Eleanor Roosevelt

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born into an old family of great wealth (she was the favorite niece of President Theodore Roosevelt), but she was remarkably sensitive to the concerns of the underprivileged. Arguing that dignity came from within, she is credited with the saying “Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” After her husband’s death in 1945, which came just months after his re-election to an unprecedented fourth term, she became the chairperson of the United Nations’ Human Rights Commission. Her work on the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights led many to hail her as the “First Lady of the World.”

Painter Douglas Chandor captured the many sides of the former first lady’s personality in this multiple-image portrait. Made at his studio in New York City, it is inscribed by the sitter in the upper right corner: “A trial made pleasant by the painter. Eleanor Roosevelt.”