Saturday, October 11, 2014

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Happy 130th Birthday Mrs. Roosevelt!

Eleanor Roosevelt would have been 130 years old today. She was the driving force behind the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights grew out of international revulsion over the mass killings of World War II, particularly the Holocaust and was the product of the Commission on Human Rights.

 “Mrs. Roosevelt drove her colleagues mercilessly,” writes The New York Times. “There were fourteen, sixteen hour days and some delegates may have secretly whispered the prayer ascribed to President Roosevelt: ‘O Lord, make Eleanor tired!’" After the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "something happened that never happened in the United Nations before or since. The delegates rose to give a standing ovation to a single delegate, a shy, elderly lady with a rather formal demeanor but a very warm smile. Her name, of course, was Eleanor Roosevelt."

Click here for entire article.
Click here for Mrs. Roosevelt's Legacy.