Preface
Eleanor Roosevelt’s story is one of possibility, although not in the way one might think. Hers is no rags-to-riches story. In fact, Eleanor Roosevelt grew up in an environment of privilege. Her uncle, Theodore Roosevelt, was an American president; she went to finishing school in Europe; and she danced in debutante balls. Yet it was not among the wealthy that Eleanor found her voice. It was on the streets of immigrant New York, among the poor, working with women and African Americans, and speaking out against injustice that she developed as a political force. Eleanor Roosevelt was not without flaws, but what is so compelling about her story is that we can read for ourselves the evolution of her public voice and concern. Her papers reveal both her desires and frustrations, enabling us to trace her thinking through the multiple perspectives revealed in her public and private writings.
In many ways, this book follows the scope and sequence of what we think of as the Facing History and Ourselves “journey.” That journey is built around a developmental model with the fundamental assumption that all of us are lifelong learners. The name Facing History and Ourselves reflects the belief that we learn history in dialogue with ourselves, our history, and the world. Eleanor’s story begins that way as well.
Part I focuses on the development of Eleanor’s identity as a person, and as a political thinker and activist. You will read about how she formed her own universe of responsibility, with particular attention to her understanding of the people many saw as the “other.”
In Part II, we learn how those values were tested as the United States entered World War II, causing Eleanor to face the limits of her own power, and we see her response to the Nazi Holocaust and the growing refugee crisis in Europe. At the same time, this section traces Eleanor’s broadening understanding of democracy and her vision for the post–war world.
Part III, and the major focus of this book, is Eleanor Roosevelt’s role in creating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After confronting the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust, and after her husband’s death, Eleanor’s role at the United Nations and on the human rights committee gave her a new means of expressing her desire to participate and the opportunity to have a lasting impact on the lives of others.
Part IV of the guide examines the legacy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UDHR is an unusual international document. It is neither law nor a treaty. It is an aspirational statement. It was not written by one person; it went through several drafts with many different authors. Yet, it was Eleanor who, directing the project with subtle force, ensured that the result would be a moral yardstick by which people all over the world could measure their own communities and conditions. The process was far from easy. Try to imagine gathering a group of people who do not know each other, who represent different political interests, and who come from different countries, cultures, and religions, and asking them to agree on a statement about basic human values and to describe what everyone in the world needs to do to ensure that those values are upheld. Eleanor guided the team drafting the document through committee, and then through the process of ratification in the United Nations.
Eleanor and the other drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights well knew that the Declaration was only a beginning. International cooperation on human rights issues stalled during the Cold War and the post–Cold War era has brought new alliances that make the human rights project a difficult one.
Too often, the story of human rights is removed from history. It is important to reposition this history in the wake of World War II and the Holocaust. The images of the concentration camps of Europe were never far from Eleanor’s mind as she undertook this work, nor were the conditions of African Americans in her own country. As a diplomat, Eleanor balanced her personal interests and her public role. Some have criticized her for not speaking out loudly enough on some issues, and speaking too loudly on others. This story is about negotiation, and compromise. It is also about the challenges of trying to make a difference.
Eleanor holds the completed Declaration of Human Rights.
UN Photo
Eleanor Roosevelt did not write laws or build buildings. Instead, she believed firmly in giving people the tools they needed to advocate to improve their own lives. By studying the particular story of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, students will begin to make connections to their own communities. Adults have failed to stop war, violence, and terrorism. Hopefully, in this story, students will find insights and inspiration to do a better job than previous generations have done in the sixty-plus years since the Declaration was passed.