Selected Digitized Correspondence of Eleanor Roosevelt, 1933-1945 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Collection Overview

Title: Selected Digitized Correspondence of Eleanor Roosevelt, 1933-1945

Primary Creator: Roosevelt, Eleanor (1884-1962)

Extent: 21.33 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: This collection is a single series organized alphabetically by last name of correspondent, and chronologically thereunder.

Abstract

This digital collection consists of correspondence selected from across the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers. Selections date to the Roosevelt White House years and are arranged by name of correspondent. This correspondence was originally selected and microfilmed in 1986 by University Publications of America for their microform publication, Research Collections in Women's Studies: The Papers of Eleanor Roosevelt, 1933-1945.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The documents comprising this single-series collection were selected from among the estimated 3 million pages of the Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Papers (1884-1964) residing at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library. These documents were selected and microfilmed in 1986 by University Publications of America, a division of LexisNexis. The Selected Digitized Correspondence includes documentation for the White House years of 1933-1945, when Franklin D. Roosevelt served as President of the United States and Eleanor Roosevelt as First Lady.

Selections include Eleanor Roosevelt's correspondence with ninety-three individuals, reflecting the First Lady's personal and political involvement with significant issues and figures. The collection highlights four main themes: social welfare and depression relief; race relations; women in American politics; and youth activities.

Collection Historical Note

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 11, 1884. Her father was Elliott Roosevelt, President Theodore Roosevelt's younger brother and her mother was Anna Hall, a descendent of the Livingstons, a distinguished New York family. Both her parents died when she was a child, her mother in 1892, and her father in 1894. After her mother's death, Eleanor lived with her grandmother, Mrs. Valentine G. Hall, in Tivoli, New York. She was educated by private tutors until age 15, when she was sent to Allenswood, a school for girls in England, whose headmistress, Mademoiselle Marie Souvestre, had a great influence on her education and thinking. At age 18, Eleanor Roosevelt returned to New York where she resided with cousins. During that time she became involved in social service work, joined the Junior League and taught at the Rivington street Settlement House.

On March 17, 1905, she married her fifth cousin once removed, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and between 1906 and 1916, they became the parents of six children, all of whom are deceased -- Anna Eleanor (1906-1975), James (1907-1991), the first Franklin Delano, Jr. (1909-1909), Elliott (1910-1990), the second Franklin Delano, Jr. (1914-1988),and John Aspinwall (1916-1981). During this period her public activities gave way to family concerns and her husband's political career. However, with American entry in World War I, she became active in the American Red Cross and in volunteer work in Navy hospitals. After Franklin Roosevelt was stricken with polio in 1921, Mrs. Roosevelt became increasingly active in politics both to help him maintain his interests and to assert her own personality and 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. She helped to found Val-Kill Industries, a nonprofit furniture factory in Hyde Park, New York, and taught at the Todhunter School, a private girls' school in New York City.

During Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency, Eleanor Roosevelt was an active First Lady who traveled extensively around the nation, visiting relief projects, surveying working and living conditions, and then reporting her observations to the President. She also exercised her own political and social influence; she became an advocate of the rights and needs of the poor, of minorities, and of the disadvantaged. In World War II, she visited England and the South Pacific to foster good will among the Allies and boost the morale of US servicemen overseas.

After President Roosevelt's death on April 12, 1945, Mrs. Roosevelt continued public life. She was appointed by President Truman to the United States Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, a position she held until 1953. She was chairman of the Human Rights Commission during the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted by the General Assembly on December 10, 1948.

In 1953, Mrs. Roosevelt resigned from the United States Delegation to the United Nations and volunteered her services to the American Association for the United Nations. She was an American representative to the World Federation of the United Nations Associations, and later became the chairman of the Associations' Board of Directors. She was reappointed to the United States Delegation to the United Nations by President Kennedy in 1961. Kennedy also appointed her as a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Peace Corps and chairman of the President's Commission on the Status of Women. Mrs. Roosevelt received many awards for her humanitarian efforts.

Eleanor Roosevelt was in real demand as a speaker and lecturer, both in person and through the media of radio and television. She was a prolific writer with many articles and books to her credit including a multi-volume autobiography. In late 1935, she began a syndicated column, "My Day," which she continued until shortly before her death. She also wrote monthly question and answer columns for the Ladies Home Journal (1941-49) and McCalls (1949-62).

In her later years, Mrs. Roosevelt lived at Val-kill in Hyde Park, Dutchess County, New York. She also maintained an apartment in New York City where she died on November 7, 1962. She is buried alongside her husband in the rose garden of their estate at Hyde Park, now a national historic site.

Administrative Information

Repository: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Access Restrictions: None

Use Restrictions: The unpublished writings of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt contained in this collection are in the public domain. The papers contain material restricted in accordance with Executive Order 12958, and material which might constitute invasion of privacy of living persons has been closed.

Related Materials: Anna Roosevelt Papers; Franklin D. Roosevelt Papers as President; Roosevelt Family Papers Donated by the Children

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Selected Digitized Correspondence],
[All]

Series 1: Selected Digitized Correspondence

Alexander, Will W., 1936-1944: View Online
Alsop, Joseph and Corrine, 1933-1943: View Online
Anderson, Mary, 1934-1944: View Online
Baruch, Bernard M. (1), 1934-1945: View Online
Baruch, Bernard M. (2), 1934-1945: View Online
Baruch, Bernard M. (3), 1934-1945: View Online
Berle, Adolf A., Jr., 1934-1944: View Online
Bernstein, Carola Schaeffer, 1936-1939: View Online
Bethune, Mary McLeod (1), 1935-1945: View Online
Bethune, Mary McLeod (2), 1935-1945: View Online
Biddle, Francis B. and Katherine, 1940-1943: View Online
Bird, Remsen (1), 1940-1944: View Online
Bird, Remsen (2), 1940-1944: View Online
Bird, Remsen (3), 1940-1944: View Online
Black, Ruby (1), 1933-1944: View Online
Black, Ruby (2), 1933-1944: View Online
Black, Ruby (3), 1933-1944: View Online
Black, Ruby (4), 1933-1944: View Online
Bruce, Edward, 1934-1941: View Online
Bugbee, Emma, 1933-1944: View Online
Cadden, Joseph (1), 1934-1941: View Online
Cadden, Joseph (2), 1934-1941: View Online
Cadden, Joseph (3), 1934-1941: View Online
Catt, Carrie Chapman, 1933-1943: View Online
Clapp, Elsie (1), 1934-1943: View Online
Clapp, Elsie (2), 1934-1943: View Online
Cook, Nancy (1), 1933-1945: View Online
Cook, Nancy (2), 1933-1945: View Online
Cook, Nancy (3), 1933-1945: View Online
Craig, Elizabeth May, 1937-1944: View Online
Daniels, Jonathan, 1938-1945: View Online
Daniels, Josephus (1), 1934-1945: View Online
Daniels, Josephus (2), 1934-1945: View Online
Davis, Jerome (1), 1936-1944: View Online
Davis, Jerome (2), 1936-1944: View Online
Davis, Norman H. (1), 1937-1944: View Online
Davis, Norman H. (2), 1937-1944: View Online
Davis, Norman H. (3), 1937-1944: View Online
Davis, Norman H. (4), 1937-1944: View Online
Davis, Norman H. (5), 1937-1944: View Online
Davis, Norman H. (6), 1937-1944: View Online
Dewson, Mary (Molly) (1), 1933-1945: View Online
Dewson, Mary (Molly) (2), 1933-1945: View Online
Dewson, Mary (Molly) (3), 1933-1945: View Online
Dewson, Mary (Molly) (4), 1933-1945: View Online
Dewson, Mary (Molly) (5), 1933-1945: View Online
Dewson, Mary (Molly) (6), 1933-1945: View Online
Dewson, Mary (Molly) (7), 1933-1945: View Online
Dewson, Mary (Molly) (8), 1933-1945: View Online
Dickerman, Marion (1), 1933-1945: View Online
Dickerman, Marion (2), 1933-1945: View Online
Dickerman, Marion (3), 1933-1945: View Online
Douglas, Helen Gahagan, 1940-1945: View Online
Douglas, Melvyn, 1941-1942: View Online
Dreier, Mary, 1933-1945: View Online
Dreiser, Theodore, 1941-1942: View Online
Earhart, Amelia, 1933-1936: View Online
Early, Stephen, 1934-1944: View Online
Elliott, Harriet, 1940-1944: View Online
Ernst, Morris (1), 1936-1945: View Online
Ernst, Morris (2), 1936-1945: View Online
Evans, May Thompson, 1937-1941: View Online
Farley, James A. (1), 1933-1945: View Online
Farley, James A. (2), 1933-1945: View Online
Fauset, Crystal Bird, 1934-1945: View Online
Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 1934-1942: View Online
Flanagan, Hallie, 1935: View Online
Fleeson, Doris, 1937-1945: View Online
Furman, Bess (Armstrong) (1), 1933-1945: View Online
Furman, Bess (Armstrong) (2), 1933-1945: View Online
Furman, Bess (Armstrong) (3), 1933-1945: View Online
Gellhorn, Martha (Hemingway) (1), 1935-1944: View Online
Gellhorn, Martha (Hemingway) (2), 1935-1944: View Online
Gellhorn, Martha (Hemingway) (3), 1935-1944: View Online
Graham, Frank Porter, 1935-1945: View Online
Greenway, Isabella (King), 1933-1945: View Online
Hickok, Lorena, 1934-1944: View Online
Hillman, Sidney, 1938-1944: View Online
Honeyman, Nan Wood, 1934-1945: View Online
Hoover, J. Edgar, 1935-1945: View Online
Hopkins, Harry, 1933-1944: View Online
Ickes, Harold, 1933-1941: View Online
Ilma, Viola (1), 1933-1945: View Online
Ilma, Viola (2), 1933-1945: View Online
Ilma, Viola (3), 1933-1945: View Online
Ilma, Viola (4), 1933-1945: View Online
Ilma, Viola (5), 1933-1945: View Online
Kellogg, Paul U. (1), 1933-1944: View Online
Kellogg, Paul U. (2), 1933-1944: View Online
Kerr, Florence, 1939-1942: View Online
La Guardia, Fiorello (1), 1934-1945: View Online
La Guardia, Fiorello (2), 1934-1945: View Online
Lape, Esther (1), 1933-1945: View Online
Lape, Esther (2), 1933-1945: View Online
Lape, Esther (3), 1933-1945: View Online
Lape, Esther (4), 1933-1945: View Online
Lash, Joseph P., 1936-1945: View Online
Lash, Trude (Pratt), 1940-1945: View Online
Lasker, Mary (Mrs. Albert D.), 1941-1945: View Online
Lehman, Herbert and Edith, 1933-1944: View Online
Lenroot, Katherine, 1935-1942: View Online
Mason, Lucy Randolph, 1937-1943: View Online
McCloy, John J., 1943: View Online
McNutt, Paul, 1934-1941: View Online
Miller, Emma Guffey, 1939-1945: View Online
Morgenthau, Henry, Jr., and Elinor (1), 1933-1945: View Online
Morgenthau, Henry, Jr., and Elinor (2), 1933-1945: View Online
Murray, Pauli, 1938-1944: View Online
Myer, Dillon S., 1943-1944: View Online
O'Day, Caroline (1), 1933-1942: View Online
O'Day, Caroline (2), 1933-1942: View Online
Perkins, Frances, 1933-1944: View Online
Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce, 1933-1945: View Online
Randolph, A. Philip, 1938-1943: View Online
Read, Elizabeth, 1934-1940: View Online
Reading, Lady Stella, 1936-1945: View Online
Reuther, Walter, 1943-1944: View Online
Roosevelt, Eleanor (1), 1935-1945: View Online
Roosevelt, Eleanor (2), 1935-1945: View Online
Roosevelt, Eleanor (3), 1935-1945: View Online
Roosevelt, Eleanor (4), 1935-1945: View Online
Roosevelt, Eleanor (5), 1935-1945: View Online
Roosevelt, Eleanor (6), 1935-1945: View Online
Roosevelt, Eleanor (7), 1935-1945: View Online
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1), 1942-1945: View Online
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (2), 1942-1945: View Online
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (3), 1942-1945: View Online
Roosenberg, Anna, 1935-1945: View Online
Schneiderman, Rose (1), 1933-1945: View Online
Schneiderman, Rose (2), 1933-1945: View Online
Schneiderman, Rose (3), 1933-1945: View Online
Schneiderman, Rose (4), 1933-1945: View Online
Simkhovitch, Mary Kingsbury (1), 1933-1944: View Online
Simkhovitch, Mary Kingsbury (2), 1933-1944: View Online
Sinclair, Upton, 1933-1944: View Online
Smith, Hilda Worthington (1), 1933-1945: View Online
Smith, Hilda Worthington (2), 1933-1945: View Online
Smith, Hilda Worthington (3), 1933-1945: View Online
Stimson, Henry, 1941-1945: View Online
Strong, Anna Louise, 1935-1942: View Online
Taussig, Charles, 1935-1944: View Online
Tobias, Channing, 1942-1944: View Online
Tugwell, Rexford G., 1933-1944: View Online
Wald, Lillian, 1933-1939: View Online
Wallace, Henry, 1934-1945: View Online
White, Walter (1), 1934-1945: View Online
White, Walter (2), 1934-1945: View Online
White, Walter (3), 1934-1945: View Online
White, Walter (4), 1934-1945: View Online
White, Walter (5), 1934-1945: View Online
White, Walter (6), 1934-1945: View Online
White, Walter (7), 1934-1945: View Online
Wilkins, Roy, 1937-1945: View Online
Williams, Aubrey, 1935-1945: View Online
Williams, Charl O. (1), 1933-1944: View Online
Williams, Charl O. (2), 1933-1944: View Online
Williams, Charl O. (3), 1933-1944: View Online
Williams, Charl O. (4), 1933-1944: View Online
Wise, Stephen, 1941-1945: View Online
Wolfe, Carolyn, 1935-1936: View Online
Woodward, Ellen S. (1), 1934-1939: View Online
Woodward, Ellen S. (2), 1934-1939: View Online
Yard, Molly, 1940-1944: View Online

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[Series 1: Selected Digitized Correspondence],
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