Eleanor Roosevelt 
by Douglas Chandor

[White House Collection, courtesy of the White House Historical Association]

"We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind. This declaration may well become the international Magna Carta for all men everywhere. We hope its proclamation by the General Assembly will be an event comparable to the proclamation in 1789 [of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man], the adoption of the Bill of Rights by the people of the U.S., and the adoption of comparable declarations at different times in other countries..."

Listen to Eleanor Roosevelt on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (RealPlayer needed) .

The "First Lady of the World"

In early October 2001, I visited Val-Kill, the home of Eleanor Roosevelt in Hyde Park, NY. 

Eleanor Roosevelt, whom President Harry Truman called the "First Lady of the World," has always been an inspiration.

At 19 and barely out of school, Eleanor enrolled in the Junior League of New York where she taught calisthenics and dancing to immigrants and in the Consumers' League where she investigates working conditions in the garment districts. From then until her death in 1962, her life was a continuous fight for the oppressed. For more, see the PBS site, Eleanor Roosevelt.