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ELEANOR ROOSEVELT by Elizabeth MacLeod

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

An Inspiring Life

by Elizabeth MacLeod

Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 2006
ISBN: 1-55337-778-8
Publisher: Kids Can

Eleanor Roosevelt never wanted to be First Lady; she would be just “plain, ordinary Mrs. Roosevelt. And that’s all.” In clear, matter-of-fact writing, MacLeod’s entry in the Snapshots series weaves the parallel stories of two major figures of American history. While Franklin Delano Roosevelt followed his political ambitions to the White House, Eleanor got involved with social causes. During the Great Depression, she urged the creation of the National Youth Administration. She championed Marian Anderson’s performance at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 and worked with Mary McLeod Bethune to fight for civil rights. After WWII, Truman asked her to be a delegate to the United Nations, where she worked for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Each page of text in this accessible volume is a new topic and faces a page of further information, including quotations, photographs and reproductions of posters and newspaper headlines. The author also includes a frank discussion of FDR’s affair with Lucy Mercer. A useful resource for library and classroom, this will appeal to readers and browsers alike. (chronology, places to visit, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)