Eleanor Roosevelt Biography - A Public Life

After the trauma of Franklin's polio attack, Eleanor and her husband's political advisor, Louis Howe, worked hard to bring Franklin back into the mainstream of American political life. Against the wishes of Franklin's mother Sara, they succeeded. The 1920s became a time in which Eleanor became a successful political organizer and Franklin's link to the world of politics. She made sure that Franklin met important officials, and less important people whose views Franklin should hear. At the urging of Louis Howe, she became involved in political organizations — as an editor of the Women's Democratic News and later as chairperson of the Women's Platform Committee of the National Democratic Party.

It was also during the early part of the twenties decade that she met Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook. Nancy Cook was the chairperson of the Women's

Division of the State Democratic Party, while Marion Dickerman taught at Trenton State College and worked with the Foreign Policy Association. For the next few years the three were close friends, sharing an abiding interest in social issues and the role of women in political affairs.

In 1925 the three friends, with the assistance of Franklin, built the Cottage at Val-Kill, two miles from the big house at Springwood. The building of furniture for the cottage, under Nancy Cook's guidance, eventually led to the establishment of Val-Kill Industries with weaving and other handiwork in addition to the furniture. The factory lasted only nine years — closing due to the fact that Nancy Cook found that holding two jobs was too much for her. After the closing of the factory, that building became Eleanor's year-round home until her death.

In 1927 Eleanor began teaching at Todhunter School, where Marion Dickerman served as Principal. Ever mindful of the inequalities in our society, Eleanor took her students to see the tenements that existed in New York, as well as the markets, courts, police line-ups, and other places of interest. When Governor Al Smith decided to run for President, Eleanor was asked to organize the women's part of the national campaign. At the same time she was becoming an outstanding public lecturer, radio speaker, and writer.

With the election of Franklin to the Presidency in 1932, Eleanor assumed another role — that of first lady. The scope of the job was great. Eleanor entertained thousands of guests at the White House, in the belief that the awareness of what people are doing and thinking and saying was essential to the president. She also visited war-torn Britain, investigated housing and working conditions in depressed areas, made a trip to the Pacific and Southeast Asia in her Red Cross uniform, and a final trip through the Caribbean. Everywhere she championed the civil rights of minorities, encouraged women to enter the workforce, and combated forces that prevented good housing and widespread employment. After Eleanor the role of the first lady would be forever redefined.

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