Eleanor Roosevelt: A crusading spirit to move human rights forward
| Date | 01 December 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0924051918801610 |
| Published date | 01 December 2018 |
| Author | Anya Luscombe |
| Subject Matter | Column |
Column
Eleanor Roosevelt: A crusading
spirit to move human
rights forward
Anya Luscombe
University College Roosevelt, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
In December 2018 all peoples and all nations of the world can celebrate the seventieth anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ‘common standard of achievement’ of rights
and freedoms, the document that the first Chair of the Human Rights Commission, Eleanor
Roosevelt, called an international magna carta for all mankind.
1
Appointed to the United Nations by President Truman in 1946, Eleanor Roosevelt quickly
proved her critics wrong that she would not be able to make a substantial contribution to this new
organisation. On 27 January 1947 at Lake Success, New York, the members of the Human Rights
Commission unanimously elected Eleanor Roosevelt chair. She warned she would ‘not only be an
impartial Chairman, but perhaps at times a harsh driver’.
2
It was an enormously difficult task to
reach consensus on the wording of a declaration of principles that people of all creeds, colours,
races, and backgrounds could agree to jointly strive for. But she succeeded thanks to her diplomatic
and political skills. The declaration was adopted almost unanimously: eight abstentions, no votes
against. The general assembly members rose to their feet on 10 December 1948 to give Eleanor
Roosevelt a standing ovation.
The seventieth anniversary of the UDHR is an opportune moment to reflect on the key lead-
ership role played by Eleanor Roosevelt in both the creation of the UDHR and, throughout her life,
in the creation of greater consciousness of the rights of all peoples in the world. Which lessons can
those trying to achieve greater adherence to human rights in today’s world take from her leadership
characteristics?
Corresponding author:
Anya Luscombe, University College Roosevelt, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
E-mail: a.luscombe@ucr.nl
1. Eleanor Roosevelt, ‘Speech introducing the UDHR to the General Assembly of the United Nations’ (1948)
edu/*erpapers/maps/UDHRspeech.htm> accessed 21 June 2018.
2. John F. Sears, ‘Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ (2008) The Task Force – Celebrating
Eleanor Roosevelt
accessed 1 May 2018.
Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights
2018, Vol. 36(4) 241–246
ªThe Author(s) 2018
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0924051918801610
journals.sagepub.com/home/nqh
NQHR
NQHR
1. Crusading spirit
In April 1948, seven and a half months before the adoption of the UDHR, Eleanor Roosevelt was
awarded an honorary doctorate of laws by Utrecht University, the first such award by the Univer-
sity to a woman. In her acceptance speech she took the opportunity to stress both the importance of
a strong United Nations for the world and the importance of including better social economic
conditions in post-war reconstruction efforts. ‘There must be a crusading spirit and a maturity’, she
said, ‘which comes from the love of other human beings, or our best plans will fail.’
3
By April 1948 anyone who had followed ER (as she is commonly referred to by scholars) would
have been able to predict that she would be able to bring the negotiations on the UDHR to a
successful end. Her crusading spirit, political acumen, memory, tenacity, and deep belief in human
dignity, human rights and responsibilities, were there for all to see. It is all the more frustrating,
therefore, that her enormous contribution as a human rights leader is often overlooked.
2. Developing a social and political conscience
Eleanor Roosevelt’s interest in the plight of others and finding practical, political and legal solu-
tions to help had started early, well before she entered the White House as the First Lady, wife of
President Delano Roosevelt.
ER was born in 1884, the daughter of Elliott Roosevelt and Anna Hall. Elliott was the brother of
Theodore Roosevelt, US president from 1901-1909. Eleanor’s parents both died before she reached
the age of 10 and she went to live with her strict Victorian grandmother. In 1899 Eleanor was sent
to Allenswood Academy for Girls in London where the progressive headmistress Marie Souvestre
recognised Eleanor’s intellect and potential and urged her to be socially and politically involved.
Souvestre and her pupil spent the summers traveling through Europe ‘seeing both the grandeur and
the squalor of the nations they visited.’
4
On her return to the US, Eleanor - much to the surprise of
her family -volunteered to work in settlement homes in the slums of New York City.
She married her fifth cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in 1905 and within ten years had six
children, one of whom died in infancy. Franklin became assistant-secretary to the Navy in 1913 and
Eleanor hated t he social duties that were e xpected of her as a politicia n’s wife. World War I though
meant social duties were much less expected and Eleanor volunteered to work for the Red Cross.
In the 1920s she joined the New York City Women’s Club and also became active in the
National Consumers League and the New York chapters of the League of Women Voters and the
Women’s Trade Union League. When in 1921 FDR contracted polio, ER took it upon herself to
keep the Roosevelt name at the for efront of the political scene. She became the Democrat ic
Women’s Committee vice-president and finance chairman, and edited the Women’s Democratic
News. Her ‘political contributions and organizational sagacity made her one of New York’s
leading politicians ...Repeatedly she goaded women’s and other reform groups to set realistic
goals, prioritize their tasks, and delegate assignments.’
5
3. Eleanor Roosevelt, ‘Redevoeringen gehouden ter gelegenheid van de erepromotie van Mrs. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt-
Roosevelt op 20 April 1948’, Jaarboek der Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht 1947-1948 (Drukkerij v.h. Keming & Zoon NV
1948).
4. Columbian College of Arts & Sciences, ‘Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project’,
nor-roosevelt> accessed 1 May 2018.
5. ibid.
242 Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 36(4)
3. Women’s rights
The 1920s is also the time ER honed her skills as a communicator, giving speeches, writing articles
and opinion pieces and getting involved in broadcasting. When it comes to radio and the Roose-
velts, FDR’s Fireside Chats spring to mind, but it was actually his wife who broadcasted much
earlier and more frequently.
6
In fact, in the 1930s she was one of the most highly paid broadcasters
in the US: very unusual at a time when the numbers of women on air were extremely low and those
speaking about social and political issues even lower.
7
She came in for much criticism; her
activities were seen as unbecoming for a woman, particularly a First Lady. However, her journal-
istic endeavours gave her a chance to earn money which she could give to charity and for her to
show that a woman could have an independent career.
ER frequently appealed to her female audiences that it was up to them to be active citizens, to
hold their elected representatives to account and form together to work for peace in the world. At
a ceremony in her honour in the Parliamentary buildings in The Hague on 19 April 1948,
organised by the Dutch National Women’s committee, she called on the women there to support
the United Nations.
8
When awarded the honorary doctorate of laws in Utrecht the following day,
she was recognised for her work in the field of social justice, but also for being ‘the perfect
mother’ and the wife of FDR. She graciously accepted the award as an expression of gratit ude to
her husband and the US.
9
Indeed, in much of what she did at the UN she wanted to secure her
husband’s legacy.
ER did not identify with the tactics of the more militant feminists of the National and World
Women’s Parties and her long-term opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, which she
believed would not protect women workers, has opened her up for criticism by those fighting for
emancipation.
10
Yet, while she often said that a woman’s prime work was in the home (a realistic
observation given the social context of her time), she also tried to use her influence in a pragmatic
way to further the cause of women’s rights. In 1933 when ER became First Lady she decided to
hold women-only Press conferences so that newspapers during the depression would have to keep
at least one female political reporter on the books if they wanted to cover the First Lady. She
pressured the administration to appoint women to key positions in government and vociferously
reminded the administration to ensure women – and African/Americans – were not left out of the
New Deal support programs.
What would ER have said about political participation of women across the world today? While
the number of women in parliament across the globe has doubled since 1995, figures from UN
Women from 2016 show it is still only 22.8 percent - a long way off the 50-50 split to represent the
6. In a series of broadcasts the first of which took place in March 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ‘chatted’ to
the American public via the radio about government plans to counter the Great Depression and on war preparations.
See, for example, Amos Kiewe, FDR’s First Fireside Chat: Public Confidence and the Banking Crisis (Texas A&M
University Press 2007).
7. Paul Belgrade, ‘Radio Broadcasts’ in M. Beasley, H. Shulman and H. Beasley (eds), The Eleanor Roosevelt Ency-
clopedia (Greenwood Press 2001).
8. ‘Eleanor Roosevelt gehuldigd door de vrouwen van Nederland’ (19 April 1948) De Tijd accessed 1
May 2018.
9. Redevoeringen (n 3).
10. Paula F. Pfeffer, ‘Eleanor Roosevelt and the National and World Woman’s Parties’ (1996) The Historian
harvey.binghamton.edu/*hist266/era/eleanor.htm#fortytwo> accessed 21 June 2018.
Luscombe 243
way populations are divided.
11
What would ER have said about continued discrimination and lack
of access to education and job opportunities for women in many countries? For example, the 20
percent pay gap in the US and the situation in developing Asian countries where less than half of all
womenworkcomparedwith80percentofmen?
12
Such figures can be depressing, but it is
important to remember that the world has come a long way since the UDHR. The Convention
on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Declara-
tion and Platform for Action, as well as many other agreements, help those who are aiming to
achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women.
4. Minorities’ rights
Eleanor Roosevelt also fought for the recognition of minorities. She joined the Washington
chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and National Urban
League, invited key activists to the White House, and advocated for the integration of African-
Americans in the American military. In 1939 she resigned from the prestigious Daughters of the
American Revolution organisation when it refused to allow the African-American contralto
Marian Anderson to use its hall – and organised for Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial
instead. She was unsuccessful, however, in persuading FDR to back anti-lynching federal
legislation. Her stance on civil rights attracted much criticism from politicians and commentators
opposed to the Roosevelt administration or opposed to her personally and throughout her life she
received death threats from organisations like the Ku Klux Klan.
What would ER have said about the deplorable state of race-relations in the US today? When
hundreds of young African-American men are shot by police each year and the country’s President
describes individuals living in neighbouring countries as ‘drug dealers and rapists’?
13
The UDHR
is clear on discrimination and the right to life, liberty and security. ER would have used the media
to make her concerns clear, she would have lobbied for change, she would have confronted those
who discriminate and not been afraid to call out those, including the powerful, who appear to
condone white supremacy.
5. Rights of the dispossessed
Eleanor Roosevelt was cut out for her assignment to Committee Three of the UN, which dealt with
the thorny issue of refugee resettlement. The Soviet Union insisted all refugees return to their
country of origin, whereas Western nations argued refugees should be able to settle wherever they
wished. By 1959, fourteen years after the end of World War II, many refugees were still without a
home. In a United Nations radio broadcast to mark the UN Year of the refugee, ER made a moral
11. UN Women, ‘Facts and Figures: Leadership and Political Participation’ (2017)
leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures> accessed 1 May 2018.
12. American Association of University Women, ‘The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap’ (2017)
files/2017/09/TheSimpleTruthFall2017OnePager-nsa.pdf> accessed 1 May 2018; Asian Development Bank, ‘Closing
the Gender Gap’ (2018) accessed 20 July 2018.
13. Jon Swaine et al, ‘Young Black Men Killed by US Police at Highest Rate in Year of 1,134 Deaths’ (31 December 2015)
The Guardian
accessed 1 May 2018; Rupert Neate, ‘Donald Trump Doubles Down on Mexico ‘Rapists’ Comments Despite Outrage’
(2 July 2015) The Guardian
accessed 21 June 2018.
244 Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 36(4)
appeal to her listeners and world governments to take responsibility: ‘We have an opportunity,
each of us, to remove this blemish from the conscience of mankind’, she said.
14
What then, would ER have said about the year 2018 when we are, as the UNHCR states ,
‘witnessing the highest displacement on record ...[with more than] 65 million people around the
world forced from home ...a world where nearly 20 people are forcibly displaced every minute as
a result of conflict or persecution’?
15
What then would ER say about rich Western countries who continue to erect walls both physical
and rhetorical to keep refugees out? Who turn back boats full of desperate people from Libya and
who turn a blind eye to victims of war, like the Syrians, or of persecution, like the Rohingya
Muslim minority in Myanmar, forcing them into camps in neighbouring countries where respect
for human dignity, as outlined in the UDHR, is hard to find?
6. Lessons in leadership
While there are many definitions of leadership, they would all seem to include characteristics of
setting direction and getting others to cooperate.
16
Eleanor Roosevelt did both of those and
exhibited many other skills needed in a leader. She understood the importance of listening to
others, of hard work, of modesty, of compassion and of bravery. When arguing for the inclusion of
economic and social rights in the UDHR, she went against the prevailing view of the US State
department. According to her State Department advisor, James Hendrick, ER’s ‘determination
overcame both [Undersecretary of State Robert] Lovett’s opposition and Secretary of State George
Marshall’s skepticism about the Declaration’.
17
The UDHR and the subsequent legally binding international covenants and national laws give
all those interested in human rights the tools to ensure rights, freedoms and responsibilities now
and for the next 70 years. To deal with today’s problems in the world, the text of the Universal
Declaration, and the vision of humanity espoused by it, is more relevant than ever as a source of
inspiration. But documents and words are not enough. All those interested in human rights will also
need to learn to actively listen, to cooperate, to be brave, to be determined, to be self-disciplined
and put the needs of others first; in short, they need ‘a crusading spirit’.
Those who want to be leaders, whether they are activists, lawyers, scholars or citizens, and those
who claim to be leaders when their human rights behaviour clearly shows they are not, need to
remember the reason why ‘the inherent dignity of all members of the human family’ has to be
respected: for the sake of the world. They need to, as ER said, start close to home: to ensure equal
political representation of women, of minorities in their countries or neighbourhoods and put the
need for human dignity and compassion first when desperate people are fleeing from disaster.
As Eleanor Roosevelt argued, the path towards universal human rights is not easy, but we
should not give up. We should not despair that we are not there yet, but redouble our battle to
make it happen.
14. UN Radio, ‘Life Begins at Ten’ (1 January 1959)
May 2018.
15. UNHCR, ‘Figures at a Glance’ (2018) accessed 1 May 2018.
16. See for example Andr´e Martin and Christopher Ernst, ‘Exploring Leadership in Times of Paradox and Complexity’
(2005) 5 Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society 82
14720700510604724> accessed 1 May 2018.
17. Sears (n 2).
Luscombe 245
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential co nflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
246 Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 36(4)
To continue reading
Request your trial