, especially by letting their taste and interest dominated her. Because she resisted the way her mother in law was treating her, she was disclosed to her husband. This made the rumor about the affair between her husband and her secretary becoming difficult to deal with. She asked for a divorce, but her husband refused and tried to consolidate their wedding. Since then, their wedding was merely a matter political relationship.
Their relationship faced its toughest challenge when Franklin was suffering from polio. Paralyzed from the hip down, he was forced to let go of his political career which was on the rise and spent most of his time in rehabilitation center. Besides taking care of her sick husband, Eleanor had to take her husband’s responsibility as the head of the family. She became a mother and a father for their children; she even learned how to swim so she could teach the children and took their son to go camping in the Canadian jungle. She also decided to deal with her mother in law who insisted on taking care of Franklin.
Later in her life, Eleanor encouraged many people by saying, “You must do the things that you think is impossible,” this words might have been her turning point. One thing that Franklin needed was Eleanor’s efforts as an active lobbyer for Franklin’s political aspiration. After accompanying her husband in his campaign, and her success as a volunteer during the war for the Red Cross and League of Women Voter, Eleanor temporarily got involved in politics. Once stunned by the idea of voting right for women, she joined the women division of the Democrat Party state of New York, the place where she overcome her shyness to speak in front of public and developed a new chapter for women. Remembering her days at Lower East Side, she got involved in labor problem; working on shorter work duration and prohibition for employing children. She did interviews and wrote articles in newspapers and magazines, and soon after that Roosevelt’s name was related with progress. Eleanor wrote that Franklin’s polio “was proven as a hope in despair, because that disease gave Franklin the strength and courage that he never had before”. It gave Eleanor the same strength and courage too.
She was trying to maintain Franklin’s campaign until he was healthy enough to become a candidate for governor. After winning, he was elected once more with the largest number of electors on that state; presidency was only a matter of time, and Franklin’s victory was inevitable. Eleanor felt worried about moving to the White House; at that time she had learned about her own ability; she did not want to lose her right to speak and take actions. However, she was the governor’s wife; she became Franklin’s closest advisor-his eyes, ears, and feet to travel around the country and the world, to see things that could not be seen by Franklin.
Since she was travelling a lot, she received the name “Everywhere Eleanor”. She wrote articles in daily newspaper, held a press conference for a press company who run by women, and was teaching. She went to a slum area in Puerto Rico, coal mine in Appalachia, and farm development in the South. When World War II occurred and bombings happened everywhere, she flew to check out the soldiers’ condition in some of the most dangerous places in the Pacific battlefield; wearing a Red Cross uniform to visit the wounded.
Although she did not get much support from her husband, Eleanor worked hard as a defendant of the civil rights at that time, condemned discrimination, and spread the law of segregation on her visit to the South. When Daughter of The American Revolution did not allow an African-American woman opera singer, Maria Anderson, to perform in their auditorium, Mrs. Roosevelt resigned from the organization. Then she held a free concert at the Lincoln Memorial and was attended by 75.000 people. As a result of her neglected childhood, she kept on focusing on neglected people-the poor, jobless, and abused people-and tried hard to create a significant change in their lives. New Deal could even be
translated as her needs for focusing on neglected people in worldwide scale.
Eleanor kept her position as an advisor for the presidents even after Franklin had passed away. President Truman acknowledged his victory by choosing Eleanor as USA Delegation for the United Nations. As a leader in the commission of Human Rights in the United Nations, she helped perfecting the Law of Human Rights, the document which contains statements of civil rights in the world. By the time Mrs. Roosevelt passed away in 1962, she was elected as the most admired woman in America for 11 years consecutively. It was an honor that has no comparison even until now.
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