Honoring Eleanor Roosevelt

How perfect is it that the International Day of the Girl Child falls on the birthday Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)? She’s one of my top female heroes; we’ve needed her or someone like her for decades, as the United Nations which she so greatly championed and served, has languished and withered. Wasn’t it created to solve problems like the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the perennial hellscape that is the Middle East? I mean, what do they do there any more? Well, I overstate the case somewhat. I knowthe valuable work my friend Seth Shelden does there. But I sure wish some forceful leader would take that organization in hand and harness its diplomatic infrastructure to bring about the world peace that is its ostensible objective. Otherwise it’s just an expensive tourist attraction.

It wasn’t intentional but I love that I’m doing a post of Mrs. Roosevelt before getting around to one on President Roosevelt himself. FDR and subsequent Presidents dragged their heels on many progressive causes, but she was always there, hounding them to do the right thing. Since this is primarily a show biz and culture blog, today we want to celebrate her support for folk music, particularly African American voices. She hosted the White Top Music Festival in Virginia in 1933. When black opera singer Marian Anderson was barred from performing at Constitution Hall in 1939, Mrs. Roosevelt withdrew her membership from the DAR, and gave a medal to Anderson. She was a friend and fan of Josh White (who sang at FDR’s third inaugural), and hired his brother as her personal secretary. In 1941, she hosted the cast of the radio show Back Where I Come From (White, Woody Guthrie, Burl Ives, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly et al) at a special concert the White House. Later Guthrie wrote a beatutiful song of consolation called “Dear Mrs. Roosevelt” when the President passed away. The FDR library has an archive of 70 songs written by women on the theme of world peace, sent to her on account of her advocacy.

Like her husband, Mrs. Roosevelt was a media star. In addition to writing several newspaper and magazine columns, she also hosted her own radio and television programs, as laid out here. Among her celebrity friends: Helen Gahagan Douglas,Shirley Temple, Helen Keller, Katharine Cornell. Nightclub comedian Arthur Blake, did a funny impression of her. Lenny Bruce made jokes about her calculated to offend EVERYBODY regardless of political persuasion. She has been played on screen by actresses such as Jane Alexander and Eileen Heckart.

How ecstatic Mrs. Roosvelt would be to learn of her party’s current candidate for President. Please honor her memory and her ideals by making Kamala Harris America’s next leader this November 5!