My Day

This column allowed ER to spread her ideas, thoughts, and perspectives on contemporary events to the American public through local newspapers.

Eleanor Roosevelt's childhood was riddled with difficulties due to her father's severe alcohol addiction, her mother's cold personality, and her parents' failing marriage.

Upon her marriage to FDR and his election to presidency, Mrs. Roosevelt understood the social, political, and economic states of the American public better than any of her predecessors.

[4] A true activist, ER instituted regular press conferences at the White House for women and embarked on extensive tours as First Lady.

President Harry S. Truman appointed her as a delegate to the United Nations in General Assembly in 1946, serving as the UN's first Chairperson of the Commission of Human Rights.

President John F. Kennedy appointed her chair of his Commission on the Status of Women, and in her last decade of life Mrs. Roosevelt also recruited for the Democratic Party.

[12] Although she did not keep a diary, prior to FDR's presidential election ER frequently contributed to magazines, and in 1933 the United Features Syndicate, a renowned editorial and media company, was the first to request she make a daily column as First Lady.

[14] By 1940, interest in My Day was so strong that the United Features Syndicate offered ER a five-year contract, despite her presumed exit from the White House.

Central to peace-building and human rights advocacy, the content of her articles, written in simple, diary-like entries annotating her day, supported reform and evoked activism.

Stopping through homesteads, coal mine communities, and farmland, Roosevelt commented on the taxing manual labor, the abundantly rich soil, the large families, and the proud agricultural accomplishments all made possible through the WPA.

For example, Eleanor Roosevelt's role in the Marian Anderson concert struck the very depths of racism in the United States, although Americans did not comprehend its full significance at the time.

[20] In 1939, while singing for Howard University School of Music, Anderson petitioned the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) to use its auditorium in Washington, D.C., seating 4,000 people, as her concert venue.

[20] Outraged at the DAR's refusal, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt presented Anderson with the Spingarn Medal at the convention for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and invited her to perform at the White House for the King and Queen of England later in the year.

Roosevelt expressed her desire for Anderson's music career to succeed in America, for she had not heard a more beautiful, moving, and poised artist.

The youngest of sixteen children, and the only sibling born free, Dr. Bethune fought for the rights of African Americans with respect and earned an education at a time when it seemed impossible for a Black women to do so.

ER pays tribute to Miss Mary (Molly) Dewson, Mrs. Dorothy McAllister, Mrs. May Evans, and all of the staff at the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee on May 6, 1940, for example.

[16] As FDR's presidency progressed, ER encouraged her husband and his advisors to extend the New Deal's reach to provide greater support for American women and members of minority groups.

[26] These women and minorities were particularly receptive to My Day as Roosevelt intertwined everyday advice on meals, household budgeting, childrearing, spousal relations, social justice, trade unions, and communication throughout the columns.

[26] When the United States entered World War II, ER's relationship with the American public deepened in conjunction with her efforts to write about the home front.

It was the major avenue by which she challenged complacent Democrats, Americans timid of politics, and apathetic citizens to accept the responsibilities of living in a democracy.

Her support for programs including the Resettlement Administration created by FDR's Executive Order 7027, the Rural Electrification Act, the National Youth Administration, the Federal Theatre Project, and FDR's court packing plan inspired even her critics to discuss civil rights, women's rights, and New Deal programs long after she stopped publishing.

A portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt writing her My Day column in 1949.
School portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt visiting a Works Progress Administration project in Des Moines, Iowa in 1936.
Eleanor Roosevelt visiting the National Youth Administration in Quoddy Village, Maine in July 1941.
Eleanor Roosevelt greeting opera singer Marian Anderson in 1953. Their friendship continued long after they first met in 1935.
The Highlander Folk School historical marker, located half a mile north of tee school's location. The historical marker commemorates the school's commitment to economic justice, organized labor, and an end to racial segregation.
Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary McLeod Bethune, and others at the opening of Midway Hall, one of two residence buildings at the Daytona Beach Literary and Industrial School for Training Negro Girls in May 1943.
Miss Mary (Molly) W. Dewson being sworn in as Chairman of the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., on August 23, 1937.