7 Eleanor Roosevelt 7When Franklin became governor of New York in 1929,
Eleanor found an opportunity to combine the responsi-
bilities of a political hostess with her own burgeoning
career and personal independence. She continued to teach
at Todhunter, a girls’ school in Manhattan that she and two
friends had purchased, making several trips a week back
and forth between Albany and New York City.
She continued along these lines as First Lady during
Franklin’s 12 years as president. The unprecedented
breadth of Eleanor’s activities and her advocacy of liberal
causes made her nearly as controversial a figure as her
husband. She instituted regular White House press con-
ferences for women correspondents. Therefore, wire
services that had not formerly employed women were
forced to do so in order to have a representative present in
case important news broke. In deference to the president’s
infirmity, she helped serve as his eyes and ears throughout
the nation, embarking on extensive tours and reporting
to him on conditions, programs, and public opinion.
Beginning in 1936 she wrote a daily syndicated newspaper
column, “My Day.” A widely sought-after speaker at politi-
cal meetings and at various institutions, Eleanor showed
particular interest in child welfare, housing reform, and
equal rights for women and ethnic minorities.
In 1939, when the Daughters of the American
Revolution (DAR) refused to let Marian Anderson, an
African American opera singer, perform in Constitution
Hall, Eleanor resigned her membership in the DAR and
arranged to hold the concert at the nearby Lincoln
Memorial. The event turned into a massive outdoor cele-
bration attended by 75,000 people. Eleanor’s defense of
the rights of African Americans, youth, and the poor
helped to bring groups into government that formerly had
been alienated from the political process.