On this day in 1884, future First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City. The niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor was raised in a family that wanted for little but cared greatly about community service.
Despite the Roosevelts’ wealth, Eleanor’s childhood lacked stability. Her parents both died when she was a child, and she spent her early teen years living with her grandmother in Tivoli, N.Y. She then attended boarding school in London, before returning in 1902 to rejoin New York’s high society and engage in community volunteer work.
In 1905, she married Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In case you’re wondering if the last names are a coincidence, they were not: Franklin and Eleanor were fifth cousins. The pair went on to have six children. Eleanor continued her public service, including volunteering for the Red Cross and Navy hospitals through World War I.
When FDR took office as the U.S. president in 1933 during the depths of the Great Depression, Eleanor became known as her husband’s “eyes, ears, and legs,” due to her frequent visits to relief projects and the sites of specific social problems, which allowed her to bring that information back to the White House directly. During World War II, Eleanor continued her advocacy work for the poor and underserved in the U.S. but was also a key figure in maintaining relationships with the other Allies in Western Europe.
After FDR’s death in 1945, Eleanor served on the United Nations General Assembly as chair of its Human Rights Commission, which drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eleanor continued to be a well-known champion of human rights, giving lectures and working in various high-profile public service roles until her death in 1962.
To learn more about Eleanor Roosevelt, check out these articles from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and the White House.
