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Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884 in New York City.
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Eleanor's mother, Anna Hall Roosevelt, died of diptheria on December 7, 1892.
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Eleanor's father, Elliot Bulloch Roosevelt, died on August 14, 1894.
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Eleanor Roosevelt spent three years under the direction of Marie Souvestre at Allenswood Girls' Academy in London, who greatly influenced her political interests and views.
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Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt met for the first time as adults on a train ride, unaware that they were fifth cousins.
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Eleanor and Franklin were married in 1905.
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Franklin Roosevelt was elected to the New York State Senate in 1910. During this time, Eleanor became more and more interested in the political world. He held this Senate seat until 1913.
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After FDR was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to be the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Eleanor took on the roles of a cabinet wife, such as hosting parties and social events, but she also volunteered for the Navy Relief Society and the American Red Cross during World War I.
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When FDR was chosen as the Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee of the 1920 Presidential Election, Eleanor met Louis Howe, an advisor and the press secretary for the campaign. He helped her develop a more pointed interest in politics, and they often engaged in deep political discussions, and he became a sort of political mentor to her.
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When Franklin suddenly contracted polio in 1921, Eleanor dropped everything and took care of him day and night, and she alone recognized that he could return to national politics one day. She used his time receiving treatment in Georgia to further her career and speak out for women's rights at the Women's City Club of New York.
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As she took on the position of First Lady of New York State, Eleanor Roosevelt continued her commitment to women's and workers rights, along with giving service to those hit the hardest by the stock market crash of 1929.
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After her husband was elected President in 1932, Eleanor's role became increasingly important. She became the first First Lady in history to hold her own press conferences, of which she held 348 over her years in the White House. She used her political leverage to make sure that women were always an important part of the press pool by only allowing female reporters to attend her press conferences, and she fought for the rights of the working class and labor unions.
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Franklin died suddenly and unexpectedly a few months into his fourth term as President. This loss devastated Eleanor, and she claimed she would never return to public affairs.
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In 1946, Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed by President Harry S. Truman to be one of the United States' delegates to the very first United Nations meeting.
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A committee of 18 members from around the globe, headed by Eleanor Roosevelt, met frequently between June 1947 and December 1948 to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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Anna Eleanor Roosevelt died on November 7, 1962 in Manhattan, New York.
