Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
Considered by many the most influential First Lady and one of the most significant American women of the 20th century, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt married her cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1905. Eleanor was timid and not involved in politics and competed with her mother-in-law for the attention of her husband. Her approach changed when Franklin was struck by polio in 1921. Thereafter she and F.D.R.'s campaign advisor Louis Howe coordinated efforts to cast Mr. Roosevelt as a national leader.
She realized the importance of the role of women in politics, organizing the Democratic national campaign for women in 1928 as her husband competed for the governorship of New York state. She politicized the plight of African-American men and women and working-class whites, supported the reform causes of Jane Addams and others, and promoted the political careers of women. During World War II she continued striving for civil rights, believing that people of all races have inviolate rights and that democracy in the United States could not exist as long as democracy was not extended to African-Americans. President Harry S. Truman appointed her as a delegate to the United Nations. She chaired the Human Rights Commission which drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on December 10, 1948. President John F. Kennedy appointed her to the United Nations and she chaired his Commission on the Status of Women.
Additional Information Can Be Found At...
Biography of Eleanor Roosevelt
A Biographical Sketch of Eleanor Roosevelt
Exhibit: Eleanor Roosevelt Letter
American Women! exhibit -- Eleanor Roosevelt
Encyclopedia Americana: Eleanor Roosevelt