The VViieewwVol.3 No.1 The newsletter of Honoring Eleanor Roosevelt A Project to Preserve Her Val-Kill Home Summer 2008

from Val-Kill Cottage

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Geraldine Ferraro Geraldine Ferraro 2008 Recipient of the 2008 Recipient of the eleanor roosevelt:eleanor roosevelt:

following in her footsteps awardfollowing in her footsteps award

On May 1st friends committed to restoring Eleanor Roosevelt’shome at Val-Kill met at the Algonquin Club in Boston’s Back Bay tohonor the achievements of Eleanor Roosevelt and make this year’spresentation of the organization’s prestigious award, Honoring EleanorRoosevelt: Following in Her Footsteps, to Geraldine Ferraro. Presentingthe award statue with a warm commendation was Cathy DouglasStone, the 2006 award recipient.

Gerry Ferraro has followed in Eleanor Roosevelt's footsteps inmyriad ways both political and social. She served in the House ofRepresentatives from 1979 to 1985 and was the first woman on amajor party presidential ticket, running for Vice President withWalter Mondale on the Democratic ticket in 1984. Again followingin ER's footsteps, she was appointed U.S.Ambassador to the UNCommission on Human Rights in 1994 by President Clinton. A writer and political commentator, as was Mrs. R, Gerry writes a col-

umn for the New York Times syndicate and is a political analyst onthe Fox News Channel. Mrs. Roosevelt played a central role in theDemocratic Party, and Gerry follows in her footsteps there.

In her remarks, Ms. Ferraro lauded event honorary co-chairs MASenate President Therese Murray and Boston's First Lady,AngelaMenino, for their singular accomplishments--Senator Murray as thefirst woman President of the Massachusetts State Senate and Mrs.Menino for her civic initiatives throughout the city of Boston.

Carol Hillman, chair of Honoring Eleanor Roosevelt, spoke abouther and her mother Elsa Hoppenfeld Resika's meetings with Mrs.Roosevelt. Grandson Jim Roosevelt and his wife Ann spoke aboutthe need to restore Val-Kill.

The audience was also updated on the organization's successes inhelping preserve Val-Kill and on the progress in constructing the newexhibits for the refurbished Visitor Center.

Event photo album on pages 4-5Excerpts of Ms. Ferraro’s remarks on page 6

FromCarol HillmanChair

June 20, 2008

Dear Friends:

On May 1 members of the Massachusetts Honoring Eleanor Roosevelt Committeeand our donors joined to celebrate Eleanor Roosevelt and a woman who has followedin her footsteps, Geraldine Ferraro. Eleanor Roosevelt believed her finest achievementwas the Universal Declaration of Human rights. She had been appointed to the UNCommission on Human Rights by President Harry Truman and became chairman andthe primary advocate for the Declaration. She was also a consummate politician andDemocratic Party leader and a leader in the movement to achieve equality for women.

When our Executive Committee decided last fall to honor Gerry Ferraro, we lookedat her role in all of these areas and found her truly to be following in EleanorRoosevelt’s footsteps. At our event, Gerry spoke movingly of her childhood and ER’splace in the hearts of her family; of the first time she met Mrs. Roosevelt; and of thecritical roles ER and her mother played in Gerry’s life choices. It was a wonderfulevening and you will see photos from that evening in this newsletter and on our website. It was a happy crowd.

I was privileged to introduce our hosts for the evening, Jim and Ann Roosevelt, and Iwanted to share with you some of the comments I made before introducing them. I’dbe happy to hear your reaction:

“There are things in our lives that touch us in a way that is formative. For me one of thoseevents was my meeting with Mrs. Roosevelt when I was 18. Her courage and kindness had animpact far beyond that meeting. It was a small demonstration of courage, but courage it wasnonetheless, when she flew through a blizzard to land in Madison, Wisconsin so that she couldkeep her date with 1300 students at the University of Wisconsin. Her kindness to this 18 yearold has remained with me to this day as an example of how greatness abides in a person through small gestures. On a larger scene, she inspires us all with her courage in drivingpast KKK rallies to speak in the south; in speaking out for miners in Appalachia and those whowere poor or disenfranchised throughout America and the world; and in taking on the bigotsand racists when it wasn’t popular….

“It’s clear to me that everyone who supports our cause to preserve Eleanor Roosevelt’shome has something in their lives that touched them. Whether it was meeting Mrs. Roosevelt,or finding America’s national parks for the first time, some spark was lit. And it was not justthe huge parks like Yellowstone or Zion that meant something. It’s about the small places closeto home, as ER said, that are the core of American values and what ER and Val-Kill represent.That’s why you are here and why so many of you have been with us since the beginning.”

We all want you, our supporters and readers of this newsletter, to know how muchwe appreciate your support and interest in our cause—to preserve Eleanor Roosevelt’slegacy through Val-Kill and to inspire new generations of young people to take up hercauses, because the fight for equality and human rights is not yet won.

Thank you all for being with us.Sincerely yours,

Carol Carol Hillman

HH oo nn oo rr ii nn gg EE ll ee aa nn oo rr RR oo oo ss ee vv ee ll ttA Project to Preserve Her Val-Kill Home

Carol Hillman, ChairClaudine Bacher, Founding Chair

Lisa A. LaCava, Executive Director

National Park ServiceSarah Olson, Superintendent

Save America’s TreasuresBobbie Greene McCarthy, Director

National Council

Founding Chair, SATSenator Hillary Rodham Clinton

Executive CommitteeClaudine BacherMary ChampenoisGeorgie GatchBetsy Shure GrossCarol HillmanBarbara A. LevyBobbie Greene McCarthy

National CouncilJane AlexanderAllida Black, PhDBlanche Wiesen Cook, PhDMaureen CorrSusan CurnanPriscilla H. Douglas EdDDeborah DuranSusan EisenhowerHamilton Fish IIIRepresentative Kirsten GillibrandBlanche K. Goldstein, Esq.Senator & Mrs. Bob GrahamPamela Hayes, Esq.Cheryl Bell HomerRisa A. Levine, Esq.Representative Nita LoweyHarriet MillroseSally MinardRichard MoeSharon PatrickJames & Ann RooseveltEleanor SeagravesCathy Douglas Stone, Esq.The Honorable

Christine Todd Whitman

THE VIEW from Val-Kill Cottage

Judith Ross Morris, Editor & Designer

We welcome your comments.chillman96@verizon.net

Visit our website:www.honoringeleanorroosevelt.org

Carol Hillman and Riva

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It should come as no surprise that oneof ER’s and FDR’s great grandsons happensto be a practicing rabbi. After all, ER’s inde-pendent spirit and humanitarian legacywould no doubt set examples and influencefamily members. Indeed many of theRoosevelt descendants are productive peo-ple whose talents are wide ranging. So whileI wasn’t surprised, I was intrigued by thestory of this young rabbi when I chanced toread about him in a New York Times articleseveral years ago. His name is JoshuaBoettiger, and he is the grandson of theRoosevelt’s only daughter Anna and her sec-ond husband, John Boettiger. His Episcopalianfather happened to marry a Jewish woman,and Joshua grew up in Northhampton, MAwhere he attended both church and syna-gogue. He attended Bard College, majoredin comparative religion, and spent one of his semesters in Damascus. After college hewent to Israel and attended the JerusalemPadres Institute of Jewish studies. Uponhis return to the U.S, he enrolled in theReconstructionist Rabbinical College outsidePhiladelphia.“Reconstuctionism” definesJudaism as a religious civilization, encompass-ing history, literature, art, music and language.

After reading the Times article, I wroteto this interesting young Roosevelt and toldhim about our project to preserve his great

grandmother’s cherished “home of her own,”Val-Kill cottage, with the hope that we mightconnect at some point. He graciously wroteback, and I was pleased to have the opportu-nity to meet with him in person last fall. Bythis time Rabbi Boettiger was ensconced asthe rabbi of Temple Beth-El in Bennington,Vermont, a lovely town that is home to myalma mater, Bennington College.The oppor-tunity to meet this Roosevelt rabbi present-ed itself when I attended my 50th collegereunion, and I made it a point to attend hisservice on a beautiful October Saturday. Iwas graciously welcomed and spent a fabu-lous morning.

The exterior of Beth-El resembles thesmallish residential homes which line thestreet, but the interior, with its white andazure-blue stained glass windows, made itseem formal and well—like a synagogue.

Even if one didn’t know that RabbiBoettiger was a Roosevelt descendant,one would be struck by his tall, handsomebearing and sense of leadership. He definitelyreminded me of Eleanor and FDR in the way he connected with the congregation.

Somehow, I expected a Reconstructionistservice to be a new age, touchy-feely genre,but it was quite traditional, with Hebrewchanting and singing. Joshua’s dignity andwarmth made me think that his unique her-itage had laid the groundwork for his spiritu-al calling. I particularly enjoyed when heinvited all the children to come up to beblessed and when folks were asked what hadoccurred in the past week that made themfeel grateful. Many of the responses werecreative and touching.

After the service I joined everyone in thebasement for a glass of sweet Sabbath wineand talked informally to Joshua and hischarming fiancee. He mentioned that hisfather felt close to his grandmother, andthrough his father’s stories and memories ofER she had emerged as a towering figure intheir family. Her credo “Never stop growingboth politically and personally” left a markon him. He mused that “she would havemade a great rabbi.”

While he has not yet visited Val-Kill, hehopes to in the near future and applauds ourefforts to preserve it.

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By Claudine Bacher

Rabbi JoshuaBoettiger

Great grandson of Franklin and Eleanor follows proudly in his great grandparents’ independent and socially responsible footsteps.

The President and First Lady with some of their grandchildren

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FFFF OOOO LLLL LLLL OOOOWWWW IIII NNNN GGGG IIII NNNN HHHH EEEE RRRR FFFF OOOO OOOOTTTT SSSS TTTT EEEE PPPP SSSS I t was def in i te ly a n ight to remember.

Boston’s First Lady Angela Menino and GerryFerraro

Ronny Sydney, Chobee Hoy and HonoringEleanor Roosevelt Chair Carol Hillman

Gerry Ferraro and Massachusetts Secretary ofState Bill Galvin

Richard Noble, John and Judie Miodownik and HowardHillman

Claudine Bacher, Bobbie Green McCarthy, Gerry Ferraro and Mary Ellen Serino

Lois Pines and Barbara Lee

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AAAAWWWWAAAA RRRR DDDD NNNN IIII GGGG HHHH TTTT PPPP HHHH OOOOTTTTOOOO AAAA LLLL BBBB UUUU MMMMWish you had been there !

Gerry Ferraro and Cathy Douglas Stone pose with the award statue of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Ethel Woodard Stafford, Event Co-chair BetsyShure Gross and Pam Hayes

Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray withMondale/Ferraro t-shirt from 1984 presidential campaign

Ann and James Roosevelt enjoy alight moment.

When I was called about thisaward at the end of last year, I wasthrilled. The Roosevelts have beenpart of my life since I was a child.My father died suddenly on May29, 1944. I was eight years old.I can remember my mother, whowas all of 39, crying, trying to fig-ure out how she was going toraise two children on her own.We lived in Newburgh in OrangeCounty near Stewart Air Fieldwhich was then a military base.The following April, less than ayear later, I remember my mothercrying once again as she looked upand saw a plane flying overhead,heading toward Stewart. When Iasked why she was crying, she saidthe plane was carrying PresidentRoosevelt home for burial.

We moved to the South Bronxlater that year, and I grew up onthe periphery of politics. Mymother was busy working as acrochet beader and providing uswith the necessities of life. Wealways voted, but we never seemedto have the personal connectionwith anyone in government thatmy mother cried about in 1945.Until September 1961… [when] Isaw an announcement that EleanorRoosevelt was going to appear at alocal community house to speak.

I can remember being sweptaway by Mrs. Roosevelt--her com-ments, her voice, her stature. Itold more than one person thatwhen I went up to her afterwardsand made a comment about hertalk, she was most gracious andthat I was struck by her imposingpresence--that she was bigger thanlife. What was obvious was thateven if she hadn't been married tothe great FDR, she would have stillbecome one of the greatestwomen leaders of the 20th centu-ry because she was indeed a“Woman of Quality”….

I have been asked more than

once who my role models in lifewere. I have always said: twowomen, my mother and EleanorRoosevelt. In many ways theywere very different. Physically, mymother was even shorter than I;but emotionally and in every waythat can impact on a child's life, likeEleanor Roosevelt, she was tenfeet tall. But my mom came froma poor immigrant family; she hadlimited formal education and was asingle head of household strugglingto educate her kids.

Eleanor Roosevelt came from awell known and wealthy family andwas married to the most powerfulman in the world. My mother puther hopes and dreams in me andmy brother. She fought to makesure that I had the same opportu-nities as any other child, male orfemale. She told me I could bewhatever I wanted to be, and Ibelieved her. I am who I ambecause of her.

Eleanor Roosevelt, who couldhave stayed home and done thetraditional First Lady thing, becamea voice for women throughout theworld--not only as a woman sup-porting suffrage, not only as FirstLady during World War II visitingtroops, but also after the Presidentdied. She was a gutsy lady.

…I have spent an adult lifetimeadmiring Eleanor Roosevelt as apolitical person (though she wouldhave hated that designation), whounderstood how to use her cloutwhatever it was at whichever pointin her life, to work for the benefitof others. She knew how to pushwhen she believed in a just cause,and that was not only to accom-plish the big things by convincinggovernment and government offi-cials to help, but even the rathermundane things of raising moneyand speaking up for causes no oneelse heard of or cared about.Whenever she sought a position it

was not about her; it was aboutsomeone or something else.…Eleanor Roosevelt's accomplish-ments are many. But what madethem so significant was that theywere achieved despite the fact thatin many instances she was takingunpopular stands. She withstoodattacks because of her courageand integrity; she succeededbecause of her dedication to prin-ciple. A visit to Val-Kill makes herpresence very real, even nowalmost 50 years after her deathand, for those of you who have nothad the experience, I would urgeyou to do so.

When you called me about thisaward last year, I was reallypleased, for all the reasons I've justlaid out. What I didn't know atthe time was that EleanorRoosevelt and I had a few otherthings in common. She was aknitter. I am a knitter. She diedin November 1962 of bone mar-row tuberculosis. I was diagnosedin December 1998 with multiplemyeloma, a blood cancer thatdestroys the bone marrow. Shefought for universal health care. Iam now fighting to make sure thatthe cancer drugs that are availableto me, and are extending my lifewell beyond when I should behere, are available to everyone inthis country and not be dependenton whether or not they can affordthem. Now, maybe like EleanorRoosevelt and universal healthcare, I won't succeed either in thislast goal. But like my hero, I won'tstop trying.

It is very humbling to be giventhe Following in Her Footstepsaward. Little could I have imag-ined that day in 1961 when I mether that I would be receiving thisthese many years later. Manythanks, Mrs. Roosevelt, for being aninspiration.

May 1, 2008

EXCERPTS FROMGERALDINE FERRARO’S REMARKS

45 Fr45 Friends ofiends of VVal-Kill Enjoal-Kill Enjoy A Special Ty A Special TourourIt was a cloudy day with rain showers promised.

But 45 intrepid Friends of Val-Kill from New York andMassachusetts boarded a bus and cars for a day's outingin Hyde Park organized by Georgie Gatch and ClaudineBacher. Many were visiting Val-Kill for the first time.

They met at the Culinary Institute of America for asplendid lunch then headed for Eleanor Roosevelt'shome where the Park Rangers, headed by Fran Macsali

Urbin, Supervisory Ranger, took them on special toursof the cottage and showed “Close to Home”, the filmthat their, and your, contributions made possible.Thenew Fair Trade shop beckoned as well, and the groupfound time to buy mementos that would remind themof the day. The rain that fell during the tours did notdampen spirits, and all left the site feeling invigorated bytheir experience and by Eleanor Roosevelt's presence.

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NEW VNEW VAL-KILLAL-KILLEXHIBITS SET FOREXHIBITS SET FOROCTOCTOBER 11, 2008OBER 11, 2008DEBDEBUTUT

New exhibits funded by HonoringEleanor Roosevelt will openOctober 11th at Val-Kill. Theexhibits will focus on EleanorRoosevelt's activities in pursuit ofhuman rights as a journalist, partyleader, activist, diplomat, and edu-cator. One of the great challengesin conveying Eleanor Roosevelt'scourage and leadership, particular-ly to younger visitors, lies in com-municating the context of her era.The exhibits will recall the nationaland international crises that fol-lowed World War II--the atomic bomb, displaced refugees, racial

violence, labor unrest, and the coldwar--to highlight EleanorRoosevelt's leadership andcourage. Her outspoken positionon controversial issues often pro-voked intense criticism, eventhreats on her life.

One of the goals of the newexhibits is to give all visitors animpression of Ms. Roosevelt'swork at a glance, while providingopportunities to explore topicsfurther through a variety of cur-rent and future planned options,such as interactive databases, pod-

casts, web content, multi-mediadevices, as well as low-tech inter-active features.

The exhibit is filled with photo-graphs of Eleanor Roosevelt inaction and her own words. It fea-tures as its centerpiece theUniversal Declaration of HumanRights--one of Mrs. Roosevelt'smost challenging accomplishmentsand greatest legacies.

Exhibit fabrication will begin soonand continue through the summer,with installation in the fall.

Original Universal Declarationof Human Rights featured.By Frank FutralCurator of Decorative ArtsRoosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites

An example of the style and content of the new exhibits

My mother remembersEleanor Roosevelt as they bothwalked to a subway station in theWest Village. My mother, EvelynSchwartz, was a student at NewYork University, and she recalledseeing Eleanor Roosevelt duringher 1946 or 1947 school year.The year after that she marriedmy father, Lawrence Moser. Mymother told me the story as wewalked by the apartment house

where Mrs. Roosevelt resided, onthe corner of Waverly andWashington Square West.

My mother remembers Mrs.Roosevelt entering the D trainfrom the West 4th Street stationat some time in the middle ofthe afternoon.This was mymother's train back to her par-ents’ apartment in the Bronx.Although she recently celebratedher 80th birthday, my mother

recalls how Mrs. Roosevelt hadto bow her head to enter thetrain because she was so tall.

Of course, everyone in thesubway car instantly recognizedher as the late President's wifeand smiled at her. Although eyecontact was made, not one per-son disturbed her in any way oroverwhelmed her--as theywould today, my mother added.

Mrs. Roosevelt read herbook until she got off the train at48th Street. At the time, mymother assumed Mrs. Rooseveltwas off to fight the good fight atthe United Nations as she wasthen serving on our delegation.

So, another New York memo-ry is unearthed and brought backto life. A memory of a very spe-cial woman during a very specialtime and recalled by my veryspecial mother.

WWeesstt VViillllaaggeeWWeesstt VViillllaaggeeRR ee mm ii nn ii ss cc ee nn cc eeRR ee mm ii nn ii ss cc ee nn cc ee

By Jill Moser Shnayer

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Honoring Eleanor RooseveltA Project to Preserve Her Val-Kill Home

An Official Project of Save America's Treasures at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.All donations made payable to “SAT/National Trust” with “Val-Kill Cottage” on the memo line are 100% tax deductible.

All correspondence:

Carol HillmanHonoring Eleanor Roosevelt287 Kent StreetBrookline, MA 02446

Have a personal ERreminiscence you’d like to share?We’d love to print it inthe newsletter (alongwith a picture).

Please send it to l.lacava@verizon.net

NEW YORK,Thursday—I had a busyday in Washington on Tuesday. Firstthing on my schedule was to do aradio recording with Miss LorenaHickok on "Ladies of Courage",which Putnam's brings out nextweek. Miss Hickok and I wrote thisbook together.Primarily, it tells the story ofwomen—from precinct committee-women to Ambassadors—who haveheld positions in and under both theRepublican and Democratic parties.The idea behind the book, however,is to encourage women to feel thatthere is work of a political naturethey can do even if they cannot runfor high office or arrange to leavetheir home surroundings.I found that the research on women

in politics was revealing and exciting.Women are participating in greaternumbers as time goes by, but it can-not be denied that politics is still aman's world to a very great extenton the policy-making level.There have been some changes oflate, though, in both the DemocraticNational Committee and theRepublican National Committee.When the Democratic Nationalchairman told me about them, hesaid they were designed to bring thewomen in and integrate them withthe work of men. I was hopeful thatthis would work out to give themreal equality, but from what I am told

it really means less participation.Thismay be the fault of the women aswell as of the men, for in order tomake our presence felt in any field ofendeavor we must really want to dothings and enjoy doing them. In poli-tics, this goes for those taking parton the lowest rung of the politicalladder and those who might aspireto be President of our country.I hope this book, in which I canfrankly say Miss Hickok has done byfar the largest share of work, willprove of interest and value. I hope itappeals not only to women but tomen who may want to understandthe motivation of women in politics.I want to say that the chapter aboutme in the book was written entirelyby Miss Hickok, and I have not evenas yet read it. I did not want to be inany way responsible for it!

MyMy DayDay14 September 1954

By Eleanor Roosevelt

NOTE: This is an excerpt. For the complete text,please visit www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday. WorldCopyright, 1952, by United Feature Syndicate Inc.