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Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City. Her mother was Anna Hall and her father was Elliott Roosevelt. Eleanor's mother, Anna, died when she was eight years old. Two years later her father, Elliott, died. Photo: Eleanor as a child, 1887.
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She attended school at Allenswood Academy for three years. She studied language, literature and history. She also learned to express her opinions on political issues. During the summers she travelled with the headmistress, Mlle. Souvestre, to France and Italy. These were very happy years for Eleanor. In 1902, she returned to NYC. Photo: 1898, a portrait.
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Eleanor is twenty and Franklin is twenty-three when they marry. They have been engaged for a year and a half. Their wedding is the social highlight of 1905. President Theodore Roosevelt gives away his niece. They honeymoon in Europe. Their first home is in NYC. Sara Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor's mother-in-law, purchases and furnishes it. Photo: Eleanor in her wedding gown.
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FDR is elected to the NY State Senate. The family moves to Albany, NY. Eleanor later refers to this time as "the beginning of my independence". Photo: political campaign button
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The family moves to Washington D.C. FDR held this position until August 26, 1920. Photo: FDR as Assistant Secretary of the Navy
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FDR is diagnosed with polio by Dr. Robert Lovett. At age 39, FDR becomes paralyzed from the waist down. Eleanor nurses FDR through his illness and encourages him to return to public life. Photo: FDR's wheelchair
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Also in 1922, Eleanor joins the Women's Division of the NYS Democratic Committee. Photo: logo of the Women's Trade Union League
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Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt and
Democratic Party Workers at Albany, New York. Photo: Democratic Party Workers, 1928
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The family moves to Albany, NY. Eleanor becomes more involved in government. FDR serves two two year terms as governor until 1932. Photo: campaign poster for FDR's re-election as Governor
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The Stock Market crashes on Black Tuesday in 1929. In 1941, the start of WWII stimulates the US economy and brings an end to the Great Depression. Photo: Newspaper front page from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Oct. 29, 1929
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As First Lady, Eleanor now works for women's rights, social issues and world peace. Photo: FDR giving his inaugural address on March 4, 1933
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As First Lady, Eleanor holds a press conference where only women reporters are admitted. No one before her had done this.
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Eleanor invites the US public to write to her and let her know how the New Deal is working. She receives 300,000 letters between August 31 to December 31, 1933. She answers every letter. Photo: This National Recovery Act (NRA) stamp, was issued in 1933
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This syndicated column ran from 1935 to 1962. Eleanor wrote the column six days a week. It allowed her to reach millions of Americans with her views. She wrote on social and political issues and historical and current events. She even wrote about her own life, both private and public. This column gave a different insight into the life of a First Lady. Photo: One of Eleanor's "My Day" columns
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Germany invades Poland. Photo: Adolf Hitler, leader of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party, the Chancellor and Fuhrer of Germany (1933-45)
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Eleanor makes an impromptu speech at the Democratic National Convention. This helped FDR win his third term as president of the US. Photo: Eleanor addressing the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, July 1940
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Germany and Italy declare war on the US. Three days prior, the US had declared war on Japan. The US responded by declaring war on the two Axis powers. Photo: Pearl Harbor attack, Dec. 7, 1941
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FDR dies in Warm Springs, Georgia. He is buried in the Rose Garden at Hyde Park, NY. Photo: Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry Truman at FDR's grave.
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Victory in Europe (VE Day), unconditional surrender of Germany. This ends six years of war. Photo: New York Times front page announcing V-E Day
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On 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, the Charter of the United Nations was signed at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference. Both the US and the USSR are members. Photo: Signing of the UN Charter, 1945
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Eleanor is appointed as a US Representative to the General Assembly of the United Nations by President Harry Truman. Photo: Eleanor, at a UN meeting, London England, 1945
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Joseph Stalin delivers a hostile speech in Moscow stating that communism and capitalism are incompatible. Photo: Joseph Stalin, Secretary-General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1953)
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Eleanor is elected, unanimously, to chair the UN Committee Three. This committee is responsible for human, social and cultural concerns. She chairs the 18 nation Human Rights Commission until 1950. Photo: Eleanor at UN's Human Rights Commission meeting in Lake Success, NY, 1947
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An Appeal to the World is presented to the UN's Commission of Human Rights. This petition is written by leading lawyers and scholars. It focuses on the US's systematic denial of human rights to its African American citizens. On Dec. 4, 1947 the UN's Commission of Human Rights rejects the Soviet Union's proposal to investigate the NAACP's charges. No action is taken on the petition.
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The UN General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Photo: Eleanor and the UN's UDHR in Spanish text, 1949
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Eleanor reluctantly resigns from the UN Human Rights Commission. Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected President of the US. He does not reappoint Eleanor, so she resigns.
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JFK reappoints Eleanor to the UN and appoints her as the First Chairperson of the President's Commission of the Status of Women.
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Construction of the Berlin Wall begins. Photo: The Berlin Wall being built
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"My Day" is the longest running syndicated newspaper column. It ran for twenty-seven years. Photo: One of Eleanor's "My Day" columns
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Eleanor dies at the age of 78. She is buried next to Franklin in the Rose Garden at Hyde Park, NY. Photo: President Kennedy, former presidents Truman and Eisenhower, and VP Johnson attending the funeral of Eleanor Roosevelt.
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Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Rumania become independent. The Berlin Wall comes down. Photo: A sinking USSR ship cartoon
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The end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War ends. Photo: Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan sign the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, Dec. 1987
