Eleanor Roosevelt: A Legacy of Advocacy
Early Life and Education Eleanor Roosevelt was born into privilege on October 11, 1884, in New York City, but her early life was far from idyllic. The niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, young Eleanor faced profound loss when her mother Anna died of diphtheria when Eleanor was just eight years old. Her father Elliott, struggling with alcoholism, died less than two years later, leaving Eleanor an orphan at age nine. Sent to live with her maternal grandmother, Eleanor found solace in education at Allenswood Academy in England. Under the guidance of headmistress Marie Souvestre, she developed confidence and independent thinking - traits that would later define her public life. Here, far from the constraints of New York society, Eleanor blossomed into a thoughtful young woman with a growing social conscience. Marriage and Political Partnership Her marriage to fifth cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1905 marked the beginning of a complex partnership that would reshape American politics...