Eleanor Roosevelt

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 11, 1884.   Her parents, Elliott Roosevelt and Anna Hall Roosevelt, named Anna after her mother and her aunt, Anna Cowles.   Eleanor also had a nickname "Ellie," after her father.   She had always preferred to be called after her middle name though.   Eleanor had two brothers, Elliott Roosevelt, Jr. and Hall Roosevelt.   She had a half brother also, Elliott Roosevelt Mann, whose mother was Katy Mann, a servant employed by the Roosevelt family.   Eleanor's family was very wealthy and privileged, and her family was part of the New York high society called the "sweels."   When Eleanor was eight years old her mother died from diphtheria, and her father, who was an alcoholic, died less than two years later.   Also, her brother Elliott Jr. died from diphtheria, just like her their mother.   Because of the deaths in her family, Eleanor was raised by her grandmother, Mary Ludlow Hall in Tivoli, New York.   When Eleanor was 14, she had a clear understanding that everyone's goals and where they would go in life were not totally dependent on physical beauty.   She considered herself to be "ugly," so she knew that she would need to have the brain power and not get everything she wanted just from her appearance.   Her grandmother had her privately tutored, and at the age of 15, with the encouragement from her father's sister, Eleanor's aunt "Bamie," the family decided to send Eleanor to Allensdwood Academy, which was a private finishing school right outside of London.   The headmistress of the school, Marie Silvestre, was known for her feminist education who looked to cultivate independent thinking with the ladies that she taught at her school.   Eleanor learned to speak fluent French and by the time she left the school had gained an abundance of self-confidence.   After attending Allenswood, Eleanor later studied at The New School in and during the 1920's.
At age 17, Eleanor went back to the United States and stopped her formal...