"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people" - Eleanor Roosevelt

Why choose Eleanor Roosevelt?

I chose Eleanor Roosevelt to study for my history project because she was a very strong, independent, and interesting woman, who changed the role of women in America.

Eleanor Roosevelt Biography

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York, New York on October 11th, 1884 to Anna Hall Roosevelt and Elliot Roosevelt.  In 1892 her mother died of diphtheria and two years later her father died in 1884 from complications of being an alcoholic.  When Eleanor was 15 years old she was sent to Allenswood School in England and returned to the United States at age 18.  On March 17th, 1905, Eleanor Roosevelt married her distant cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Together they had six children, five of whom survived infancy.  A quote from Eleanor Roosevelt - "I could not at any age be content to take my place in a corner by the fireside and simply look on."  Sit in a corner and look on is what Eleanor Roosevelt did not do.  In th 1920s she worked with the Women's Trade Union League and from 1933- 1945 she was the First Lady of the United States when her husband FDR became president.   In 1941 she co-founded the Freedom house which conducted research on democracy, political freedom, and human rights.  From 1946-1953 Eleanor Roosevelt was a delegate with the United Nations General Assembly.  She was also the first chairperson of the United Nations Rights Commission.  Eleanor Roosevelt also had a newspaper column titled "My Day" and supported the Civil Rights movement.  The First Lady, activist, and diplomat died on November 7th, 1962 in New York, New York at the age of 78.