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Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote the foreword for the US publication of The Diary of a young girl.

Person

Vervaardiger onbekend. National Archives and Records Administration, via Wikimedia Commons
  • Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
  • Born on: Oct. 11, 1884
  • Born in: New York, USA
  • Died on: Nov. 7, 1962
  • Died in: New York, USA

Eleanor Roosevelt, 1943

Vervaardiger onbekend. National Archives and Records Administration, via Wikimedia Commons

Publiek Domein

Eleanor Roosevelt was an American politician and activist. She served as first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during the presidency of her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt. She campaigned for civil rights of minority groups, among other things, and acted as an advocate for war refugees during World War II. In 1946, she was elected as the first chair of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. In this position, she led the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[1]

Involvement in the US edition of the diary

Because of this profile, Eleanor Roosevelt was approached by the publisher Doubleday & Co. to write an introduction for The Diary of a Young Girl, the US edition of the English translation of Het Achterhuis. She was suggested by Otto Frank, who had probably met her through his friends Nathan and Helen Straus.[2]

Between December 1935 and September 1962, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a daily column called My Day.[3] After reading Anne Frank's diary, she began her column on 22 April 1952 with a short recommendation:

‘I think it is well for us who have forgotten so much of that period to read about it now, just to remind ourselves that we never want to go through such things again if possible. […] This diary should teach us all the wisdom of preventing any kind of totalitarianism that could lead to oppression and suffering of this kind.’[4]

The first US edition, containing Eleanor Roosevelt's foreword, was published seven weeks later on 12 June 1952. It begins with:

‘This is a remarkable book. Written by a young girl – and the young are not afraid of telling the truth – it is one of the wisest and most moving commentaries on war and its impact on human beings that I have ever read.’[5]

The text was likely written with the help of Barbara Zimmerman, the editor on behalf of the publisher.Barbara Epstein.[6] It is possible that the foreword was written entirely by her and signed by Eleanor Roosevelt.[7]

Conflict surrounding stage play

On 15 October 1955, Eleanor Roosevelt again paid attention to Anne Frank's story in her column. Earlier that week she had attended a performance of the play The Diary of Anne Frank. She writes in praise of the play and the cast.[8]

She became involved in a long-running conflict between Otto Frank and Meyer Levin, who had written a first draft for a play but had been rejected by the producer.[9] Meyer Levin filed a lawsuit in 1955 and repeatedly sought the press.[10] In 1957, he convinced Eleanor Roosevelt to send a critical letter to Otto.[11] Otto was very upset by this and asked his friend Nathan Straus Jr. to mediate.[12] He sent a comprehensive letter to Eleanor Roosevelt asking her to write Otto a reassuring message.[13] On 22 April 1957, she wrote him a letter apologising.[14]

Fundraising

In the 1950s, the building at Prinsengracht 263, including the Secret Annex, was in danger of being demolished. Otto founded the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam in 1957 to prevent this. To raise funds for this cause in the United States as well, an American Anne Frank Foundation was founded in New York on 7 October 1958.[15] Eleanor Roosevelt was involved in its establishment and fulfilled the role of honorary president within the board.[16] To also raise funds for the International Youth Center in Amsterdam, which was linked to the Anne Frank House, the American foundation established the American Committee for the International Anne Frank Youth Center on 9 March 1959.[17] Eleanor Roosevelt approached former US presidents Herbet Hoover and Harry Truman to become honorary chairpersons of this new committee, but eventually she herself took on this role.[15]

Eleanor Roosevelt died on 7 November 1962 at the age of 78. Otto sent a letter of condolence to her family on 21 November 1962.[18]

Source personal data.[1]

Footnotes

  1. a, b Wikipedia: Eleanor Roosevelt.
  2. ^ Anne Frank Stichting (AFS), Anne Frank Collectie (AFC), Otto Frank Archief (OFA), reg. code OFA_154.6: brief van Francis Price aan Otto Frank, 24 april 1951.
  3. ^ Wikipedia: My Day.
  4. ^ Eleanor Roosevelt, ‘My Day, April 22, 1952’, in: The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Digital Edition, 2017.
  5. ^ Eleanor Roosevelt, in: Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl. An Extraordinary Document of Adolescence, vertaald vanuit het Nederlands door Barbara Mooyaart-Doubleday, Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company Inc., 1952, p. 7-8.
  6. ^ Wikipedia: Barbara Epstein.
  7. ^ AFS, AFC, OFA, reg. code OFA_154.6: brief van Joseph Marks aan Otto Frank, 28 juni 1972; Karen Bartlett, The diary that changed the world: the remarkable story of Otto Frank and the diary of Anne Frank, London: Biteback Publishing, 2022, p. 73-74.
  8. ^ Eleanor Roosevelt, ‘My Day, October 15, 1955’, in: The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Digital Edition, 2017.
  9. ^ The Otto Frank Archive holds a number of letters surrounding Eleanor Roosevelt's involvement in this conflict: AFS, AFC, OFA, reg. code OFA_172.16.
  10. ^ AFS, AFC, OFA, reg. code OFA_164.1: Aanklacht Meyer Levin vs. Otto Frank en Cheryl Crawford, 5 januari 1955; AFS, AFC, OFA, reg. code OFA_164.1: Aanklacht Meyer Levin vs Otto Frank en Kermit Bloomgarden, 26 februari 1956.
  11. ^ AFS, AFC, OFA, reg. code OFA_172.16: brief van Eleanor Roosevelt aan Otto Frank, 2 april 1957.
  12. ^ Ibidem: brief van Otto Frank aan Nathan Straus, 14 april 1957.
  13. ^ Ibidem: brief van Nathan Straus aan Eleanor Roosevelt, 19 april 1957.
  14. ^ Ibidem: brief van Eleanor Roosevelt aan Otto Frank, 22 april 1957.
  15. a, b AFS, AFC, OFA, reg. code OFA_359.1: brief van Max Grossman aan Otto Frank, 9 oktober 1958.
  16. ^ Ibidem: brief van Myer Mermin aan Otto Frank, 27 oktober 1958.
  17. ^ Ibidem: bekendmaking oprichting American Committee for the International Anne Frank Youth Center, 9 maart 1959.
  18. ^ AFS, AFC, OFA, reg. code OFA_154.6: brief van Otto Frank aan familie van Eleanor Roosevelt, 21 november 1962.