U.S. Presidents & First Ladies

Eleanor Roosevelt

Born in 1884, the niece of Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor married her fifth cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1905 at 21 years of age. She was supportive of her husband’s political career and cared for him after he became afflicted with paralysis, but she also maintained her own agenda for progressive causes. In her time as First Lady (1933–1945), Roosevelt advocated for civil rights, roles for women and the rights of refugees. After FDR passed in 1945, she was named a delegate to the new United Nations and this note from 1946 was written on UN stationery. Eleanor Roosevelt passed in 1962.