“Many people will walk in and out of your life… but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.”
–Eleanor Roosevelt
Cows Have Silly Moments, Too
6″ x 6″ Watercolor Sketch
Sunday, I had a little time on my hands and a reference photo from
SkattyKat at WetCanvas. This is what happened when I used a large brush
and quick strokes to put this lovely lady on paper. It was really fun,
after all the intense detail work of the last painting.
I have a new neighbor. Eufaula Nails and Spa moved in next door to
my sign shop last Friday. My whole shop now smells like nail polish.
I’m not complaining, but after so many years in the same building, it’s
odd to have that new smell wafting through the air.
Eleanor Roosevelt - Oct. 11, 1884 – Nov. 7, 1962
Even without her marriage to Franklin D. Roosevelt, through whose
presidency she revolutionized the position of first lady, Eleanor
Roosevelt very likely would have still become one of the greatest women
of the 20th Century. As a humanitarian and civic leader (among other
roles), her work for the welfare of youth, black Americans, the poor,
and women, at home and abroad (through the United Nations that she
helped to develop) has yet to be equaled.
Growing up a lonely and shy girl in wealth and comfort, she returned
to New York from Allenswood, at 18 with confidence in herself and a
conscience of a social nature. Her marriage to Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1882-1945), brought her into the world of politics of which she proved a
fast learner. When her husband was Assistant Secretary of the Navy
during World War I, she supported the war effort by volunteering for the
Red Cross. She was also an active member of the women’s suffrage
movement.
In 1921 when a bout with polio left Franklin Roosevelt crippled, her
steadfast encouragement enabled him to return to politics and win the
governorship of New York (1929-1933). In the process she became his
political surrogate, speaking in his behalf to the citizenry, relaying
their feedback to him, and giving her input as well. During this period
she also opened the Val-Kill furniture factory in New York to provide
job relief to the unemployed and became part owner of Todhunter, an all
girls private school in New York City.
When FDR was elected to the presidency, Eleanor Roosevelt reluctantly
became first lady, yet she proved a great innovator in this capacity.
Her tenure (1933-1945) was the longest only because her husband’s tenure
as president was the longest, but Eleanor Roosevelt became the first
activist first lady. With press conferences and her daily column she
kept the public up-to-date on White House policies; in particular the
New Deal. She persuaded FDR to create the National Youth Administration
(NYA), which provided financial aid to students and job training to
young men and women. Her concern for disadvantaged black Americans,
prompted her to work closely with organizations such as the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and in 1939
she resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution in protest to
their preventing black singer Marian Anderson from performing at
Constitution Hall.
After the United States entered World War II, Eleanor Roosevelt
channeled her energies into the war effort. She did this first by
mustering up civilian volunteerism as assistant director of the Office
of Civilian Defense (OCD), and by visiting U.S. troops abroad.
When Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office in 1945, Eleanor
Roosevelt’s role as first lady was over, but her career was not. She
became a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly, specializing
in humanitarian, social, and cultural issues. In 1948, she drafted the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirmed life, liberty, and
equality internationally for all people regardless of race, creed or
color. Additionally, she helped in the establishment of the state of
Israel and attempted negotiations, albeit cautiously, with the Soviet
Union (now Russia).
She wrote
several books about her experiences:
This Is My Story (1937),
This I Remember (1950),
On My Own (1958), and
Tomorrow Is Now (published posthumously, 1963).
From Women in History
