Jim Peter’s explained Eleanor Roosevelt’s family tree, revealing complicated formative relationships in the early life of the woman who served as First Lady for twelve years and became the role model for modern First Ladies.
Peter’s comments were a preview of the six-hour course he will teach this winter for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute on “Eleanor Roosevelt: Her Private Struggles and Public Triumphs.”
Here are facts from Eleanor’s early years:
- Eleanor was a descendent of the Oyster Bay Roosevelts in New York. The family gained wealth in business and banking and was known for its philanthropy and political influence.
- Born in 1884, the daughter of Elliott and Anna Hall Roosevelt, she was named “Anna Eleanor.”
- President Theodore Roosevelt was her uncle, her father’s older brother.
- Her mother and one of her two brothers died when she was eight years old, and she was orphaned by the time she was nine.
- She was raised by her maternal grandmother Mary Livingston Ludlow Hall along with aunts and uncles who were close to her in age.
- Schooled at home until she was 15, she then attended finishing school at Allenswood Academy in England where she played field hockey, danced, and toured Europe.
- In 1907, she married Franklin D. Roosevelt, one of the Hyde Park Roosevelts. He was her fifth cousin once removed.
