The 1940’s was not only the age of shirtwaist dresses, atomic bombs, and World War II, but it was also the time of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Although widely known for her husband, former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theo Baker ’22 explored the independent legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt during his Abbot Independent Scholar Presentation this past Friday.
Taking the opportunity of President’s Day to explore a more hidden narrative, Baker discussed Eleanor Roosevelt’s story. He reinforced the importance of acknowledging the stories of political figures with different identities, especially due to the demographics of the United State’s political history.
“On Presidents Day, we celebrate 45 white men and 1 Black man. There is very little diversity in the image of power that we have. Eleanor Roosevelt is a person who really broke the mold, and sort of broke into politics in a way that she really was not supposed to. On a day where we celebrate so many straight white men, it’s important to talk about how even in the past that narrative has been different,” said Baker in an interview with The Phillipian.
During the presentation, Baker detailed the life of Roosevelt and her childhood traumas. Both of her parents passed away in her early childhood, leaving Roosevelt to raise her younger brothers. While married to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, she discovered her husband was having an affair with the secretary she hired, Lucy Mercer. However, according to Baker, Roosevelt was also theorized to have another lover—journalist Lorena Hickok—who she exchanged frequent affectionate letters with.
“[Eleanor Roosevelt’s] life is a lot more interesting than the picture we have. She was a lesbian in a time period where that was not acceptable. She was thoroughly abused and thoroughly traumatized and still somehow staked her own place. She battled misogyny on a day to day basis, as much as any person in the 20th century did. Remembering Eleanor for her story, as an individual… is a really important task,” said Baker.
Despite her struggles, Roosevelt was an integral part of her husband’s presidential campaign. Baker emphasized the independent role that Roosevelt took in Former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s campaign. According to Baker, Eleanor Roosevelt’s independence took immense courage and played an important role in gaining political traction for Former Vice President Henry Wallace.
“Armed with a single sheet of notes… Eleanor Roosevelet entered a hostile convention floor with the goal of unifying the party behind her husband’s [Vice President] pick. She stepped on stage and delivered a powerful address that was later single handedly credited with saving her husband’s political blunder and securing his third term. In just six minutes, she overwhelmingly turned the tide. A convention floor about to riot was shocked into silence… and then hours later voted in near unison for [Former Vice President] Wallace, who was received well by newspapers the next day,” said Baker.
Attendee Maggie Qi ’24 expressed that they enjoyed learning about Eleanor Roosevelt’s own journey. According to Qi, Baker framed Roosevelt through her activism, research, and work ethic, rather than her role as First Lady.
“I feel like it deviated from the narrative of her being the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt and [focused] more on Eleanor Roosevelt herself, her legacy, what she did as an independent woman… She’s often in FDR’s shadow and this This slideshow could not be started. Try refreshing the page or viewing it in another browser.
