Eleanor

But first….Suffrage

Women Have Not invaded Politics; politics have invaded the home

1840s, a campaign began to redress the legal disadvantages of married women

In all states, married women were legal possessions, rather than legal persons

Married women had no control over their property no rights to their earnings no guardianship rights over their

children

1840s, efforts met with some success 1848, the New York legislature passed

a bill married women could retain control over

their property By 1865, 29 states had enacted some

form of Married Women’s Property Laws

the process continued for the rest of the century

If we were cynical we would recognize that their

enactment reflected not so much a new respect for wives as a changing economy

one that required investment capital and a spirit of risk

SO the laws protected property not only from husbands but also from a husband’s creditors

The battle against legal inequalities continued after 1848 under the banner of the women’s rights movement

When women’s rights advocates attempted to draft a manifesto for their first convention at Seneca Falls in 1848, they felt

said Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “as helpless as if they had been

asked to construct a steam engine.”

The Declaration of Sentiments that resulted

mobilized a battery of grievances that women had voiced for two decades and transformed them into a cohesive program of reforms

 Identifying the enemy as the “absolute tyranny” of man

The Declaration enumerated “his repeated injuries and usurpations.” Women had been excluded from

higher education, profitable employment, the trades and commerce, the pulpit, the professions, and the franchise.

They were deprived of property rights, Denied guardianship of their children.

The new call to arms of 1848, and the movement it began, was a direct descendant of the abolitionist crusade, in which most of its leaders participated

From the abolitionists, the early feminists (a word they would not have identified with) inherited a geographical circuit, a mode of agitation, a human rights ideology, and even a small constituency

The movement in its early stages, discarded formal organization.

No elaborate networks of female societies, no state or national organizations, no battalions of officers, agents, managers, and visitors

A spontaneous informality prevailed. Individuals or contingents took off on

speaking tours or petition campaigns An informal, shifting series of

committees ran conventions

Under Catt’s Leadership

The National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

Pushed for suffrage at state level

A gradual (slow?) movement

1890 two rival organizations (NWSA and AWSA) united as the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

1909 Carrie Chapman Catt takes over as leader

In 1913 Alice Paul and Lucy Burns convinced the NAWSA to allow them to restart a national campaign

First event organized Campaign along Pennsylvania Avenue

outside the White House on March 3, 1913

Day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration

A calculated plan to make use of the press and publicity people already in the city

Wilson arrived in DC on the train crowds he expected to be there were all

watching the parade

Parade led by Inez Milholland dressed in white on a white horse

Followed by thousands of supporters

Eventually Burns and Paul organized a separate group

Congressional Union Began to use the votes of women in

the west to bring pressure for change Change name to the National

Women’s Party (NWP) The NAWSA in response changed

tactics Carrie Chapman Catt came back to

lead a refocused NAWSA for federal change

And, some argue, to steal the glory

The Progressive era

Increased immigration provides the context for the progressive movement

In the 1890s the numbers of “new immigrants” grew at amazing rates. Italians, Slavs, Greeks, and Jews from

southern and eastern Europe 1882: 87% of immigrants from a

Northwestern Europe Great Britain, Scandinavia, and Germany

1907: 81% of immigrants came from a Southwestern European country

 Most lived in crowded conditions.

 1890s Chicago In one 36 block

section only ¼ of the people had access to a bathroom with running water

Health conditions spur disease

in one Chicago immigrant ward 20% of all infants die in their 1st year of life

Daughters of immigrant parents sought employment in whatever was available near their homes

Woman worker distinguished by unskilled work low pay concentration in a limited segment of

industry In 1899 man employed in industry earned

$597 A woman $314

Into this urbanizing, industrializing, conflict filled context came

Middle class “new woman” and the “working girl” of the working

class each of whom enjoyed a

measure of individuality and autonomy

The individuality of the new woman and the working girl also marked a shift toward autonomy, pleasure, and consumption

Perhaps the most striking evidence of change among women was

The emergence of the College educated Frequently unmarried self-supporting woman

After Civil War first generation of such women formed in the intense world of women’s colleges

Challenged conventional wisdom about women’s intellectual capacities

Developed deep bonds with sister students

1870 11,000 women students enrolled in higher education 21% of all students

1880 40,000 32% of all students 

On graduation faced stark choice Traditional domesticity of marriage Or a career of paid work

Nearly half of college educated women in the late nineteenth century never married

Those who did did so late than most women bore fewer children

For a few years or for a lifetime Independent career created a new

life style

Feminization of clerical work by turn of the century reflected bothVast growth of business Limited opportunities elsewhere

Women first began taking office jobs during the Civil War

Improved technology created new jobs for by the 1890s

Introduction of the typewriter a special boon

Original typewriter alphabetical keys

women so efficient that the keys jammed

get the qwerty keyboard we still use today

Half nation’s high school graduates completed business programs

By 1890 majority of high school graduates were women

Women’s entry into office work took on huge proportions.

In 1870 women 3% of office workers By 1890 17% Women also worked as sales clerks

in retail stores another outpost of business expansion

By the 1890s Newly won, still

contested , independence began to show up in styles of dress as well

The fresh, athletic Gibson girl

played tennis and golf and rode a bicycle despite her long skirts

With hair piled atop her head and a tiny waist the Gibson Girl represented a serene self-confidence that could surmount any problem.

The envy of all who knew her

aloof of her surroundings but not to the extent of haughtiness.

She was at once remote but yet accessible.

Into this exciting yet crazy and chaotic era Eleanor Roosevelt was born

Eleanor II

“My mother was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. Her father, my grandfather Hall, never engaged in business. He lived on what his father and mother gave him.”Opening words to Eleanor Roosevelt’s autobiography

Quotations One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is

expressed in the choices one makes Do what you feel in your heart to be right — for you'll be

criticized anyway. You'll be "damned if you do, and damned if you don't."

I have never felt that anything really mattered but the satisfaction of knowing that you stood for the things in which you believed and had done the very best you could.

A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Will people ever be wise enough to refuse to follow bad

leaders or to take away the freedom of other people? If the use of leisure time is confined to looking at TV for

a few extra hours every day, we will deteriorate as a people.

Short video overview of

her life

Born New York City October 11, 1884

daughter of Anna Hall and Elliott Rooseveltyounger brother of Theodore

Mother died in 1892Father died two years later.

thirty-five honorary degrees during her life

1968 the United Nations Human Rights Prize

campaign to award her a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize a posthumous nomination has never

been considered for the award Only First Lady to receive honorary

membership into Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated World's first sorority for African

American women.

1890 went with Father and Mother on a trip to Europe, primarily Italy

While in Europe Eleanor’s brother Hall was born in Paris, where her mother had taken residence

Eleanor was sent to a convent to learn French

This gives me the chance to let you hear Eleanor’s voice

Audio clip from interview with

Eleanor Roosevelt

Of her birth she was to write “..in October, 1884, I came into the

world, and from all accounts I must have been a more wrinkled and less attractive baby than the average”

As noted in the opening words, and the above description, ER considered herself devoid of beauty

A theme that will run through her childhood and beyond

“I would have given anything to be a singer. I felt that one could give a great deal of pleasure and, yes, receive attention and admiration!

Attention and Admiration were the things through all my childhood which I wanted, because I was made to feel so conscious of the fact that nothing about me would attract attention or bring me admiration.”

What impact did this have on her life and outlook?

Of her mother “belonged to that New York City which

thought itself all-important” A society in which “you were kind to the poor” “accepted invitations to dine and

dance with the right people only” “you read the books everyone read” “In short, you confirmed to the

conventional pattern”

One of Eleanor Roosevelt's childhood homes Overlooking the Hudson River to the Catskills

with 800-ft. river frontage c. 1880 8,500 sq. ft. 9 marble fireplaces 900-sq.-ft. great room 18-ft. ceilings 8-plus bedrooms, basement, and servants'

quarters.

In description of her childhood home “back of that [the dinning room] was

the pantry, where I spent considerable time, for the butler, Victor, was kind to me and taught me how to wash dishes and wipe them”

Of Mrs. Overhalse, who was the families laundress

“She taught me to wash and iron, and although I was not allowed to do the finer things, the handkerchiefs, napkins and towels fell to my lot, and I loved the hours spent with this cheerful woman”

“Very early I became conscious of the fact that there were people around me who suffered in one way or another”

Age 5/6 taken to serve a Thanksgiving dinner to homeless children

Took Christmas trees to Hells Kitchen New York

Visited children in “casts and splints” at Dr Schaffer’s Orthopedic Hospital

She was “particularly

interested in them because I had a curvature myself and wore for some time a steel brace which was vastly uncomfortable and prevented my bending over”

1899 sent by grandmother who looked after her after parents death

To England as part of her education

Once there she was enrolled atMlle. Souvestre’s school

Allenswood

“Mlle. Souvestre held her history classes in her library. . . Mlle. Souvestre carried a long pointer in her hand, and usually a map hung on the wall. She would walk up and down, lecturing to us. We took notes, but were expected to do a good deal of independent reading and research. We wrote papers on the subjects assigned and labored hard over them. This was the class we enjoyed beyond any other.”

While at the school, she read reports of the Boer war (1899-1902 )

Mlle. Souvestre was against the idea of a war for empire

Watched the funeral procession of Queen Victoria

At the age of 18 she returned to New York for her official introduction to society