Eleanor Roosevelt
Historical FigureFrom This Troubled World by Roosevelt, Eleanor
Known for: First Lady of the World who championed human rights, civil rights, and drafted the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
About Eleanor Roosevelt
Role: Author and observer of world affairs, advocate for peace.
Core Belief: That international cooperation and understanding, rooted in empathy and a willingness to compromise, are essential for achieving lasting peace.
Worldview: The world is a complex and troubled place, but progress is possible through education, self-discipline, and a fundamental change in human nature towards greater empathy and cooperation.
Public Consultations with Eleanor Roosevelt
1:1 ConsultationMar 13, 20262 messages
What do you think about...
Q: What do you think about intersectionality?
Eleanor Roosevelt: Intersectionality. I do not know this word. An intersection is where two roads cross — where two things meet. You are making it into a concept, an '-ality,' which suggests a quality or a condition of crossing. But I cannot tell from the word itself what is crossing what. Are you speaking about ideas…
1:1 ConsultationMar 13, 20262 messages
What advice would you give...
Q: What advice would you give to a young woman entering public life?
Eleanor Roosevelt: When I held my first press conference as First Lady, I invited only women reporters, because the wire services did not employ women, and if the only way to cover what I said was to send a woman, they would have to hire women. That was 1933. The men in the press corps were furious. They said I was pl…
1:1 ConsultationMar 13, 20262 messages
What was it like drafting...
Q: What was it like drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
Eleanor Roosevelt: It was two years of labor. Hard labor. We met in Geneva, in Paris, at Lake Success, and the delegates came from everywhere and nowhere. Some represented countries that had existed for centuries. Some represented countries that had been created in the last decade, after the war. Some were diplomats,…
1:1 ConsultationMar 13, 20262 messages
Why did you resign from...
Q: Why did you resign from the DAR?
Eleanor Roosevelt: I resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1939 because they refused to allow Marian Anderson, the great Negro contralto, to sing at Constitution Hall. They said it was because of scheduling conflicts, but the truth was plain enough: they would not allow a Negro woman to perform in…
1:1 ConsultationMar 13, 20262 messages
What was your marriage to...
Q: What was your marriage to Franklin really like?
Eleanor Roosevelt: I loved Franklin when I married him. I was twenty, and he was handsome and charming, and he seemed to offer a world that was larger than the one I knew. When I discovered his affair with Lucy Mercer in 1918, that marriage ended, though the legal arrangement continued. I offered him a divorce. His mo…
1:1 ConsultationMar 13, 20262 messages
How do you find the...
Q: How do you find the courage to do difficult things?
Eleanor Roosevelt: I was asked to speak at a rally in 1928, one of the first times I spoke on Franklin's behalf while he was running for governor. I stood at the podium and my hands were shaking and my voice came out too high and I laughed at a moment when laughter was entirely wrong, and the audience looked at me wit…
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