Eleanor Roosevelt(1884 — 1962)
Eleanor Roosevelt
États-Unis
9 min read
First Lady of the United States (1933–1945), Eleanor Roosevelt established herself as a tireless advocate for civil rights and social justice. She chaired the UN commission that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
Frequently asked questions
Famous Quotes
« The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. »
« No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. »
Key Facts
- 1933–1945: First Lady of the United States during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency
- 1948: Chairs the UN commission tasked with drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- 1941–1945: Actively supports the inclusion of women and African Americans in the war effort
- 1946–1952: United States delegate to the United Nations General Assembly
- 1962: Dies in New York, leaving a lasting legacy in the defense of civil rights
Works & Achievements
A column published six days a week in more than 90 American newspapers for 27 years. Through this personal and direct writing, Eleanor Roosevelt created an unprecedented connection between the First Lady and the American public.
The first autobiographical volume, in which Eleanor recounts her painful childhood and formative years. The book reveals the woman behind the public figure and traces the roots of her lifelong commitment to social causes.
A landmark 30-article text adopted in Paris, whose drafting Eleanor Roosevelt chaired as head of the UN Commission on Human Rights. It remains the world's foremost reference on fundamental rights.
The second autobiographical volume, focused on the White House years (1933–1945) and her role alongside Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression and World War II.
A third autobiography recounting her life after Franklin Roosevelt's death in 1945, including her work at the UN and her travels around the world as an informal ambassador for human rights.
A definitive synthesis of her three volumes of memoirs, published a year before her death. This intellectual testament sets out her life philosophy, grounded in moral courage and a commitment to justice.
Anecdotes
In 1939, the great Black American singer Marian Anderson was denied access to Constitution Hall in Washington by the Daughters of the American Revolution, an organization of which Eleanor Roosevelt was a member. Outraged, Eleanor publicly resigned from the organization and helped arrange a free concert at the Lincoln Memorial, attended by 75,000 people. This courageous act caused a scandal in the still deeply segregated America of the time.
From 1935 onward, Eleanor Roosevelt held a weekly press conference open exclusively to women journalists. At a time when newsrooms employed very few women, this initiative forced several major newspapers to hire female reporters so as not to miss the First Lady's statements. She thus transformed her ceremonial role into a lever for professional advancement.
In 1935, Eleanor Roosevelt began writing a daily column titled “My Day,” which she continued for twenty-seven years with almost no interruption. In it, she recounted her meetings, her travels, and her opinions with a frankness unusual for a First Lady. The column was published in more than 90 newspapers across the United States, allowing her to reach millions of readers every day.
During the negotiations for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the United Nations in 1947–1948, Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the proceedings with remarkable tenacity in the face of Soviet delegates who were attempting to block the text. She had to reconcile radically opposing worldviews between capitalist and communist countries, colonizing nations and colonized peoples. On December 10, 1948, when the text was adopted in Paris without a single vote against, the assembly gave her a standing ovation.
As a child, Eleanor Roosevelt endured a painful youth: orphaned at ten, she was often described as ugly and clumsy by her own family. Yet, thanks to a kind teacher in England, she developed a self-confidence that transformed her entirely. This personal experience of suffering and rejection largely explains her exceptional empathy for the most disadvantaged throughout her life.
Primary Sources
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. I have always felt that a woman's place is wherever she is needed — and that she is needed everywhere.
I had painfully high ideals and a tremendous sense of the must of duty — the English public school tradition which my father had imbibed and passed on to me. I worshipped him and felt that he set for me a standard I must always live up to.
We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind. This Universal Declaration of Human Rights may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere.
The question of the rights of colored people is one which touches the very roots of our democracy. We cannot speak to the world about human rights while denying them at home.
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
Key Places
The Roosevelt family home on the banks of the Hudson River. Eleanor was spiritually reborn here: it was where she learned to assert herself against her mother-in-law Sara, and where she was buried in 1962.
The only property Eleanor ever owned outright, built in 1926. She made it her refuge and headquarters after Franklin's death — a symbol of her independence within a most unconventional marriage.
Her official residence from 1933 to 1945, where Eleanor transformed the role of First Lady into a political platform. She hosted Black civil rights activists, labor organizers, and artists there, breaking the conventions of the era.
It was in this palace that the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948 — a text Eleanor Roosevelt had negotiated and championed for three years.
The site of Marian Anderson's concert on April 9, 1939, organized with Eleanor Roosevelt's decisive support after Constitution Hall refused to host her. The concert drew 75,000 people and became a landmark moment in the civil rights movement.