USPS 100th Birth Anniversary of Eleanor Roosevelt.

USPS on 11 October 1984 issued a first day cover stamp marking the 100th birth anniversary of Eleanor Roosevelt. Over 112,000,000 deep blue stamps were printed by the American Bank Note Company. This engraved stamp featured 11 perforations and cancellation was from Hyde Park, NY. It was one of many stamps that have over the years  honoured her many humanitarian contributions.

When her husband Franklin Roosevelt was elected President in 1932, Eleanor dreaded the traditional roles of hostess and domestic affairs. As such, she made it her mission to redefine the role of First Lady. Eleanor continued her busy speaking schedule and was the first First Lady to hold a press conference. She would hold 348 while in the White House and banned male reporters, forcing newspapers to hire female reporters. She also wrote a newspaper column, “My Day,” which was another first. The column ran six days a week from 1936 until her death in 1962 and included her daily work as well as humanitarian issues.One of the projects dearest to Eleanor was Arthurdale, a community in West Virginia. In 1933, she visited homeless miners in Morgantown, West Virginia. She proposed building a new community where they could make their living with subsistence farming, handicrafts, and a manufacturing plant.

Another issue of great importance to Eleanor was civil rights. She frequently spoke out for the rights of African Americans, even challenging her husband’s New Deal policies because they did not equally benefit all races. In 1939, she stood up for African American singer Marian Anderson, who was denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

When World War II broke out, Eleanor encouraged her husband to allow European refugee children to immigrate to America. She hoped he would allow more immigration for those persecuted by the Nazis, but FDR did the opposite.

Eleanor co-chaired the Office of Civilian Defense (OCD), which gave volunteers more responsibility in war preparation. She also pushed for women and African Americans to take a larger role in the war effort, particularly giving women factory jobs a year before it became common practice. Eleanor also gave her support to the Tuskegee Airmen, flying with one of their pilots and bringing national attention to their training programme.

When FDR died in April 1945, she left the White House and moved to New York. Later that year, she was appointed a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. The following year she became the first chairperson of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and later helped draft its Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Over the years she refused several offers to run for political offices. She averaged 150 national and international speaking tours per year and received 35 honorary degrees.

Eleanor Roosevelt died on 7 November  1962. At her memorial service, Adlai Stevenson asked, “What other single human being has touched and transformed the existence of so many?”

Source: Mystic Stamps