Franklin ran unsuccessfully for vice president on the Democratic ticket in As a member of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the League of Women Voters , she began studying the Congressional Record and learned to evaluate voting records and debates. When Franklin became governor of New York in , Eleanor found an opportunity to combine the responsibilities of a political hostess with her own burgeoning career and personal independence.

She instituted regular White House press conferences for women correspondents, and wire services that had not formerly employed women were forced to do so in order to have a representative present in case important news broke.

In , when the Daughters of the American Revolution DAR refused to let Marian Anderson , an African American opera singer, perform in Constitution Hall, Eleanor resigned her membership in the DAR and arranged to hold the concert at the nearby Lincoln Memorial; the event turned into a massive outdoor celebration attended by 75, people.

On another occasion, when local officials in Alabama insisted that seating at a public meeting be segregated by race, Eleanor carried a folding chair to all sessions and carefully placed it in the centre aisle. Her defense of the rights of African Americans , youth, and the poor helped to bring groups into government that formerly had been alienated from the political process. Truman appointed Eleanor a delegate to the United Nations UN , where she served as chairman of the Commission on Human Rights —51 and played a major role in the drafting and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights In the last decade of her life she continued to play an active part in the Democratic Party, working for the election of Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson in and In President John F.

Kennedy appointed her chair of his Commission on the Status of Women, and she continued with that work until shortly before her death. She had not initially favoured the Equal Rights Amendment ERA , saying it would take from women the valuable protective legislation that they had fought to win and still needed, but she gradually embraced it. Roosevelt Library. Hitler invades Poland and war breaks out in Europe. The Detroit Race Riot occurs as a result of mounting tensions between black and white residents of the city.

The Civil Rights Act is passed by Congress. November 7: Eleanor dies at the age of seventy-eight of tuberculosis. Eleanor also went on lecture tours and spoke at various functions about child welfare, housing reform, and equal rights for women and minorities. Additionally, she also performed many bold actions to defend the rights of women, minorities, the underprivileged, and the youth.

She became the chairman of their Commission on Human Rights, and played an integral role in writing and instituting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eleanor also actively promoted the Democratic Party, and later served as chairman of President John F.

In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility. You gain strength, courage, and confidence by each experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. Critical Essay 4. Topics for Further Study. Compare and Contrast. What Do I Read Next? Further Study. Copyright Information. Roosevelt, Eleanor.

Roosevelt, Eleanor b. October 11, ; d. November 7, First Lady from to , during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt; one of the most important public figures of the twe Read more.

Eleanor Roosevelt. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt , wife of the thirty-second president of the United States, was a philanthropist, author, world diplomat, and resolute champion of liberal causes.