Eleanor Roosevelt

Who was Eleanor Roosevelt?

Eleanor Roosevelt was the wife of the 32nd President of the USA, Franklin D Roosevelt. She played an important role in campaigning for women's rights.

When did Eleanor Roosevelt campaign for women's rights?

Eleanor Roosevelt campaigned for women's rights between 1933 and 1962.

How did Eleanor Roosevelt campaign for women?

Eleanor Roosevelt took 4 key actions:

• ❖ She held press conferences and only allowed women to attend, ensuring media outlets had to employ female journalists.
• ❖ She put pressure on her husband and other politicians to employ more women.
• ❖ She made radio and television broadcasts and wrote articles sharing her opinions on many issues, including women's rights.
• ❖ She agreed to support John F Kennedy's campaign to become president if he agreed to look into the status of women through the creation of a commission.

How did Eleanor Roosevelt help women?

Eleanor Roosevelt achieved 3 key successes:

• ❖ The President's Commission on the Status of Women, created in 1961, highlighted inequality for women in the workplace in terms of pay and opportunity.
• ❖ Two laws were passed in the 1960s partly as a result of the Commission's findings. The Equal Pay Act in June 1963 made it illegal to pay people differently for the same job, while the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal to discriminate against someone based on gender.
• ❖ She was internationally respected and helped write the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is still in existence today.