Eleanor Roosevelt was perhaps the most accomplished and fearless of First Ladies. She was a prominent activist for progressive causes, and she never moderated her views to please the public. She was her own woman, not an ornament for a powerful man.
Garrison Keillor’s “The Writers’ Almanac” posted this brief tribute to an amazingly interesting woman:
It’s the birthday of the longest-serving First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, born in New York City (1884) who said, “A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.” During World War I, she went off to Europe and visited wounded and shell-shocked soldiers in hospitals there. Later, during her husband’s presidency, she campaigned hard on civil rights issues — not a universally popular thing in the 1930s and 1940s, or in 2020.
And, “You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I LOVE Eleanor Roosevelt.
What a woman.
One of my all time favorites. So ahead of her time, so independent, so intelligent and kind.
How uplifting is is to read of such a positive person when all news is so depressing. Thanks too to GK and DR for alerting us good lives matter.
Do I dare say, “Compare Eleanor Roosevelt with the Barbie doll, nude model, trophy wife that we now have?”
Jun 21, 2018
First lady Melania Trump visited migrant children near the Texas-Mexico border wearing a jacket with large letters on the back that said, “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?”
Wonderful way to start my day. The two quotes are exactly right.
We didn’t pull in many stations when I was a rural 1950’s kid, so I enjoyed tuning in to short wave radio. Ours was bigger than a bread box, in a curved maple case, relegated to a storage section of the basement (kept plugged in for my benefit). I would listen stretched out on the concrete floor under a rack where my mother’s old formals hung in protective wardrobe bags. Mostly I browsed the dial just to hear foreign languages, and Radio Free Europe. And Eleanor Roosevelt’s. There’s a snippet of her Feb 1957 ‘disc jockey’ show here: https://www.wnyc.org/story/dj-eleanor-roosevelt-ones-and-twos/
Hearing it now, I realize why I grew up with such a warm feeling about her, as though she were another grandmother.
I am thrilled to celebrate Eleanor Roosevelt on her birthday, as she certainly left a legacy for all women to consider and applaud. I am also glad to have a focus on Eleanor, rather than the U.S. Senate’s insane judicial hearings for Amy C. Barrett, who is not prepared nor fit for the U.S. Supreme Court. Eleanor was honorable, honest, and unafraid to defend her beliefs in the strength and power of women in the world. Her sayings are now quotes that ground and inspire, among them: “Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.” What a shame how too many leaders in the U.S. government, who wear their powers like shields and masks, seem to have neither knowledge or wisdom when making decisions that impact lives of us everyday people.
Eleanor Versified
A woman is like a bag of tea —
As also is her daughter —
You never know strong she be
Until she’s in hot water
You never know how strong she be
I never knew that Eleanor Roosevelt was born on the same day that Christopher Columbus arrived at Plymouth Rock.
Thanks!
I wonder if they celebrated the first Thanksgiving together.
DAM Poet: Probably Eleanor Roosevelt and Christopher Columbus celebrated Thanksgiving together. Anything is possible since children and adults rode dinosaurs and the earth, which most likely is flat, is only 6,000 years old.
Just reinvent history.
If expert geographer Thomas Friedman had been writing for the NY Times back in 1492 , I suspect old Chris Columbus never would have dared to sail.
Eleanor Roosevelt was nothing like The Pilgrims and Cristoffa Corombo. 😐