Eleanor Roosevelt Portrayed As Controversial

Many Americans admired First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, while many others hated her and considered her an "ugly duckling," Roberta Randall told a crowd at the Niles Historical Society Sunday afternoon.

Randall brought Roosevelt to life in a theatrical-style portrayal, and also provided commentary and perspective on the wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who served in office from 1934 to 1945.   

As well as discussing the great accomplishments that Eleanor Roosevelt is remembered for, Randall’s impersonation of the First Lady included some surprising information. In one of the lines from the script, she said, on the topic of women's suffrage,  “I always thought men were superior creatures and knew much more about politics.”  It was only after her husband endorsed women’s suffrage that she became an advocate for it.

Some in the audience remembered Eleanor Roosevelt while she was alive.

 “She was a very intelligent woman who helped her husband by making a lot of important decisions for him,” reminisced Shirley Mueller, a long time Niles resident and active volunteer at the Niles Historical Society. “She was very active in politics, even after FDR died.”  

Randall noted that Eleanor Roosevelt became Franklin D. Roosevelt’s eyes and ears during his presidency. She was the one that got out and did what FDR’s physically-limited condition restricted him from doing.

After his death she stayed active. She wrote a daily column for the United Feature Syndicate and, in an even greater accomplishment, became a delegate to the United Nations. There, she advocated for human rights and peace.

“What I want with all my life is a peaceful world,” Randall said (speaking as Eleanor Roosevelt). “Two unacceptable words for me are hate and war.”

Randall highlighted Eleanor's UN achievement by acting out the First Lady's interaction with President Truman when he insisted that she was the right woman to do it and that she must take the job.

As Randall spoke, many the crowd laughed and made comments agreeing with her. Randall told a story about the time Roosevelt burned herself by sitting on a radiator and the crowd burst out laughing as though they remembered it happening yesterday.  

As Randall concluded her show, some audience members made remarks and reflected with her on the last years of  Roosevelt’s life when she did refugee work for the United Nations and traveled to England, China and other places. She died in 1962 from tuberculosis complications.

“Eleanor Roosevelt continues to haunt our memories and inspire our lives,” Randall said in concluding.