Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt

Do you know who the First Lady is? There are many first ladies, but there is only one “First Lady”.

What does a hero mean to you? Could it mean helpful, or brave? Maybe they always do the right thing, maybe they don’t give up. There is a definition for a hero in the dictionary, but the word, hero, means something different to everyone.

My hero is Eleanor Roosevelt. She is my hero because she pushed through all of her hardships. Her life was full of hardships, but somehow she came through to be a person who wants to help others. She stood up for people’s rights, no matter what race.

Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884, in New York City. She had a mother, father and two younger brothers. She was born the niece of the president Theodore Roosevelt. Her mother was the first of her family to die. She died when Eleanor was just eight years old. Her father was the second. He died just before Eleanor was ten. Before he died, he often suffered from frequent mental depressions and alcoholism. He was gone often because of these. In the short amount of time periods that she saw him, they became very close. After both of her parents died, she went to move in with their grandmother. Shortly after arriving, her oldest brother died. After graduating from a girl’s school, Eleanor married her 6th cousin, Franklin Roosevelt. They had six children, one of whom died in infancy.

At age 15, Eleanor attended a school for young women. There she was taught “a sense of service and responsibility to society”, says her teacher. After she graduated, she went out to do good for others. During that time, she and her cousin, Franklin, started dating. They married on March 15, 1905. Between the years 1906 and 1916, they had six children. During the time that Franklin was appointed head of assistant director of the Navy, Eleanor did lots of work with the Red Cross. She went overseas and cheered up the troops, and checked the facilities if they were clean and safe.

Of the four other members in her family, three died when she was young. She and her youngest brother were the only survivors. Her mother died when she was eight, and her father before she was ten. Her oldest brother died just after moving in with their grandmother. When Franklin became president, it was hard for Eleanor. She never wanted to be in the public eye because of her appearance. Her mother was always ashamed of her appearance because she was not pretty. She also wanted to keep her personal life. She even wrote, “This is the end of my private life.” When Franklin was in office, he became ill with polio. He lost the use of his legs, but he survived. He later died in office in 1945.

When she was overseas, she was appreciated for helping cheer up troops and making sure Red Cross facilities were clean. She was always speaking out for equal rights of people no matter what race they were. She was promoted for the cause of Arthurdale, a farming community that was built by the government for unemployed miners. Harry Truman also appointed her the American Representative for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. This is what got her into speaking out for human rights.

Eleanor Roosevelt died of bone marrow tuberculosis on November 7, 1962, at age 78 in New York City. Still to this day, she is recognized for being “The First Lady”.