Although she died almost 60 years, Eleanor Roosevelt still offers important wisdom and guidance for those trying to address our current concerns. Roosevelt, who was born on October 11, 1884, was pictured on today’s #stampoftheday, a 5-cent stamp issued in October 1963, about 11 months after she died.
Roosevelt’s story has been told by many people and in many ways. As Franklin Roosevelt’s wife she redefined the role of the First Lady, becoming a very public voice for human rights and social justice, including civil rights. In 1946, President Harry S. Truman appointed her as a delegate to the United Nations where she became chair of the first chair of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. In that role Roosevelt, who has been described as “a shy, elderly lady with a rather formal demeanor but a very warm smile, led the effort to draft and then adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The document, which draws on the American Bill of Rights, the British Magna Carta and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man, has become one of the most seminal documents of the 20th century. Its first of its 30 Articles sets forth its central idea: ”All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” Many subsequent articles describe basic political and civil rights, which include the right to life, liberty and property; freedom from torture or degrading treatment or punishment; freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile; the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal; freedom of thought and religion; freedom of expression; the right to peaceful assembly and association. Several subsequent articles also define economic, social and cultural rights, which include the right to work; the right to social security; the right to equal pay for equal work; the right to rest and leisure; the right to an adequate standard of living; the right to education; and the right to participate in the cultural life of the community.
Drafting the document was no easy feat, especially because it was written at the height of the Cold War. In recognition of her central role in this effort, in December 1948, after the General Assembly adopted the declaration its members rose and gave Roosevelt a standing ovation, something that had never happened before and hasn’t happened since.
To be clear, the declaration wasn’t a binding treaty. Rather, it was a ”standard of achievement” that could guide nations and citizens. Nevertheless it has had a dramatic impact. It has been published in almost every language and it has served as a rallying point for many victims of oppression, including both Nelson Mandela and Lech Walesa. It also has been the main source of inspiration for more than 20 legally-binding human rights treaties and for human rights institutions in Europe and Latin America. And the UN and many NGOs have used it to measure the performance of governments around the world.
Although Roosevelt was proud of her role in shaping the declaration, she also was a realist who knew its words were not self-enforcing. The real challenge, she liked to tell United Nations delegates in later years, was one of ”actually living and working in our countries for freedom and justice for each human being.’
‘This message still resonates today, according to David Michaelis, author of a new biography of Roosevelt, who recently told the Smithsonian Magazine that Roosevelt “wanted you to know that your government belongs to you, that it was furnished to you, it was invented for you, it was designed for you so that you could have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in your way. But in return-and this is the catch-you must do the people’s duty: It’s up to you as a part of ‘we, the people’ to show up for local, state, and federal elections, and put in your vote. That’s it. That’s the contract with your country.
He added: “Action was the key to everything she did. Words mattered-and she expressed herself in plain, simple, beautiful, clean language-but they were not finally as important as doing something. The phrase that Eleanor Roosevelt brought everywhere she went was, “What can be done?”…
She [also] would say to people, pay attention to local politics, learn your community. Everything that’s happening in the world of international affairs and on the national, federal level is happening in your community. And it’s in the small places close to home that we find human rights. It’s in every school, it’s in courtrooms, it’s in prisons, it’s in hospitals, it’s in every place where human beings are reaching out and trying to find a relationship between themselves and the world.”
It was as true then as it is today.
Be well, stay safe, show up, reach out, fight for justice and work for peace.