Throughout history ordinary people such as Eleanor Roosevelt have developed into great men and women who have impacted international and national history by creating power and having influence. She gained a small level of power and influence when her husband became president. She transformed the role of first lady, it was no longer about staying in the background but becoming active in political and social issues. Throughout her life she was a humanitarian, influencing and supporting many causes from women movement to human rights to civil rights movement.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s contribution to the American women movement is strongly tied to her impact on american history. She became aware of the political barriers of women during her time in the White House, she joined many leagues and organisations. She joined the Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom to address the causes and issues of poverty and war, the League of Women Voters in 1920 and the Womens Trade Union League in 1923. In 1924 she was asked to chair the Democratic National Committees platform for womens issues. She came across many obstacles as she was made to sit outside the conference and all ideas were scarped, however she and other women leaders fought back and forced the committee to appoint both women delegates and alternates. This was when she learnt the place of women in political affairs,”for the first time where the women stood when it came to a national convention. I shortly discovered that they were of little importance. They stood outside the door of all important meetings and waited.” This caused her to double her efforts and by 1928 she organised one of the most successful get-out-the-vote campaigns while calling for women political bosses. She wanted to prove that women were capable, “Women must learn to play the game as men do” she wrote in an article for Redbook magazine and by 1936 internal lobbying produced 219 women delegates and 302 alternates. She inspired women to come forward and push the societal rule of women in the 1930. With the establishment of the New Deal she guaranteed the involvement of women by assembling a list of qualified candidates. However when her ideas weren’t fairly considered she decided to hold press conferences covered only by women to inform women on vital information inspire women to speak their mind on politics and their aspirations. Roosevelt with the help of others created the She-She-She camps to ensure that women were included alongside men in the National Youth Administration. After leaving the White House she continued to inspire women by using media platforms such as her “My Day” column.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s support and advocacy for the equality of African American people was a focal point for the legacy of her life. She believed that America “could not live up to its promise of being a democracy unless something was done about the racial problem”. During the first presidential touring Roosevelt witnessed the effect of the Great Depression especially on the lives of American Americans. She lobbied to the public through radio and print media and also to the Roosevelt administration. She focused on the lynching and segregation and 1934 she joined the NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, and starting working with Walter White,leader of NAACP, to help federal pass anti-lynching legislation. The bill had strong support but didn’t have the President Roosevelt support. A lot of controversy occurred due to her opposition of lynching and the bill turned out to be a defeat. However due to the public attention gained by Roosevelt the lynching reports went down from 95 reported cases in 1930-1935 while 34 reported cases in 1936-1941. She met publicly with African American leaders and activists which stirred more controversy, one incident became international news. In 1939 Marian Anderson, an international opera singer, organised a performance at the Constitution Hall in Washington at an even organised by the Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR, however on the day the DAR refused to permit her to sing. She swiftly and publicly resigned her membership as an act of protest, presented the Spingarn Medal national convention of the NAACP and organised a performance at the White House for the King and Queen of England.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s contribution to the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is arguably her most influential impact on international history. In 1946 Roosevelt was appointed, by President Truman, delegate to the United Nations. She was promptly elected chairman and found herself in conflict with the Russian delegate over the inclusion of economic rights and the inclusion of black americans. Roosevelt pushed herself and other del gets to work sixteen hour days and by the summer of 1948 the Universal Declaration was completed. It drew heavily on the American Bill of Rights, the British Magna Carta and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man. However even with the new declaration Roosevelt was aware that its words were not self-enforcing but must be implemented into every country in the world. The biggest challenge was to “actually living and working in our countries for freedom and justice for each human being”. She travelled throughout the world to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific to investigate the conditions and lives of the residents. She urged the support of the UN and the UN humanitarian and for diplomatic aid. She was labelled the “First Lady of the World” by President Truman for her impact and dedication to the Declaration.
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