In her August 29, 1936 “My Day” column, Mrs. Roosevelt wrote about a visit from her friend Fannie Hurst. “Miss Fannie Hurst joined us, having driven over from her retreat in the Catskill Mountains. Even the children fell under the spell of her personality and listened with great interest to all she had to tell us….What wouldn’t I give to have her gift of writing, for if ever any one had material for stories spread before them, I certainly have had it in the past few years!”

Fannie Hurst (1889-1968) was a novelist and New Dealer who became a close personal friend to the Roosevelts. Her prolific fiction writing did not garner great critical acclaim, but her notoriety and popular influence helped energize the Roosevelts’ public image. Hurst served in an unofficial capacity as promoter of Eleanor Roosevelt, championing the First Lady’s efforts to expand the boundaries of the traditional White House role.

An active reformer for women’s and civil rights, Hurst worked for several prominent organizations throughout her lifetime, including the Urban League and later the World Health Organization. Eleanor Roosevelt recommended her to serve on the Advisory Committee to the Works Progress Administration from 1940-41. After the Roosevelt years, Hurst hosted a talk-show called Showcase beginning in 1958 where she continued to champion progressive and sometimes controversial issues, including an emerging awareness of gay rights.

Eleanor Roosevelt and Fannie Hurst are pictured here in 1962.