Also a First Lady - our inaugural FFRM is Eleanor Roosevelt. These are a few of her many quotes - and just a short story examplifying what a strong independent thinker she was - in a time when women really were supposed to be seen and not heard..
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't."
"Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one."
"Friendship with oneself is all important because without it one cannot be friends with anybody else in the world."
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”—Eleanor Roosevelt
February 26, 1939 -
Eleanor Roosevelt Resigns from the Daughters of the American Revolution
On February 26, 1939, Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution in support of African American opera singer Marian Anderson.
As a celebrated opera singer Marian Anderson was used to attracting public attention for her singing, but ironically it was her inability to sing that placed her at the center of great controversy and drew the attention of one of the most famous women of her time, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
During the 1930s, African American contralto Marian Anderson sang at Europe's most famous concert halls and met great success, but when she returned to the United States she encountered racism, discrimination, and segregation. In January 1939, Ms. Anderson wanted to give a performance at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., but was told by the manager that she could not use the hall because of a prior engagement. After her request for alternate performance dates was also refused, the reason for Ms. Anderson's dismisal was clear. Marian Anderson could not sing at Constitution Hall because the Hall's owners - the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) - had a policy to not allow African American performers on the stage.
Many people spoke out against the Daughters of the American Revolution's policy, but the civil rights issue soon took on national importance; the D.A.R. had one member that was not willing to sit idly by as the organization discriminated against Marian Anderson, and that was Eleanor Roosevelt. From the beginning, there was no question whose side Mrs. Roosevelt was on; a champion of civil rights, Eleanor Roosevelt welcomed both blacks and whites at the White House, and even invited Marian Anderson to perform there in 1936. However, as the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt was aware her actions could anger some of her husband's southern political supporters, but in the end Mrs. Roosevelt put politics aside and followed her conscience. On February 26, 1939, Eleanor Roosevelt sent a letter to the Chairwoman of the Daughters of the American Revolution announcing her resignation. Mrs. Roosevelt's resignation and commentary on social justice published in her weekly "My Day" column THE NEXT DAY BROUGHT NATIONAL ATTENTION to the issue of civil rights.
Marian Anderson did not sing at Constitution Hall in 1939. Instead, thanks to the support of the Roosevelt administration, Ms. Anderson gave a concert on April 9, 1939, Easter Day, at the base of the Lincoln Memorial and the concert was broadcast across the country. That day Marian Anderson's voice was not confined by the segregationist policy of the Daughters of the American Revolution but instead reached into THE HOMES OF AMERICANS THROUGHOUT THE NATION.
February 26, 1939.
My dear Mrs. Henry M. Robert, Jr.:
I am afraid that I have never been a very useful member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, so I know it will make very little difference to you whether I resign, or whether I continue to be a member of your organization.
However, I am in complete disagreement with the attitude taken in refusing Constitution Hall to a great artist. You have set an example which seems to me unfortunate, and I feel obliged to send in to you my resignation. You had an opportunity to lead in an enlightened way and it seems to me that your organization has failed.
I realize that many people will not agree with me, but feeling as I do this seems to me the only proper procedure to follow.
Very sincerely yours,
Eleanor Roosevelt
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