ALSO BY THE AUTHOR
Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 1: The Early Years, 1884–1933
Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 2: The Defining Years, 1933–1938
VIKING
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FRONTISPIECE: © Yousuf Karsh
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA AVAILABLE
ISBN: 9780735221185
Cover art & design: Manuja Waldia
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This book is dedicated to all those activists and agitators who resist tyranny, challenge authority, fight for peace, freedom, and Human Rights—as we continue our journey for One World: no borders, no boundaries, no walls.
Contents
ALSO BY THE AUTHOR
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Introduction: “Lady Great Heart”
Chapter One: “We All Go Ahead Together, or We All Go Down Together”
Chapter Two: “You Cannot Just Sit and Talk About It, You Have to Do Something”
Chapter Three: Tea and Hot Dogs: The Royal Visit
Chapter Four: “We Must Think of the Greatest Good for the Greatest Number”
Chapter Five: “If They Perish, We Perish Sooner or Later”
Chapter Six: “We Have to Fight with Our Minds”
Chapter Seven: Red Scare, Refugees, and Racism
Chapter Eight: The Politician and the Agitator: New Beginnings
Chapter Nine: Radical Youth and Refugees: Winter–Spring 1940
Chapter Ten: “When You Go to War, You Cease to Solve the Problems of Peace”: March–June 1940
Chapter Eleven: “If Democracy Is to Survive, It Must Be Because It Meets the Needs of the People”
Chapter Twelve: “The World Rightly Belongs to Those Who Really Care”: The Convention of 1940
Chapter Thirteen: War and The Moral Basis of Democracy
Chapter Fourteen: “Defense Is Not a Matter of What You Get, But of What You Give”
Chapter Fifteen: “Heroism Is Always a Thrilling Thing”: The Politics of Race
Chapter Sixteen: “Isolationism Is Impossible”: The Politics of Rescue
Chapter Seventeen: “To Know Me Is a Terrible Thing”: Friendship, Loyalties, and Alliances
Chapter Eighteen: “Golden Footprints”: A Permanent Bond in War and Peace
Chapter Nineteen: “The White Heron of the One Flight”: Travels in the Pacific and Beyond
Epilogue: ER’s Legacy: Human Rights
PHOTOGRAPHS
LIST OF ARCHIVES
NOTE ON SOURCES AND SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
NOTES
INDEX
Preface and Acknowledgments
Eleanor Roosevelt never stopped growing and changing, organizing and inspiring. Called “a woman for all seasons,” she generated movements for peace and freedom, for human rights and dignity, worldwide. Throughout my journey with ER I have been fortunate enough to be part of many movements inspired by her vision and legacy. This study could not have been completed without the individuals who have illuminated my understanding and enriched my life. Above all, in our lives committed to activism and creativity, Clare Coss—my primary coconspirator—has profoundly broadened my understanding and contributed dramatically to every aspect of this work. We first met at a Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom meeting in 1966, to organize protests against the war in Vietnam. Since then, the women of WILPF and the global women’s peace and human rights movement have been central to my work.
In June 1988, I was privileged to be part of a U.S. delegation to the First International Conference on Women, Peace, and the Environment in Moscow.* The conference, sponsored by the Soviet Women’s Committee and comprising representatives from over twenty-four nations, occurred while the democratic changes of perestroika and glasnost were getting under way—shortly after the ecological tragedy of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The conference was a harmonic convergence that confronted the dire facts of radiation poisoning, militarism, and the ongoing drilling and dumping of industrial toxins—and sought ways to pursue international paths to ecology and health. The Green Party activists, Friends of the Earth, and various peace groups at that meeting were in unanimous agreement: “The environment has no borders,” and, in the words of Cora Weiss—then the international coordinator of SANE/Freeze—“a world without waste is a world without want or war.” The conference resulted in permanent friendships and new networks of activism to pursue specific goals—all of which are more urgently needed than ever.
Shortly after that meeting, Bella Abzug and Mim Kelber founded WEDO, the Women’s Environmental and Development Organization, to save Mother Earth from pollution and poverty. From 1990 on, the women of WEDO, representing fifty-four nations, worked at the UN and transnationally to create an Earth Summit and build a global sisterhood for justice and peace. With Charlotte Bunch’s extraordinary team at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University and many allied groups around the world, the campaign for Women’s Rights as Human Rights was under way. Bunch’s work continues to flourish, and the CWGL—along with AWID, DAWN, MADRE, NESRI, Outright, and such organizations as Urgent Action Fund—is bringing healing and hope to people across this planet, where currently 64 million refugees face a frightening future.
During the UN decade devoted to women and change, I worked with my U.S. friends and Margarita Papandreou’s team of activists—united in Women for a Meaningful Summit, followed by Women for Mutual Security. The inspiring first lady of Greece patterned her career after Eleanor Roosevelt—whose spirit was entirely present during our Moscow discussions and in our subsequent meetings. I am forever grateful to Margarita, and to Leonore Forestal and Hilkka Pietilä, then secretary general of the Finnish UN Association and subsequently author of Engendering the Global Agenda: The Story of Women and the United Nations (New York: UN Non-Governmental Organization Liaison Service, 2002), a book that is basic to our understanding of the work of these NGOs and the UN.
Many f
riends have offered hospitality and insights through the many years of my ER research. I continue to be grateful to those named in Volumes I and II, and I apologize for names involuntarily omitted. I am thankful to Celia Morris, in Washington, D.C.—and to her friends in Houston, Bill and Diana Hobby. Bill’s memories of his mother, Oveta Culp Hobby—a life member of the NAACP—changed my understanding of her many contributions, from World War II to Eisenhower’s cabinet, in which she served as the first secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.*
In Arizona, Esther Lape’s friends Harold Clarke and Burt Drucker were fountains of information, and gifted me with several boxes of Lape’s papers, including correspondence with ER, which will go to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library (FDRL) in Hyde Park. Also in Arizona, Clare and I enjoyed hospitality and conversations with Annette Kolodny and Dan Peters, and with Judith McDaniel and Jan Schwartz; and in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with Betty Burkes and Cathy Hoffman. Amazing times were spent at Bernard Baruch’s Hobcaw Barony in Georgetown, South Carolina, to launch SCETV’s interactive Web site Between the Waters. Project director Betsy Newman and the Belle Baruch Foundation hosted splendid conferences highlighted by discussions of race and change, informed by scholars and such notable former residents as educator Minnie Kennedy.
A unique weekend in Skowhegan, Maine, with Senator Margaret Chase Smith expanded my understanding of ER’s partisanship. Because I’d been invited to be the third Margaret Chase Smith Lecturer, the senator wanted me to know when her friendship with ER ended. On 4 November, the Sunday before the Eisenhower–Stevenson election of 1956, they were the first women ever invited to debate the presidential election on national television. Pleased to be part of ER’s press conferences, although she wrote only a weekly column for her local paper, and subsequently allied on many issues, Senator Smith, a liberal Republican, considered ER a friend. She was mostly subdued, and ER dominated the debate until she denounced Eisenhower for his opposition to the Suez Crisis, and his efforts to get Israel, Britain, and France to withdraw from their invasion of Egypt. She accused Eisenhower of “supporting the Kremlin and an Egyptian dictator against our oldest and strongest allies.” Shocked, Senator Smith countered that Eisenhower was a patriot who did not support Communists, Nasser, or dictatorship. He sought to avoid World War III—which indeed seemed imminent. ER rejected Smith’s words and shouted that Eisenhower was “Weak! Weak!” At the end, she refused to shake Margaret Chase Smith’s hand, turned her back, and stormed out of the studio. They never spoke again. I knew how competitive ER was; but until this conversation, I did not realize she could be rude.*
Many friends, historians, and biographers have generously shared resources, suggestions, and information. From Phoenix, Al Vinck sent me details regarding ER’s Easter 1943 visit to the Gila River Internment Camp—and the enduring impact of her concern on the many Japanese-Americans Vinck interviewed who attended Gila Camp reunions. Al and Linda Bouchey of the Wilderstein Historic Site, the home of Margaret Lynch (Daisy) Suckley, have been helpful in myriad ways. The vigorous staff at Hunter College’s Roosevelt House, Deborah Gardner and Harold Holzer, and Uri Perrin of the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill, keep ER’s flame brightly lit—as does Judith Hope’s Eleanor’s Legacy, splendidly administered by Brett McSweeney—to support women for public office. I am grateful to Alston Kastner for his memories and tour of the Emergency Rescue Committee.
In addition to those named in Volumes I and II, I am grateful to the members of our women’s biography seminar. Over the years, Maureen Beasley, Fran Burke, Kathleen Dalton, Judith Friedlander, Catherine Foster (aka Cate Fosl), William Loren Katz, Pierre Sauvage, Scott Sandage, Anne Firor Scott, Greg Robinson, Robert Cohen, Marilyn Young, Gloria Steinem, Kate Stimpson, Will Swift, Fred Jerome, Geoff Ward, and Dorothy Zellner have been continually helpful and inspiring. In addition to her family memories, I am grateful to Susan Curnan for ER-related delectables; to David Woolner, John Sears, and other FERI visionaries who worked so hard to reinvigorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Bring Human Rights Home. Ingrid Winther Scobie shared Lorena Hickok’s correspondence with Helen Gahagan Douglas at the University of Oklahoma, which transforms our understanding of Hick’s later life—her important work and close friendships with Helen Gahagan Douglas, Esther Lape, and others. Subsequently, Linda Boyd Kavars, JoAnne Myers, Patsy Costello, and others forged a Lorena Hickok Memorial and Scholarship Fund to bury Hick’s ashes with a named plaque and bluestone bench under a dogwood tree. See Kavars’s interview, “Eleanor Roosevelt and Her Legacy,” in The Hudson River Valley Review, Autumn 2009, p. 85.
Allida Black, Christopher Brick, and their team have bestowed upon us the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project, online and in print. I deeply appreciate their assistance over time. Profound gratitude to journalist and hero Ruth Gruber—whose many conversations and eighteen books have enhanced my journey with ER in countless ways. Illuminating discussions with Jos Barnes, Harry Belafonte, Anita Nayar, Claire Reed, Dorothy Norman, Patti Kenner, Peggy Bok Kiskadden, Eva Kollisch, Naomi Replansky, and Frances Goldin have broadened my scope and enlarged my heart. Endless gratitude to Joan Ormont, whose wisdom shepherded me through layers of unknowns as I struggled to complete this work; to virtuoso of chi Edith Lee, who keeps the energy flowing and in balance; to Melania Clavell, responsible for all digital tasks regarding computers—enhanced by her administrative expertise and supportive good cheer. Appreciation for our ongoing “Hunter Gang” (Kathleen and Maeve D’Arcy; B. J. Kowalski; Rosetta Capotorto) and thanks to Andy Lancet, WNYC’s and NPR’s archivist, for many references—and ER’s voice. I also thank Trent Duffy for his input and time.
Biographers depend on documents, and I applaud the congenial staffs and splendid archivists of the FDRL, the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe, Columbia University’s Oral History Collection and Manuscript Library, the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, the Library of Congress, and the New York Public Library manuscript collections. This book was mightily informed by Jane Clark Chermayeff, who connected me to Elaine and Peter Pratt—who generously loaned me boxes of Trude Pratt Lash’s papers. Special acknowledgment to my State Department “boss,” Bill Slany, who walked with me through the U.S. archives in search of ER’s Papers when I served on the State Department’s Historical Advisory Committee to declassify documents and pursue the Freedom of Information Act. We found 198 boxes, declassified in 1988. William Z. Slany was then editor in chief of the Foreign Relations of the United States series, and one still hopes a FRUS volume may be forthcoming.
Finally, it has been my privilege to meet with ER’s nieces and several Roosevelt grandchildren—whose work continues ER’s legacy. In California, I am thankful to the late Eleanor Roosevelt II and Diana Roosevelt Jaicks, and to Janet Roosevelt Katten—for their hospitality, recollections, and many resources over the years. Frank and Jinx Roosevelt shared perspective and memories; David and Manuela Roosevelt, now activists for ER’s legacy, noted that Eleanor listened to Gregorian chants while she waited for her sons and grandchildren to return from their late-night dates. Kate R. Whitney and Sara R. Wilford, both progressive educators in ER’s tradition, have deepened my perspective in multiple ways—thanks are due to Sandra Robinson for arranging dinner with Sara Wilford. I particularly appreciate Julius C. C. Edelstein—journalist, diplomat, public citizen—who as CUNY vice chancellor gave us open enrollment and the SEEK program and, as our mutual friend, connected me with Kate Whitney. Over the years, Kate, Julius, and I enjoyed regular lunches that inspirited our work and friendship. Julius Edelstein’s motto continues to inform our lives: “It is better for everybody when it is better for everybody.”
Charlotte Sheedy, forever friend and agent, was always available with sage advice and astute counsel. At Viking, thanks to Wendy Wolf for her patience, enthusiasm, and steadfast support and to her assistant, Georgia Bodnar. My special gratitude and genuine awe for Beena Kamlani’s brilliance—she edited this volume
with passion, fierce intelligence, a honed vision, sharp creative sensibilities, and profound political discernment. I honor her total commitment, her immense labor, and the enormous time she spent during every phase of this project.
I want to thank my friends and students at John Jay and the CUNY Graduate Center who have enhanced my life over the decades and the History and Women’s Studies departments—Manu Bhagavan, Sandi Cooper, Renate Bridenthal, Roscoe Brown, Tanya Domi, Mary Gibson, Jim Cohen, Frances Fox Piven, Arthur Schlesinger, and Neil Smith; the History Departments, the Lost & Found team; and Bob Isaacson and the CUNY TV community. Former graduate students and researchers Eileen Clancy, Page Delano, Frances Madesen, Melanie Gustavson, Deb Schultz, Jean Mills, Miriam Molnar, John Stern, Marci Gallo, and Kelly Anderson have been helpful in countless ways. I am filled with gratitude for the enduring friendship and generous support of Alice KesslerHarris and Gerald Markowitz, who read each draft of ER I, II, and III, offering insightful commentary, unwavering encouragement, and happy times through the years.
Fortified and sustained by the loving support of our family of heart and hearth, I thank: Harold and Bill Coss, Marjorie D. W. Lessem, Daniel Wayne Lessem and Orlando Zavala, Douglas Jed and Stefanie Lessem, Clare Coss McGuire, Katie Marie McGuire Rolon, Elizabeth LordeRollins and Judy Boals, Jonathan and Judy Rollins, Ann Cammett and Marcia Gallo, and all the beautiful grands and great-grands.
Many close friends have traveled with us and marched with us shoulder to shoulder as we seek to fortify movements for women’s rights and human rights. Their contributions have mightily informed this project. This volume is in part dedicated to the memory of Rhonda Copelon, Deborah Ann Light, Ronnie Gilbert, Jane Marcus, Frances Clayton, Michael Ratner, and Alison Bernstein, whose legacies continue to embolden the world. In 2015, Charlotte Bunch, Roxanna Carrillo, and Lepa Mladjenovic were with us at The Hague for WILPF’S 100th anniversary meeting, and then we traveled to Croatia—to Split, along the Dalmatian Coast, and Supetar, once war zones, now peace trails. For the joy along every activist step, and in pursuit of each word, my heartfelt and most profound gratitude to Clare Coss.
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