a black and white photo of an older woman

Eleanor Roosevelt is best known for her last name, as the wife of 32nd president Franklin D. Roosevelt. She was an icon of her time and was the longest-serving First Lady throughout her husband’s four terms in office. But more than that, she was a humanitarian and tireless social justice activist, using her influence to champion the rights of the marginalized, fight for gender equality, and promote world peace. After her husband’s death, Eleanor was appointed as a delegate to the United Nations and served as a chairman of the Commission on Human Rights and played a major role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eleanor was also desperate to elevate the voices of the oppressed, and was appointed chair of President John F. Kennedy’s chair of his Commission on the Status of Women in 1961, continuing the work of equal rights to her last days, when she died in 1962. ‍