Eleanor
A SPIRITUAL BIOGRAPHY
Eleanor
A SPIRITUAL BIOGRAPHY
The Faith of the 20th Centurys
Most Influential Woman
Harold Ivan Smith
2017 Harold Ivan Smith
First edition
Published by Westminster John Knox Press
Louisville, Kentucky
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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. Public Domain. Scripture quotations marked NIV are from The Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and used by permission.
Excerpts from a prayer by Chief Yellow Lark and a prayer composed by Australian aborigines are from Eleanor Roosevelt s My Day Eleanor Roosevelt. Reprinted by permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK for UFS. All rights reserved. All other excerpts from Eleanor Roosevelts My Day columns are used by permission of the Eleanor Roosevelt Estate. All rights reserved.
Book design by Drew Stevens
Cover design by Marc Whitaker / MTWdesign.net
Cover photo: Eleanor Roosevelt, Bridgeman Images
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Smith, Harold Ivan, 1947- author.
Title: Eleanor : a spiritual biography : the faith of the 20th centurys most influential woman / Harold Ivan Smith.
Description: First edition. | Louisville, Kentucky : Westminster John Knox Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016041537 (print) | LCCN 2016055185 (ebook) | ISBN 9780664261641 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781611647976 (ebk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962Religion. | Presidents spousesUnited StatesBiography.
Classification: LCC E807.1.R48 S65 2017 (print) | LCC E807.1.R48 (ebook) | DDC 973.917092 [B] dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016041537
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
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With deep appreciation, I dedicate this book to
Robert Clark
Archivist par excellence, then at the FDR Presidential Library, who urged me to set aside another project to explore the spirituality of Eleanor.
I took his sage advice.
Sally Higgins
At a moment of indecision, she leaned across the table and said,
Write the book!
Gregory DeBourgh
Who listened to more Eleanor stories than any nursing scholar should and offered his dining room table, where I spent hundreds of hours writing and editing. His wise counsel helped me clear hurdles throughout the entire process.
Contents
It takes a village to publish a book. Over the decade of research and writing, I borrowed a lot of eyeballs to read draft after draft.
I owe a great deal to:
Mary Kay Speaks, who proofread the working manuscript and raised poignant How do you know this? questions and weighed dozens of citations.
Doug Fuehling, an energetic librarian/detective who tracked down books, articles, and ideassometimes with only the sketchiest details from my memory.
Rabbi Earl Grollman, who on more than one occasion gave me the Dutch-uncle talk and finally said, Enough research! Write the damn book! I cant wait around for this book. The rabbi is in his tenth decade!
Bill Moyers and Doris Kearns Goodwin, who offered encouragement during their visits to the Bennett Forum sponsored by the Harry S. Truman Library Institute, where I am an honorary fellow. Over the years the Truman Institute led by Alex Burden and the Kansas City Public Library led by Crosby Kemper brought dozens of presidential scholars to lecture at the Truman Forums incredible presidents and first ladies lecture series.
Virginia Ledwick, archivist at the FDR Presidential Library, who answered many e-mail questions and directed me toward resources for consultation and interpretation.
The host of Eleanorettes who read drafts and offered great chunks of encouragement and whose standard question became, Hows Eleanor these days? including Dennis and Beulah Apple, Brenda Atkinson, Ron Attrell, Ron Benefiel, Dan Boone, John Roosevelt Boettiger, Sharon Bowles, Gray Brechin, Peggy Campolo, Betty Carmack, Tim Cox, Greg DeBourgh, Nina Roosevelt Gibson, Richard Gilbert, Janice Greathouse, Jolane Hickman, Nancy Keller, Jerry Kolb, John and Diane Larsen, Randy McCain-Eddy, Therese McKechnie, Marina McSorley, Rhonda Monke, Nancy Mullins, Jane Norman, Arvil Pennington, Susan Prion, Rabbi Daniel Roberts, Allison Palandrani Romero, Leslie Stockard, Judy Turner, Mary Grace Williams, and Rosalyn Wilson.
The staffs of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park, the Hyde Park Free Library, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, and the Harry S. Truman Library.
The Linda Hall Science Library, a crown jewel for scholars, which provided traditional quiet space for editing and thinking.
The Kansas City Public Library, the Mid-Continent Public Library, and the Johnson County Public Library, which provided space to edit and procured literally hundreds of books, some long removed from circulation.
TWO ABBREVIATIONS
Eleanors faith was personal, but never private. In her dozens of books and thousands of newspaper and magazine columns, she wrote frequently of Scripture, the example of Jesus, her own prayers, and the divine call to work for a more just and peaceful world. Two regular columns stand out as the venues in which common Americans most often heard from Mrs. Roosevelt, offering a window into not just Eleanors activities and political views but her very soul.
I have documented most sources cited in this book in the back matter, but to highlight the public nature of Eleanors spirituality, I have cited quotations from these two publications parenthetically throughout the book and abbreviated them as follows.
MD: My Day, Eleanors syndicated newspaper column, ran from December 30, 1935, until September 26, 1962, six days a week until January 1961, then three days a week until a mere six weeks before her death.
IYAM: If You Ask Me, a monthly column Eleanor wrote from May 1941 until her death in November 1962, was originally published in Ladies Home Journal. A conflict with the publisher led her to take the column to
