The Eleanor Roosevelt and Human Rights Project

The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers is a research center here at George Washington University. Put simply, the project is a documentary history of Eleanor Roosevelt's political writings and radio and television appearances. The Eleanor Roosevelt and Human Rights Project is the first phase of the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers and began operations in June 2000.

I first became involved with the project through my professor Dr. Allida Black, Director and Editor of the Papers. I was Allida's student in the Women and Power Program (recent Historical Perspectives) in both the Fall and Spring Semesters of my Freshman year. When I told her that I was interested in staying in DC over the summer, she was more than willing to help me in my job hunt-she offered me a job working at the project! The Eleanor Roosevelt and Human Rights Project is an opportunity for students to apply the lessons of history. Eleanor represents all that is good about democracy. Her persistent, exceedingly personal outreach to people around the globe; her determination to create institutions respectful of people's needs and dreams; and her refusal to succumb to the politics of despair remain the example of democratic practice. Almost forty years after her death, she remains arguably the world's most outspoken advocate for human rights.

Currently, my fellow interns and I are charged with the task of filing, coding, and accessioning Eleanor's personal documents that come to us from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York. In all, we expect to receive over one million documents! It may not sound particularly interesting at first, but I have learned so much about this amazing woman by reading her own words. Not only have I learned a great deal about this famous first lady, but I have had the opportunity to meet many other influential women through my involvement with the project. Recently, I had the great honor of speaking at a dinner for the President's Commission on Women in American History. I encourage anyone, male or female, to get involved in this amazing and monumental project, offered right here at GW!