12/09/2025
Moral courage uplifts us all. My fierce mother Eleanor Merritt was, like many of her generation, named after Eleanor Roosevelt who inspired generations of women to use their intellect and voice to improve humanity whenever and however possible. We remain inspired and determined.
She wasn't supposed to speak. So she held 348 press conferences—and only women reporters were allowed in In 1933, when Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, his wife Eleanor was expected to follow a script written over a century earlier: smile, host teas, stay decorative, stay quiet, and never, ever have opinions about policy. Eleanor Roosevelt read the script. Then she tore it up and wrote her own. Over the next twelve years, she would transform the role of First Lady from ceremonial decoration to moral force. She would travel 40,000 miles a year visiting Americans in coal mines, slums, and bread lines. She would fight for civil rights when it was politically dangerous. And after her husband's death, she would help write the document that would become the foundation of international human rights law. But to understand why Eleanor Roosevelt became who she became, you have to understand who she was told she should be—and how she refused every limitation placed on her. The Unlikely RebelEleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884, into American aristocracy—the Roosevelt and Livingston families, old money and older power. She grew up in mansions, was taught by private tutors, and was expected to become exactly what wealthy young women became: ornamental wives to powerful men. Her childhood was lonely and painful. Her mother, a renowned beauty, called Eleanor "Granny" because she was plain and serious. Her father, whom she adored, was an alcoholic who died when she was ten. Her mother died when she was eight. She was raised by a stern grandmother who emphasized duty, propriety, and the importance of knowing your place. Eleanor learned her place. She just decided it wasn't good enough. At fifteen, she was sent to boarding school in England, where a headmistress named Marie Souvestre did something revolutionary: she told Eleanor her mind mattered. That thinking was not unfeminine. That intelligence was a strength, not something to hide. Eleanor returned to America changed. She began working at settlement houses in New York, teaching immigrant children, seeing poverty up close. She joined the Women's Trade Union League. She learned that privilege created obligation—not to maintain the system, but to challenge it. In 1905, she married her distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was charming, ambitious, handsome. She was serious, thoughtful, passionate about social issues. The marriage was complicated—FDR's infidelity in 1918 nearly destroyed it—but they formed a political partnership that would change American history. When FDR was paralyzed by polio in 1921, Eleanor became his legs. She traveled on his behalf, attended political meetings, reported back what she learned. She was training, without realizing it, to become something unprecedented. The First Lady Who Refused to Be SilentMarch 4, 1933. Franklin Roosevelt was sworn in as president during the worst economic catastrophe in American history. Thirteen million Americans were unemployed. Banks were failing. Farms were foreclosed. Families were starving. Eleanor Roosevelt could have hosted elegant dinners and stayed silent. Instead, she went to see for herself. She descended into coal mines to see working conditions. She visited relief centers in Appalachia. She toured slums in major cities. She showed up at hospitals, schools, farms, factories—places First Ladies had never gone, talking to people First Ladies had never acknowledged. And then she went back to Washington and told her husband—and the country—what she'd seen. She started writing a daily newspaper column called "My Day" that ran for 27 years. Six days a week, Eleanor wrote about what she was doing, thinking, seeing. At its peak, the column appeared in 90 newspapers and reached millions of Americans. It was personal but political, chatty but serious—a woman speaking directly to the nation about issues that mattered. But here's what made Eleanor Roosevelt truly revolutionary: She held regular press conferences. Starting in March 1933, just days after FDR's inauguration, she invited reporters to the White House. But here was the rule: only female reporters were allowed. At the time, most major newspapers didn't employ women reporters. Wire services and big papers were men's domains. By making her press conferences women-only, Eleanor Roosevelt forced news organizations to hire female journalists if they wanted White House access. She held 348 press conferences during FDR's presidency. She created jobs and opportunities for dozens of women journalists. She used her platform to give women a professional foothold in a field that had excluded them. And she talked about everything: poverty, education, civil rights, women's issues, foreign policy. She didn't limit herself to "appropriate" topics. She had opinions, and she shared them. Her staff was horrified. Political advisors begged her to be more careful. FDR's team worried she'd become a liability. She didn't care. She kept speaking. The Most Dangerous Thing She DidIn 1939, Eleanor Roosevelt did something that would define her moral courage. The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)—an organization she belonged to—refused to let Black opera singer Marian Anderson perform at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. because of her race. Eleanor resigned from the DAR publicly, writing in her "My Day" column: "I am in complete disagreement with the attitude taken in refusing Constitution Hall to a great artist... To remain as a member implies approval of that action, and therefore I am resigning. "Then she helped arrange for Marian Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial instead. On Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, Marian Anderson sang to 75,000 people on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, with millions more listening on radio. Eleanor Roosevelt sat in the front row. It was a moment of defiance and moral clarity in a segregated nation. But Eleanor didn't stop there. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, she pushed FDR on civil rights issues. She met with Black leaders. She spoke at historically Black colleges. She advocated for anti-lynching legislation. She pushed for desegregation in federal programs. Southern Democrats hated her. Racists sent death threats. Political allies begged her to be quiet—she was hurting FDR politically. She refused to be quiet. She understood something crucial: power without moral courage is just authority. Real leadership requires using your platform for those who don't have one. After FDR On April 12, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage. Eleanor, at 60 years old, could have retired to private life, content with her historical role. Instead, her most important work was just beginning. President Harry Truman appointed her as a delegate to the newly formed United Nations. In 1946, she was elected chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights, tasked with creating something that had never existed: a universal declaration of human rights that all nations would recognize. The commission included representatives from countries with vastly different cultures, political systems, and values. Soviet representatives, Western democracies, newly independent nations—all had different ideas about what "rights" meant. Eleanor Roosevelt led them through two years of debate, negotiation, and compromise. She was patient but unyielding. Gentle in manner but fierce in conviction. She listened to everyone but refused to accept that universal rights were impossible. She once stayed up all night mediating between Soviet and Western delegates who were deadlocked. She hosted dinners where delegates who disagreed politically could find common ground personally. She read every draft, questioned every word, ensured every voice was heard. On December 10, 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It passed 48-0, with eight abstentions. It was the first time in human history that nations collectively agreed on fundamental rights belonging to all people everywhere: freedom from slavery, freedom of thought, right to education, equality before law, protection from torture. Eleanor Roosevelt called it "the Magna Carta for all mankind. "The General Assembly gave her a standing ovation—an unprecedented honor. Truman called her "First Lady of the World. "The PhilosophyEleanor Roosevelt's approach to human rights was deeply personal. She didn't believe rights were abstract principles handed down by governments. She believed they started in daily life. She famously said: "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere."This wasn't theoretical for Eleanor. She had seen those small places. She had descended into coal mines and visited tenant farms. She had walked through Harlem and sat in Appalachian kitchens. She knew that rights without justice in daily life were just words.She continued working for human rights until her death in 1962 at age 78. She served on the UN Commission until 1952. She advised presidents Kennedy and Johnson on civil rights. She wrote, she spoke, she advocated, she pushed.The LegacyEleanor Roosevelt died November 7, 1962. Her funeral at Hyde Park was attended by presidents, world leaders, and ordinary people whose lives she'd touched.President Kennedy said she would "remain a symbol of the compassion and the commitment to human welfare which must forever be associated with her name."Adlai Stevenson said: "She would rather light candles than curse the darkness, and her glow has warmed the world."But perhaps her greatest legacy is this: she proved that empathy could be policy. That compassion could be power. That someone born into privilege could dedicate their life to those who had none.She transformed the role of First Lady from decorative to powerful. Every First Lady since owes something to Eleanor Roosevelt's refusal to be silent.She proved that women could lead in international affairs. When she chaired the UN Human Rights Commission, many diplomats were skeptical a woman could handle it. She proved them wrong so thoroughly that no one questioned it again.She showed that moral courage requires action. Not just believing in justice, but using whatever platform you have—even when it's uncomfortable, unpopular, or dangerous.TodayThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights remains the foundation of international human rights law. It's been translated into over 500 languages—more than any other document. It inspired constitutions, treaties, laws protecting billions of people.Eleanor Roosevelt's "My Day" columns, all 8,000 of them, are preserved. They're a window into mid-20th century America—what she saw, what troubled her, what gave her hope.Her press conferences created a template for First Ladies engaging with media and issues.Her civil rights advocacy, though incomplete by modern standards, moved the nation closer to justice at a time when that movement required courage.Every time someone uses their privilege to advocate for others, they're walking a path Eleanor Roosevelt paved.Every time a woman speaks up in spaces that once excluded her, she's benefiting from doors Eleanor forced open.Every time someone stands for human rights even when it's politically inconvenient, they're following her example.The LessonEleanor Roosevelt's life teaches something essential about power and purpose:Your circumstances don't define your choices. She was born into privilege—she chose to use it for justice.Your role doesn't limit your impact. She was given a ceremonial position—she made it consequential.Your platform, however large or small, matters. She used hers relentlessly, courageously, effectively.Empathy isn't weakness. Compassion isn't passive. Gentle doesn't mean powerless.Eleanor Roosevelt proved that the strongest force in politics isn't domination—it's moral clarity paired with persistent action.She wasn't the loudest voice in any room. But she was often the most effective.She didn't grab power. She earned authority through wisdom, consistency, and courage.She didn't demand respect. She demonstrated why she deserved it.And when told to be quiet, to know her place, to let more important people speak, she smiled gently and kept talking anyway.Because she understood something fundamental: human rights begin in small places, close to home. In the mine shaft where men worked without safety protections. In the school where Black children couldn't learn. In the apartment where immigrants struggled. In the farm where families starved despite working sunup to sundown.Those small places were where justice either lived or died. And Eleanor Roosevelt spent her life traveling to those places, listening to those voices, and bringing what she learned back to the halls of power.She didn't just change the role of First Lady.She didn't just write the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.She proved that the highest use of power is giving voice to those who have none.That the truest measure of privilege is what you do for those who have little.That empathy, when practiced daily and courageously, can change the world.She was born into a family that expected her to be silent and decorative.She died having spoken to millions and created frameworks for protecting human dignity that endure generations after her death.She wasn't supposed to speak.She never stopped.And because she didn't, millions found their own voices.The small places she fought for—they grew larger.The rights she insisted on—they spread farther.The compassion she embodied—it became policy, law, foundation.Eleanor Roosevelt turned privilege into purpose.Ceremony into advocacy.Silence into truth.And in doing so, she proved that the gentlest voices, when backed by unshakeable conviction, can echo across generations.Where do human rights begin?In small places, close to home.In coal mines and tenant farms.In the words of a First Lady who refused to be silent.In the courage to use whatever platform you have for those who have none.That's where Eleanor Roosevelt lived.And that's where her legacy endures—in every small place where someone still fights for dignity, equality, and justice.Not cursing the darkness.But lighting candles wherever darkness exists.
