Download or read book Anna Eleanor Roosevelt; the Evolution of a Reformer written by James R. Kearney and published by Boston : Houghton Mifflin. This book was released on 1968 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning with the familiar story of a lonely childhood, James Kearney traces the gradual development of a shy, self-effacing girl into a national figure. The book's chief emphasis is on the crucial years that begin with the inauguration of 1933, when Eleanor Roosevelt emerged from the shadow of a family life dominated by her strong-willed mother-in-law to assume an active role in American public life. She was, in many ways, singularly ill-equipped for such a role. Self-critical, impulsive, and trustful to the point of gullibility, she was bound to make mistakes, and whatever mistakes she made were certain to be publicized mercilessly. Her touching belief in the idealism of youth involved her with the American Youth Congress. Her experience with the small furniture factory she had started at Hyde Park predisposed her to expect miracles from the Subsistence Homestead Division's plan to encourage handicraft production in rural areas. When the Communist domination of the AYC became obvious, she was pilloried as a fellow traveler or worse. The dismal failure of the model homesteads at Arthurdale, West Virginia, focused public attention on her innocent disregard of economic facts. And as a staunch champion of equal rights for the Negro, she was a target for abuse from racists of all kinds. Curiously enough, the torrent of vilification and ridicule had little effect. Mrs. Roosevelt continued to champion the underdog, to busy herself in diverse good causes, to enlist her husband's support of them and to chronicle all in her column "My Day." Her fan mail was enormous and, though some of the letters were uncomplimentary, most of them were not. Neither abuse nor moderate and objective criticism tarnished her public image. While statesmen spoke in impersonal phrases, she spoke directly to the people, communicating her concern as one human being to another. This was her gift to the people of America nad it was for this that they loved her.