Eleanor Roosevelt

"I regret exceedingly that Washington is to be deprived of hearing Marian Anderson, a great artist." 

 --Eleanor Roosevelt, telegram to treasurer of Marian Anderson Citizens Committee, reported in the New York Times, February 27, 1939 

Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was First Lady for 12 years.

An outspoken advocate of social justice, she became a moral force during the Roosevelt administration, using her position as First Lady to promote social causes.

In a dramatic and celebrated act of conscience, Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) when it barred the world-renowned singer Marian Anderson, an African American, from performing at its Constitution Hall in Washington, DC.  (See letter at left)

Following this well-publicized controversy, the federal government invited Anderson to sing at a public recital on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. On Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, some 75,000 people came to hear the free recital. The incident put both the artist and the issue of racial discrimination in the national spotlight. Anderson sang this selection on the radio on the night of the D-Day invasion in Europe in 1944.

The DAR had adopted a rule excluding African-American artists from the Constitution Hall stage in 1932 following protests over "mixed seating," blacks and whites seated together, at concerts of black artists.

---

Listen to "Youth and Youth Organizations" on Mrs. Roosevelt's radio show.

Informal chats with First Lady Mrs. Roosevelt were broadcast every Tuesday and Thursday sponsored by Sweetheart Soap.

She addressed the American people as a commercial broadcaster during her years as First Lady. She viewed her role as First Lady as an educator to the people and public relations officer to her husband's administration.

Further reading

The Published and Recorded Works of Eleanor Roosevelt: Books