ELEANOR ROOSEVELT: AN INSPIRATION AND A FRIEND

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2125

THE FIRST POWER FUNERAL FOR AN AMERICAN WOMAN

Hyde Park, New York (JFK+50) Eleanor Roosevelt requested a "quiet, unassuming memorial" but according to Marc Peyser and Timothy Dwyer of The Atlantic what she got was "the first power funeral for an American woman." 

She was most deserving of such a tribute because "No president's wife accomplished (more)...as a labor activist, civil rights foot soldier and best selling author."

The First Lady of the World was laid to rest 54 years ago today, November 10, 1962, in the rose garden of the Roosevelt estate here at Hyde Park beside her late husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  The weather did not co-operate.  The day was cold, grey and raining.

Funeral services were held at St. James Church where the guest list of 250 included President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, former presidents and first ladies, Mr. & Mrs. Harry S Truman and Mr. & Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Upon receiving news of Mrs. Roosevelt's death, the President issued the following statement...

"One of the great leaders in the history of this country has passed.  Her loss will be deeply felt by all those who admire her tireless idealism.  She has been an inspiration and a friend."

After FDR's death, Mrs. Roosevelt was appointed as a delegate to the United Nations.  She served in that capacity from 1945 to 1952 during which time she chaired a committee which issued "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights".

SOURCE

"Eleanor Roosevelt's Anything-but-Private Funeral," by Marc Peyser and Timothy Dwyer, The Atlantic, November 4, 2012, www.theatlantic.com/

Funeral Service of Eleanor Roosevelt

Hyde Park, NY

November 10, 1962

Photo by Abbie Rowe

JFK Library Image

Eleanor Roosevelt Statue

FDR Memorial

Washington, D.C.

Photo by John White (2003)