Though she was born into a world of wealth and privilege, little Eleanor was shy and painfully conscious of “my lack of beauty.”  She compensated for her shortcomings through diligent study, a keen interest in the life of her nation, and an eager will to be useful by improving the lot of the less fortunate.  “Do one thing every day that scares you,” was her advice to the timid.

Eleanor was initially thrust into public life when she married Franklin Delano Roosevelt (first, governor of New York and then, President of the United States).  As First Lady, she championed working women, wrote a weekly column advocating for the neglected, and after her husband’s death, chaired the U.N. Committee that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  She maintained a steadfast hope in the future and in the progress of her nation’s ideals.