Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Eleanor Roosevelt: A Biography. By Cynthia M. Harris. Westport, Conn.: 2007. 1 vol. 191 p. $35.00. ISBN 10: 0-313-33166-9; 13: 978-0-313-33166-4.

Eleanor Roosevelt's childhood was not a happy one. Both parents died, and she and her siblings went to live with their grandmother. However, she overcame her shyness, married a man who was elected president, and became one of the most powerful women in the U.S. She, herself, was an excellent politician and she believed in and fought for the rights of women. She turned away from the life expected of women in her time (run the household, raise the children, and entertain your husband's guests) to become a teacher, social worker, and eventually an official delegate to the United Nations serving as chair of the Commission on Human Rights. She helped her husband shape the programs of the New Deal and worked diligently for human rights. A 3-page timeline of events in her life and two pages of acronyms are in the preface. Chapters cover her growing up, her marriage, the change from housewife to advocate, her years as the First Lady, the peak and waning of her power, the war years and the period after President Roosevelt died. Five pages of black and white photographs are inset in the middle of the book. The book ends with an epilogue and a bibliographic essay. Women's study classes as well as U.S. History students should learn about this dynamic woman in this period of history.