Fdr started sketching what ended up being the structure here to incorporate elinors papers. When his archivist said, do you think she will give them to you, and fdr said, you can never tell what my missus is going to do. Which i think is a true statement about Eleanor Roosevelt. How many of you are members here today . Look at that. Thank you so much. Your support makes programs like this possible. We appreciate everything you do for us. The library is a federally funded institution, but we rely on private donations to allow us to do many nonfederal programs like exhibits and things like that. Today we have with us a very special friend and guest. She spent many days here when she was working on the Eleanor Roosevelt papers for George Washington university. Which is a tremendous resource. She is now with George Mason University down in virginia. She has put together a book that looks at the advice that Eleanor Roosevelt gave. I think it is amazing how relevant so many of the questions were, even though they are 50 years old. How relevant they are to our Society Today and the questions we are asking today. Her advice remains inspiring and practical at the same time. I think it is something we could all use right now. Some advice that will help us get through our daily lives. Please welcome mary jo binker. [applause] ms. Binker thank you. I am delighted to be here with you today. There is no place i enjoy being more than in hyde park and the hudson valley. So it is a great treat for me to be here with you. I am here to talk about my new book. If you ask me essential advice from Eleanor Roosevelt. Here, this is the top half of the page from one of the columns in 1953. This is a column she wrote for 21 years from 1941 until her death in 1962. She wrote it for two womens magazines, first of all ladies home journal from 1941 until 1949, then in 1949 she moved over to mccalls. She was with mccalls until her death in 1962. In the beginning, if you ask me was an idea before it was a column. The editors of ladies home journal envisioned it as a way for first lady Eleanor Roosevelt to combat the rumors, innuendos, and backstairs gossip about the white house, as well as a way to answer these other queries about which the public rightly or wrongly thinks it has to know. More practically, the editors thought that a question and answer column would be easier to edit, because they did not think Eleanor Roosevelt was a very good writer. That was the plan. But it did not work out that way, because Eleanor Roosevelt and her readers soon turned the column into a twoway conversation about almost every aspect of american life. Unlike my book, which is organized thematically, i have organized this talk chronologically, starting with the white house and world war ii, and i thought what we could do today would be to eavesdrop on the conversation that eleanor had with her readers. So, when the column first began in 1941, Franklin Roosevelt was beginning an unprecedented third term. Europe was at war and the Great Depression was ending as america geared up to become the arsenal of democracy. It was a tense and difficult time, and americans were jittery and afraid. By the spring of 1941, Eleanor Roosevelt was arguably one of the bestknown women in the united states. Millions of americans had seen her, heard her on the radio, or read her syndicated newspaper column, my day. She was both widely admired and roundly criticized for her support of minorities, women, and young people. It is worth noting that many of fdrs political opponents in the 1940 president ial campaign had worn Campaign Buttons that said we dont want eleanor either. So, by the time if you ask me began, Eleanor Roosevelt and the American Public had established a relationship. Which made writing to her seem natural and ordinary. Many of those first columns dealt with the military and homefront issues. Here are some of those questions. The first one comes from a military wife. Can you tell me why a soldier can get a furlough to see his dog while my husband cannot get a furlough for the first time to see his 14monthold son . Eleanor answers this way. My dear lady, it just happened that the soldier who went to see his dog was due for a furlough and someone made a good newspaper story out of it. I am sure that no man would be given a furlough unless he was entitled to it and he was allowed to leave at that particular time. The paramount consideration in granting any furloughs is the need of the military services, not the pleasure of the individual involved. The next one comes from a worried citizen. This citizen is worried about his money. What assurance have people that defense bonds are safe . Under weak and unsound leadership, the bonds might not be redeemable later. Eleanor says, you must have faith in your own ability and that of the rest of the country to choose sound leadership. There is nothing else you can rely upon except the judgment of the people as a whole to make your government efficient. Incidentally, if u. S. Bonds are not good, neither is anything else in the world. You might as well reconcile yourself to it. This one comes from a military mother. Why cant mothers know where their sons and daughters are . What harm could it do if our enemies knew that bill jones is in alaska or australia . Eleanor replies, if you and your children would use a little ingenuity, you would probably be able to keep each other informed about your whereabouts. If it were openly done, it might be harmful, not because the enemy would know bill jones was in australia or alaska, but because the enemy would be able to find out what group bill jones belonged to and from that might discover what opposition they were facing and the number of men probably involved. This is a great question. This is a reader asking about a rumor. Is it true that soldiers from midwestern states, which are normally republican, are sent into combat zones before soldiers from democratic states . [laughter] eleanor replies, i have never heard anything so idiotic. [no audio] peace was at hand. The dropping of the atom bomb and the emerging cold war with the soviet union did not inspire confidence in the future. Closer to home, americans were concerned that the wartime prosperity would collapse without the stimulus of military production. Housing was in short supply and inflation was rampant. Politically, fdrs successor, harry truman, and his liberal supporters were trying to extend the new deal while the conservatives in both parties were trying to rein in what they called the socialistic excesses of the new deal. Social change added to the chaos. Women had left home to work in the factories or join the military. Africanamericans who had served in the military were coming home to segregation and discrimination. And other minorities were also facing poor working and living conditions. Like millions of other americans, Eleanor Roosevelt had to adjust to both her new status and life in postwar america. She moved back here to her home, intending to continue writing and lecturing as a private citizen. Harry truman, however, had other ideas. In december of 1945, he appointed her to the first u. S. Delegation to the inaugural session of the United NationsGeneral Assembly. It was a job she would hold for six years and led to her becoming chair of the United NationsHuman Rights Commission and one of the principal architects of the universal declaration of human rights. Here are some of the questions from that period. The first one comes from a reader worried about the economy. On every hand, you hear our country is heading into a bad depression. Do you think this is true . What should be done to avoid it . Eleanor says, i do not think we need to have a bad depression. If our economists and industrialists learned their lessons in the 1930s, it cannot be prevented by greedy men. It must be prevented by men with unselfish visions who see that no group can garner unto itself great resources and leave the mass of the people without their fair share. The next question has particular relevance. Do you think equal pay to women who fill mens jobs is economically justified . Eleanor replies, certainly, if women do the same work, i have always believed they should receive the same pay. Here is another one. A perennial problem from a male reader this time. I love and admire my wife. But there is one subject on which we can never agree. She thinks i should help with the dishes. Do you think this is a husbands work . Eleanor replies, i think anything connected with the home is as much the husbands work as the wifes. This silly idea that there is a division in housework seems to me foolish, when often the wife earns money outside the home as well as the husband. Certainly if there are children, the wife has two jobs. The one of being a mother and the other of being a wife. The kind of man who thinks that helping with the dishes is beneath him will also think that helping with the baby is beneath him. And then he is certainly not going to be a very successful father. The next question comes from a wife whose political views differ from her husbands. My husband says the Truman Administration is a cesspool of corruption. How can i answer him . Eleanor says, you can tell your husband that if any government is a cesspool of corruption, every individual citizen is responsible when the government is a republic. Governments do not become corrupt unless their citizens have allowed those standards to exist. If you live in a democracy, you set the standards as the individual citizen. You elect your representatives and the government belongs to you. You and i have to correct anything that is wrong. And we can always be heard. If anything is wrong, the blame is ours. Children often wrote to eleanor. Heres a question from a concerned younger citizen. I am in the sixth grade. What can i do to make the world more peaceful . You can learn to live harmoniously with people of your own age, even though they might be of different races and different religions. If you do that, you will be preparing your generation to live better and more peacefully in the world as a whole. Not every questioner was so polite. Here is one with an edge. Our newspaper published an amazing picture of you smiling, all sweetness and light, as you shook hands with russias ambassador at the recent opening of the u. N. Who are you kidding . [laughter] eleanor didnt miss a beat. I did not know i was kidding anyone. I was preserving the amenities. When you shake hands, you usually smile. To reach our seats in the General Assembly, we have to pass directly in front of the russian and United Kingdom delegates. I had known him for a long time. The newspaper photographers, who are always on the alert, insisted on taking the photograph. I believe as long as we serve in the General Assembly or anywhere in the United Nations, we must be polite to one another and we must be able to talk to one another in the hope that someday, this bridge will be used for the benefit of a peaceful settlement of our difficulties. Many of eleanors replies were much briefer than the one i just read to you. Consider this question. What do you think is the greatest single cause of misunderstanding between the nations of the world, both great and small . Eleanor had a oneword answer. Fear. The next era begins early in the 1950s after Dwight Eisenhower has been elected president and Eleanor Roosevelt has returned to private life. The increasing prosperity of the 1950s eased americans financial worries, while at the same time heightening their social woes. Marriage rates have risen before and after world war ii as young people hurried to exchange vows before shipping off to combat or married as soon as they returned. These young couples also had more children. The nations birth rate rose from fewer than 20 births per 1000 in the 1930s to more than 25 births per 1000 in 1947. The increased birthrates and the rise of a Youth Culture characterized by discontent and rebelliousness and concerns over juvenile delinquency made childrearing questions more urgent. At the same time, divorce rates spiked, leading to uncertainty about how to deal with remarriage and blended families. Americans may have been more prosperous, but politically, they were uneasy about possible communist subversion in american life. Some people even began to fear their neighbors, along with many other suspect groups that also included career Public Servants, activists in the labor and civil rights movements, educators, clergyman, librarians, and individuals working in the media. Civil liberties contracted as the belief took hold that the rights of the accused could be ignored because the threat of communism was so severe. By 1953, Eleanor Roosevelt had returned to private life. By then, she had firmly established herself as a trusted source and confidant for many americans. Here are some typical questions from this period. We will start with a question from a marriageminded reader. What do you consider the three most important qualifications of a good husband . Eleanor says, that he shall be honest, not only in material things, but in intellectual things. That he shall be capable of real love. And that he should find the world an increasingly interesting place in which to live every day of his life. Here is one on birth control, which, in the 1950s, was still a controversial topic. Do you believe in planned parenthood . Eleanor does not mince any words. Yes, i do, if it is not used as an excuse to shirk having a family. I believe every married couple should have children if they are able to do so. But i believe they should use intelligence, so that the children will be healthy and the mother not physically exhausted. Of course, if this is against your religious beliefs, this is a different matter. Outside of that, it would seem sensible to plan intelligently for the Family Health and happiness. This next one is probably one of my most favorite of all the questions. My husband wants our son to play football and i dont. Dont you think that bodily Contact Sports, as he called them, are necessary to the development of a boys character . Eleanor says, i dont know that Contact Sports are necessary to the development of a boys character, but i know if a boy wants to play football and you, for any reason, keep him from it, you will probably find that his character or his temper at least will not improve. He will probably align himself with his father and you will be left on the outside. So i advise you not to be too vocal about your feelings. I can tell you, i took this advice and she is absolutely right. [laughter] here is one that is very contemporary. My son and his wife are republicans, but my daughter recently married a man who favors the democrats. No matter how hard i try, i cannot keep the two couples from getting into nasty political arguments. It ruins all of our visits. Tell me, please, how do you handle political differences in your family . Eleanor replies, i try to make them amusing. We have vast differences in our family. All of them love to argue. They can argue passionately about things they do not care about. Anyone who did not know them would think they were about to kill one another. But i find a little laughter and teasing, and, if necessary, arbitrarily changing the subject, make our family gatherings rather entertaining. Here is another one that comes straight out of todays headlines. How do you feel about wiretapping . Is it justifiable . When used against criminal, spies, and potential traders traitors . Eleanor says, the only time i think it is justifiable as if the authorities know or have reason to suspect they must use it to find potential spies or traitors. And then it should only be used by the most responsible authorities. Wiretapping for any other reasons whatsoever should never be allowed. Eleanor roosevelts association with many liberal groups led many people to assume that she was a communist sympathizer. Here is a question from one of those readers. What is your answer to people who accuse you of being procommunist . A very simple one. I have never been a communist. Nor in favor of communism at home or abroad. But i have never been afraid to come in contact with communists. I think it would be a poor democrat who could not stand up and meet the communists and their theories. Lastly, men like huey long and senator mccarthy have aroused fears of a man on horseback in the united states. Under what circumstances would we stand in danger of a dictatorship and what would be the best ways for citizens to recognize the potential danger and oppose it . Eleanor says, men who have the instincts for dictatorship are always a danger in any society. Free citizens must be alert to preserve their liberties. In the united states, it is easy to discover a demagogue, but it sometimes requires courage to stand up immediately and say you do not agree with certain methods and ideas. However, if we want to preserve our liberties, we had better show that courage. It is the only way i know of to remain a free people. The final era coincides with the last years of eleanors life. By the late 1950s, a growing restlessness was simmering under the seemingly placid surface of american life. The cold war, the burgeoning civil rights movement, the increasing visibility of poverty, and the rising frustrations of women and other marginalized groups were becoming more apparent. Nevertheless, the 1960s opened on a note of hopeful optimism, inspired in part by the election of a youthful president , john f. Kennedy. By the early 1960s, eleanor was well into her 70s, but still maintaining a hectic schedule. She was still writing my day, but on a reduced basis. Three columns a week instead of six. She was still traveling extensively and had added teaching and a Mo