As First Lady, humanitarian, and civil rights advocate, Eleanor redefined the role of women in American politics and society. We explore her progressive yet controversial positions, her influence on President Franklin D. Roosevelt despite his infidelities, and her lifelong commitment to justice and human rights.
Learn why Eleanor Roosevelt is often excluded from mainstream feminist history, even though her work helped pave the way for every wave of feminism—from suffrage to social justice. We also break down what the “waves of feminism” are and how Eleanor’s impact continues to shape advocacy and leadership today.
Whether you’re a history lover, a feminist, or just want to know why Eleanor Roosevelt is still shaking things up decades after her death, this episode offers an unfiltered look at one of the most powerful women in American history.
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Citations:
Black, Allida M. Casting Her Own Shadow: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Shaping of Postwar Liberalism. Columbia University Press, 1996.
Cook, Blanche Wiesen. Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume One: 1884–1933. Viking, 1992.
Cook, Blanche Wiesen. Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume Two: The Defining Years, 1933–1938. Viking, 1999.
Cook, Blanche Wiesen. Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume Three: The War Years and After, 1939–1962. Viking, 2016.
Roosevelt, Eleanor. The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt. Da Capo Press, 1992.
Roosevelt, Eleanor. Tomorrow Is Now: It Is Today That We Must Create the World of the Future. Penguin Classics, 2012.
Beasley, Maurine H. Eleanor Roosevelt and the Media: A Public Quest for Self-Fulfillment. University of Illinois Press, 1987.
Hoff-Wilson, Joan, ed. Eleanor Roosevelt: An American Journey. Blackwell, 1999.
Dicker, Rory. A History of U.S. Feminisms. Seal Press, 2008.
Evans, Sara M. Born for Liberty: A History of Women in America. Free Press, 1997.
Coontz, Stephanie. A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s. Basic Books, 2011.
Thistlethwaite, Susan Brooks. “Eleanor Roosevelt: A Feminist Model of Public Theology.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, vol. 2, no. 1, 1986, pp. 77–94.
Scott, Joan W. “Feminism’s History.” Journal of Women’s History, vol. 16, no. 2, 2004, pp. 10–29.
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