Lecture reveals Eleanor Roosevelt’s battles and betrayals

PINE PLAINS — Pine Plains residents were surprised to learn that the life of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was laced with betrayals that ultimately motivated her to become a humanitarian powerhouse, at a lecture held on Thursday, Oct. 25.

The Community Room above the Pine Plains Free Library opened its doors to a full house, intrigued by the lecture F.D.R. Presidential Library Education Specialist Jeffrey Urbin gave on the life and times of Eleanor Roosevelt. Supplying illustrations for his lectures, he often held up black and white photographs of Eleanor throughout the years. Along with telling the history behind the “First Lady of the World,” the lecture encompassed the places she traveled, the betrayals she suffered, the family she was born into and the lives she changed through her work.

Born into a wealthy family, Urbin said Eleanor was a disappointment to her mother based on her looks and her father was a neglectful alcoholic. Betrayed by nature and her parents, Eleanor became an orphan at age 10 and was bounced around from one Roosevelt family to the next. After a couple of hurtful experiences with strict family members, she found a mentor in Allenswood Academy headmistress Marie Souvestre, who was the first to recognize Eleanor for her intelligence and passion and encouraged her to embrace her potential.

In the summer of 1902, Urbin said Eleanor bumped into a cousin of hers, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and they soon fell in love. In some ways, Urbin said the couple represented the other half of one another with their individual personalities and strengths complementing each other. 

Yet their love was met with opposition from Franklin’s mother, Sara Ann Delano, who didn’t want any competition for her son’s attention. Despite Delano’s opposition, the couple wed on March 17, 1905 with Eleanor’s uncle, Teddy Roosevelt, walking the bride down the aisle. Urbin pointed out that Eleanor considered this the biggest mistake of her life given Teddy’s need to have everyone’s attention at all times, yet from that experience, she learned a lesson that helped shape her character later on.

Following the start of their family and Franklin’s appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Eleanor was at her husband’s side as his political career began to take off. Considering herself a disaster with social events, she suggested he take her social secretary, Lucy Mercer, to the political cocktail parties. 

The suggestion turned against her as Franklin and Mercer fell in love and Eleanor discovered a stack of love letters in his possession. When confronted about his affair, Franklin was convinced not to divorce Eleanor for personal and political reasons, and their marriage shifted from an intimate relationship to a political partnership. 

Following Franklin’s death as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1945, Eleanor learned that Mercer had been sitting with him for a portrait when the hemorrhage occurred. Adding to the bitter discovery, she also learned that their only daughter, Anna, kept her father in contact with Mercer through the years.

Despite enduring one betrayal after another, Urbin said Eleanor found a way to carry on: from her personal experiences in being denied a voice, she developed an incredible sense of compassion and refused to tolerate instances where people were denied their voices.

Before opening the lecture for questions, Urbin read aloud from Adlai Stevenson’s memorial address for Eleanor that was delivered to the United Nations General Assembly on Nov. 9, 1962. In mourning the loss of a beloved friend and inspiration, Stevenson said the sadness shared by the nation was “enlivened by her faith in her fellow man and his future, which filled the heart of this strong and gentle woman.

“She imparted this faith not only to those who shared the privilege of knowing her and working by her side, but to countless men, women and children in every part of the world who loved her even as she loved them,” Stevenson said. “For she embodied the vision and the will to achieve a world in which all men can walk in peace and dignity. And to this goal of a better life, she dedicated her tireless energy and the strange strength of her extraordinary personality.”