The longest-serving First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt, born in 1884, in New York.
As a child, Eleanor didn’t spend much time with her parents, she lost her mother to diphtheria in 1892, then her father after less than two years. Her grandmother, Mary Ludlow Hall, took care of Eleanor and her younger brothers. When she turned 18, Eleanor started social service work. Then in 1905, she married Franklin Roosevelt, her fifth cousin, and between 1906 and 1916, they had six children. During this period, her main focus was her family.
As World War I started, Eleanor became active in the American Red Cross and in volunteer work in Navy hospitals. In 1921, Franklin Roosevelt was affected by polio resulting in permanent paralysis from the waist down, which limited his ability to move. Here Eleanor stepped in and became more active in politics, in part to help him maintain his interests but also to achieve her goals.
She participated in the League of Women Voters, joined the Women’s Trade Union League, and worked for the Women’s Division of the New York State Democratic Committee.
In 1933 when Franklin became the 32nd president, Eleanor became the first lady, not willing to stay in the background and handle domestic matters, instead she gave regular press conferences, supported human rights and women’s issues.
She also had her own newspaper column, “My Day,” where she focused on helping people living in poverty and stood against racial discrimination. She began writing the column in 1935 and continued until 1962.
After President Roosevelt’s death, President Truman appointed her to the United Nations General Assembly. During her time in the UN, she helped write the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Eleanor also wrote books about her life, such as This Is My Story, On My Own, and Autobiography.
On November 7, 1962, Eleanor passed away after suffering of aplastic anemia, tuberculosis, and heart failure at the age of 78.
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