Wikigender > Wikis > Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt

Etc.

<p>Eleanor Roosevelt was First Lady of the [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in the Gender Equality in the Gender Equality in the United States of America of America of America|Gender Equality in the United States of America of America"] from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her [Image infos="Roosevelt.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Statue_of_Eleanor_Roosevelt_at_the_Franklin_D._Roosevelt_memorial,_Washington"]husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and was a vocal advocate for the African-American civil rights movement. Prominent in promoting human rights, Roosevelt was the delegate to the United Nations from 1945-1953, and 1961-62 where she played a leading role in the drafting of the Declaration of Human Rights (1948).&nbsp; She worked to enhance the status of working women, and was Chair of President Kennedy's Commission on Women.<br /> 
</p>
<div id="toc"><h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_early-life-and-education"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Early Life and Education</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_marriage-to-roosevelt"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Marriage to Roosevelt</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_political-involvement-1920s"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Political Involvement - 1920s</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_first-lady-of-the-usa-1933-1945"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">First Lady of the USA 1933-1945</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_united-nations"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">United Nations</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_references"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_see-also"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">See Also</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div><h2 id="w_early-life-and-education">Early Life and Education<br /></h2>
<p>Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 11, 1884. Her family was well-connected and part of New York's high society. Her childhood was marked by sadness, however: her mother died of diptheria when she was 8 and her father was confined to a sanitorium on account of alcoholism. She was raised subsequently by her maternal grandmother. Roosevelt was tutored privately and at the age of 15, she was sent to Allenswood Academy, an English finishing school. <br /> 
</p>
<h2 id="w_marriage-to-roosevelt">Marriage to Roosevelt<br /></h2>
<p>Eleanor met her future husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, (a fifth cousin once removed) at an event organised by her uncle, the then US President, Theodore Roosevelt, in 1903. They were engaged the following year, despite the protests of Franklin D. Roosevelt's mother. They were married in 1904, with Theodore Roosevelt giving her away, thereby attracting national attention to the wedding. Prior to her marriage, Eleanor began working as a social worker in the slums of New York. The couple had six children together; one child died in infancy.<br /> 
</p>
<h2 id="w_political-involvement-1920s">Political Involvement - 1920s<br /></h2>
<p>During the 1920s, Eleanor Roosevelt started working with the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL), raising funds in support of the union's goals: a 48-hour work week, minimum wage, and the abolition of child labor. Throughout the 1920s, Eleanor became increasingly influential as a leader in the New York State Democratic Party. In 1924, she actively campaigned for Alfred E. Smith in his successful re-election bid as governor of New York State. She was also influential in the campaign that led to her husband's election as Governor of New York in 1932. Due to her husband's paralysis (in 1921, thought at the time to be due to polio), Eleanor Roosevelt began to represent him in public events.<br /> 
</p><p>She also taught literature and American history at the Todhunter School for Girls, now the Dalton School, in New York City.<br /> 
</p>
<h2 id="w_first-lady-of-the-usa-1933-1945">First Lady of the USA 1933-1945<br /></h2>
<p>Determined to lead a public life as First Lady, unlike her aunt Edith Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt became the first First Lady to hold weekly press conferences and started writing a syndicated newspaper column, "My Day". She was also active in African Americans civil rights movement, speaking against discrimination. During World War II, she supported the Tuskegee Airmen in their successful effort to become the first black combat pilots, flying with one student for one hour. In 1939, she defied segregation laws when she sat between whites and blacks at the Southern Conference for Human Welfare in Birmingham, Alabama; She arranged for Marian Anderson, a famous black singer, to sing at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday.<br /> 
</p>
<h2 id="w_united-nations">United Nations<br /></h2>
<p>Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed by U.S. President Harry S. Truman as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1945. Along with René Cassin, John Peters Humphrey and others, Roosevelt as involved in drafting the UN [Pagelink infos="Universal Declaration of Human Rights|Universal Declaration of Human Rights"] (1948). Roosevelt served as the first chairperson of the UN Human Rights Commission. Resigning in 1953 from the position of delegate, she was re-appointed in 1962-62 again by President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy also appoints her Chair of the President's Commission on the Status of Women, an organisation credited with launching the 'second-wave' of [Pagelink infos="Feminism|feminism."]<br /> 
</p><p>Roosevelt died in November 1962 in New York. 
</p>
<h2 id="w_references">References</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Roosevelt" alt="Wikipedia Page">Wikipedia Page</a><br /> 
</li><li><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/first_ladies/eleanorroosevelt/" alt="White House Page">White House Page</a><br /> 
</li><li><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eleanor/timeline/index_3.html" alt="PBS Timeline">PBS Timeline</a><br />
</li></ul>
<h2 id="w_see-also">See Also</h2>
<ul><li>[Pagelink infos="Female Heads of State|Female Heads of State"]
</li><li>[Pagelink infos="Hillary Rodham Clinton|Hillary Clinton"]
</li><li>[Pagelink infos="Universal Declaration of Human Rights|Universal Declaration of Human Rights"]
</li><li>[Pagelink infos="National Women's Hall of Fame"]
</li></ul>
<p><br />
<br />
</p><p>

</p>

Cancel

Twitter

Facebook

Twitter feed

Mind the gap, close the gap! How can we address the #gender pay gap? With @OECD_Centre's Director @REArnadottir, no… https://t.co/CLn7y9xbgV
RT @estelle_loiseau: If you're interested in making lasting change for women as political leaders & you're attending @ReykjavikGlobal, do n…
Who's the leader? @OECD_Centre Director, @REArnadottir is moderating a Leaders' Talk tomorrow on shifting society's… https://t.co/SJze6ze6yt
RT @OECD_Centre: Are you at this week's @ReykjavikGlobal Forum? Stop by @OECD_Centre's session on how we can boost women's political empow…

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
« Sep
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30