This is a true story about Eleanor Roosevelt, who showed us how to make a difference simply by being a good citizen.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in 1884. She had a mommy and a daddy and two little brothers. Both of her parents and one of her brothers passed away before she was ten years old, and she and her other brother, Hall, had to go live with her grandmother.

Eleanor Roosevelt and her Father. 1889. (FDR Library)

When Eleanor was 15 years old, her grandmother sent her to Allenswood Academy in London, England. Eleanor loved her time at the academy. She made lots of friends and learned many things that would later help her to become a wonderful citizen and First Lady.

Eleanor at Allenswood. 1900. (FDR Library)

Eleanor Roosevelt completed school and returned home in 1902. She quickly became known as a very hard worker. She joined the National Consumer's League, the Junior League for the Promotion of Settlement Movements, and she volunteered as a Teacher for the College Settlement of Rivington Street.

Eleanor coming out portrait. 1902 (FDR Library)

Eleanor married Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1905. Her uncle, President Theodore Roosevelt walked her down the aisle.

Eleanor Roosevelt wearing her wedding dress in NYC

Between the years of 1905 and 1916, the Roosevelts had six children. Unfortunately, only five of them lived. In the midst of starting a family, the Roosevelts also began a long career in politics. In 1911 FDR was elected to the New York Senate. During this time, Eleanor gained a great passion for politics, and hoped to see some things in America done differently in the future.

In 1921, FDR was stricken with polio, a terrible sickness that left his legs partly paralyzed. He was still able to walk, but only using special leg braces, and he often had to use a wheelchair. After this, Eleanor decided to spend her life caring for her husband and helping him succeed in his political career. Because he could not get around as easily, Eleanor did many things he could not and often traveled for him. Then she would report back to him all that she had seen and heard. She was very important to his campaign for governor of New York, and she did a great job. FDR won!

FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt at Hyde Park (September 16, 1927)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt pose for cameras at the bottom of the South Portico of the White House after his inauguration at the Capitol on March 4, 1933. Library of Congress

FDR was elected to be our nation's President in 1933. Because Eleanor had been so active in his political career, she had some great ideas about how to use her role as the First Lady for the good of America.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt addressed the nation over the airwaves before the president did after the attack on Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt delivered his "day of infamy" address a day later. (FDR Presidential Library & Museum)

Eleanor Roosevelt was unlike any First Lady that had come before her. She was very brave in sharing her thoughts. She was the first President's wife to hold a press conference. She traveled all around America to give speeches to the people, and she often gave radio broadcasts. She even had her own newspaper column called "My Day."

Go to this address to hear a speech from the First Lady after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

https://soundcloud.com/user-291302154/in-her-own-words-eleanor-roosevelt

The thing that most set Eleanor Roosevelt apart as the First Lady was not her speeches or broadcasts, though. What made her so famous as the First Lady is that she served our country and her community as a common citizen. She modeled for our nation what it really looks like to be a good citizen.

She visited people in the hospital,

Eleanor Visiting the Navy Hospital in San Diego, California 7/19/44

Eleanor Reads to Boys from the Wiltwyck School, 1954

she read to children,

and she fed the poor.

Eleanor serving soup, 1932

During The Great Depression, many children sent letters to Eleanor Roosevelt. This is a letter from a little girl named Patricia Carroll. She tells Mrs. Roosevelt that she would like a Shirley Temple doll, but that her daddy cannot buy one.