Eleanor blazed her own trail
on the way to securing a greater level of world peace.
In her quest for greater world peace and social justice,
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, known simply today as Eleanor
Roosevelt, has obtained an enduring place in American
and international history. Her advocacy for the human
rights of every individual, her lasting contributions
to both the civil rights and womens movements, and her
widespread travels to the farthest corners of the globe
have earned Eleanor the nickname First Woman of the
World. But, the voyage of Eleanor Roosevelt was not
an easy one; rather, she often took the road less traveled
and, in fact, many times Eleanor blazed her own trail
on the way to securing a greater level of world peace.
Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884. As
a child, she was extremely shy and full of fears. Looking
back, Eleanor recalled that she was afraid of almost
everything. In addition, she often felt that she could
not measure up to the standard of beautiful women in
her family, but this all changed with the special friendship
she forged with Mlle. Souvestre, the headmistress at
Allenswood, the school she attended in England. During
her years at Allenswood, Eleanor revealed a brightness
and compassion that drew others to her.
On March 17, 1905, Eleanor married Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, who as to become a president of the US. Together
they had six children. In 1921, President Roosevelt
was paralyzed from the waist down with polio. It was
through this unfortunate experience that Eleanor's public
role greatly changed. She became her husband's eyes
and ears and in so doing, a new door of opportunity
was opened to her --- because of what she saw and heard,
Eleanor developed her own understanding and opinion
of the political issues she witnessed.
Eleanor became a great advocate of civil rights. The
information she gathered was on a first hand basis.
When she traveled to the South to inspect the New Deal
programs of her husband's presidential administration,
Eleanor witnessed discrimination directed at blacks
every step along the way. When she went home, she found
statistics to back up all the things she had seen. Then,
she went to Franklin with her case, determined to make
him listen to what she had to say even if it meant proposing
issues to him over dinner, interrupting his cocktail
parties, or giving him memos to read. Eleanor's direct
approach produced immediate results such as the signing
of executive orders prohibiting discrimination in various
New Deal projects.
From this moment on, Eleanor's circle of concern broadened
and she began to understand the important role she could
play in putting discrimination to a stop. In 1938, Eleanor
attended the Southern Conference for Human Welfare in
Birmingham, Alabama. In Alabama, there was a segregation
ordinance that required whites to sit in the white section
and blacks to sit in the black section of an auditorium.
But Eleanor had a different idea. By refusing to abide
by this ordinance and sitting with her black friends,
Eleanor showed where she truly stood on the issue of
civil rights. To Eleanor, separate was wrong and equal
was not enough.
Eleanor also fought passionately for the cause of women.
She challenged not only institutions that refused or
restricted women, but also women themselves to expand
their horizons and she set them an example of action.
She became the first woman to speak at a national political
convention, hold regular press conferences sharing her
political views, and express her views on humanity in
a syndicated newspaper column. During World War II,
when Eleanor encouraged women to work in factories and
open new doors of opportunity, many women answered her
call. When the war ended and the women were promptly
fired, Eleanor argued for their cause saying that anyone
who wanted to work should have the right to be productive.
During the next years, Eleanor broadened her scope
of concerns once more and directed her energies at lobbying
for human rights worldwide. As a United Nations delegate,
she greatly contributed to the UN position on human
rights and was held in great esteem as an advocate of
global peace. She recognized the threat that nuclear
weapons posed and understood the importance of nuclear
containment. In addition, Eleanor served as the chair
on the Commission on Human Rights, which brought about
the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, accepted
on December 10, 1948.
Eleanor Roosevelt prevailed despite the many obstacles
that stood in her path. She remains a lasting inspiration
to the each generation. The message she shared was simple:
Eleanor Roosevelt wanted humankind to move away from
regarding a man or woman from the point of view of religion,
color, or sex and, instead, to respect the individual
within each human being.
Kay Fukunaga is a student at St. Anthony High School
in Wailuku, Hawai'i.
