Persons of Moral Courage: Eleanor Roosevelt

7 facts about Eleanor Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt was her uncle and FDR was her 5th cousin once removed, then later became husband and wife.

She had six children.

Eleanor Roosevelt was often called "Reluctant First Lady" because she was reluctant to be the first lady.

She held press conferences held open only to women reporters.

She helped refugee issues, home front issues, and soldiers' concerns. During WW2.

"Of one thing I am sure," she wrote, "in order to be useful we must stand for the things we feel are right, and we must work for those things wherever we find ourselves. It does very little good to believe in something unless you tell your friends and associates of your beliefs."

As an active leader in many organizations Eleanor chaired the first Presidential Commission on the Status of Women from 1961 until her death in November 1962. She sat on the boards of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Association for the United Nations, the Citizens Committee for Children, the Advisory Council for the Peace Corps. She helped found Americans for Democratic Action, the National Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy, and the Tractors for Freedom Committee. When organizations she suported were under attack (the American Committee for Yugoslav Relief, the Encampment for Citizenship)she agreed to serve as their honorary president to defend their reputations.

Many opposed what she did, but she did it anyway. She changed the Status Quo.