Description
- First Lady
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- New Deal Coalition
- Author
- Activist
On October 11, 1984 at Hyde Park, NY, the USPS celebrated the 100 anniversary of the birth of Eleanor Roosevelt, often called the First Lady of the World. As the wife of President Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt was perhaps the most active First Lady in history. In 1948, as chair of the U.N.'s Commission on Human Rights, she helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an internationally prominent author, speaker, politician and activist for the New Deal coalition. She worked to enhance the status of working women, although she opposed the Equal Rights Amendment because she believed it would adversely affect women. Eleanor Roosevelt died on November 7, 1962 at the age of 78.