Eleanor Roosevelt Quarter

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962) may be the biggest named honoree of the American Women Quarters Program. Her advocacy redefined the role of the First Lady in the cultural and political conversation in this country. There is no Jackie Kennedy, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, or Michelle Obama without Eleanor Roosevelt.

Ms. Roosevelt may be the only recipient of a quarter in her honor that caused most people to say “well, naturally.” No discussion of great women from America’s past can leave her out.

So, let’s look a bit more closely at her life and the incredible things she managed to accomplish during her time on Earth.

Biography

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884 in New York City. Her father, Elliott, was a member of the Roosevelts, a wealthy and prominent family tracing its roots back to the 1600s. Her mother, Anna Rebecca Hall, descended from the illustrious Livingston family, which produced – among others – both Presidents Bush.

Unsurprisingly, she was also related to future President Theodore Roosevelt as well. In fact, Teddy Roosevelt was her father’s brother, and thus, Eleanor Roosevelt’s uncle.

However, her pedigree did not result in a happy childhood. Her father was an alcoholic and her mother was emotionally abusive, often calling Eleanor’s appearance “plain.”

Both of her parents passed away before she turned 10. She also lost her younger brother, Elliott Jr., to diphtheria during this period, too.

After her parents’ death, young Eleanor went to live with her maternal grandmother. Unfortunately, her grandmother continued her mother’s cycle of abuse.

It was against this backdrop that Eleanor’s strength of spirit began to emerge. At age 14, she wrote that her physical attributes did nothing to detract others from her, as her truthfulness and loyalty created an infectious spirit around her.

The following year, she went to Allenswood Academy in England for her education. She was heavily influenced by the school’s headmistress, Marie Souvestre, who instilled independence and confidence into Eleanor. Souvestre also opened Eleanor’s eyes to social issues, laying the groundwork for Ms. Roosevelt’s future advocacy.

Upon graduation, she returned to New York to make her social debut in 1902, as befitting her status as a young lady from a prominent family. She also began working in the settlement house movement, helping to settle and educate new arrivals to the United States.

During these early days, she also began a courtship with her distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The couple married in 1905, and it is unknown whether Ms. Roosevelt kept using her maiden name.

Needless to say, Franklin had to devote himself to his budding political career. So, Eleanor was tasked with caring for the couple’s five children in New York City.

She wasn’t alone – Franklin’s mother was also available to help care for the large family. Unfortunately, Sara Roosevelt shared a similar personality to Eleanor’s grandmother and belittled her daughter-in-law terribly.

Thankfully, Franklin was an excellent politician, and got himself elected to the New York State Senate in 1911. Thus, the younger Roosevelt clan had to move to Albany, and Eleanor no longer had to weather the abuse from her mother-in-law.

The Roosevelts eventually established a permanent home, Val-Kill, in upstate New York. However, their tenure in Albany was short-lived, as Franklin was appointed to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1913 by Woodrow Wilson. Thus, Eleanor had her first taste of Washington DC.

Mrs. Roosevelt encountered a major turning point in 1918 after discovering that Franklin was having an affair. Though she remained married to him and encouraged him to continue his career – even after his polio diagnosis in 1921 – the couple largely began to lead separate lives.

Eleanor spent much of her time at Val-Kill. Although initially hesitant about women’s suffrage, she took leadership positions after the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 in women’s rights organizations, such as the League of Women Voters and the Women’s Trade Union League.

However, her husband’s health issues precipitated her increased profile in the public eye. Because his health was compromised and he struggled with the use of his legs, she often appeared in his place at campaign events and other rallies. She grew to a major role in the New York Democratic Party, and was likely a better-known figure than her husband when he was elected to the Governorship of the state in 1928.

Because of her work, she was set to establish a new paradigm for First Ladies when FDR was elected President in 1932. Unafraid to speak her mind publicly, she advocated for better treatment of African-Americans and Asian-Americans – two rather controversial topics at that point in the nation’s history.

She was also the first First Lady to hold press conferences of her own, write her own newspaper column, and host her own radio show. She made similar history when she spoke at the Democratic National Convention.

Eleanor Roosevelt had her husband’s ear on policy issues, too. She pressed him to add additional support programs through the New Deal, and even fought to get women appointed to his cabinet – which happened when he appointed Frances Perkins to be the Secretary of Labor.

Due to her husband’s popularity, she was the longest-tenured First Lady in the country’s history and, given the current state of our laws on term limits, is likely to remain so. Eleanor Roosevelt occupied the role from 1932 until her husband’s death in 1945.

However, his death did not slow down her fervor and advocacy. She was appointed as a delegate to the United Nations – an organization her late husband began – and helped to write the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

She continued to work in this role until the 1952 election of Dwight Eisenhower to the presidency. She also took up the mantle against the activities of Sen. Joseph McCarthy and argued passionately for African-Americans to receive civil rights protections.

In her waning days, she became the chairperson of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women at the behest of Pres. John F. Kennedy. The Commission would eventually release a report on gender discrimination that detailed conditions faced by women in America. This report served as a major source of inspiration for future important pieces of legislation, including Title IX and the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Sadly, Eleanor Roosevelt did not live to see the publication of this report. She was diagnosed with aplastic anemia in 1960 after her involvement in an auto-pedestrian accident, and was given an infusion of steroids in 1962 to help treat the chronic condition.

Unfortunately, the steroids unlocked a dormant case of tuberculosis in her bone marrow, and she died of tuberculosis-related heart failure on November 7, 1962. She was 78 years old, and passed away at her home in New York City.

Legacy

Eleanor Roosevelt’s legacy is an ongoing celebration. Her inclusion on the 2023 quarter is just the latest chapter in her long book of honors, awards, and tributes. In fact, it’s not even her first time to appear on American currency.

In 1966, the White House Historical Commission purchased a 1949 portrait of her. The portrait, painted by artist Douglas Chandor, remains a fixture of the Vermeil Room at the White House.

Roosevelt was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1973. The American Association of University Women (AAUW) created the Eleanor Roosevelt Fund Award in 1989 to honor an “individual, project, organization or institution for outstanding contributions to equality and education for women and girls.”

Ms. Roosevelt is also commemorated in several prominent pieces of statuary. She is the only First Lady to appear in a presidential memorial, as she is included as a statue piece in the tribute to her husband. Roosevelt is also the subject of the Eleanor Roosevelt Monument, which resides in New York’s Riverside Park.

She also remains a cultural icon to this day. A 1999 Gallup poll that identified the most widely admired people of the 20th century ranked her ninth on the list. In 2020, Time magazine recognized its 100 Women of the Year and retroactively made Eleanor the 1948 recipient.

Finally, Eleanor Roosevelt first appeared on US currency in 2016. Her portrait, along with other suffragettes, appeared on a newly-designed $5 bill. So, in a sense, her quarter is only modest tribute – in light of the other ones, anyway.

The 2023 Quarter

As is the case with all quarters minted after 1932, the obverse of the Roosevelt quarter features George Washington, along with a 2023 mint mark. This design, from Laura Gardin Fraser, is unlikely to change anytime soon.

The reverse of the quarter is where the tribute to Mrs. Roosevelt lives. She is dressed in her usual stately garb – complete with hat and pearls. The scales of justice appear next to her, and both are superimposed over an image of the globe.

The representation is symbolic of her efforts to foster human rights around the world, regardless of skin color, gender, or ethnicity. Though a small inscription of her name appears on the coin, the Eleanor Roosevelt quarter may be the only member of the American Women Quarters Program that could have gotten away without naming her.