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J. William T. "Bill" Youngs, Eleanor Roosevelt: A Personal and Public Life, Chapter Four
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"Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt with their Children" courtesy of the Wiki Commons
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How your father would have loved to see you in your little house. The word 'Home' meant
everything to him!...He would have loved to see you developing into a famous little housewife.
- Anna Bulloch, Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt
everything to him!...He would have loved to see you developing into a famous little housewife.
- Anna Bulloch, Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt
Chapter 4: Eleanor and Franklin
"Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt" courtesy of the Wiki Commons
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SummaryThis chapter details the courtship and marriage of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt. From early walks together in the countryside to the death of their son Franklin Jr.
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Author reads from the Text
The next morning Eleanor and Franklin sat side by side at a church service at Groton School, a few miles from Cambridge. Although he was only twenty-one and she was nineteen, it was one of those moments when young people feel themselves magically transformed into adults. They had come here alone without a cluster of relatives, and they were acting as parents, visiting Hall, whom Eleanor had recently enrolled in the school. They knelt together, sang together, recited the creed together. After the service they visited with Hall. Then they went off alone for a walk.
Franklin knew the countryside well because he to had attended Groton. As they strolled along, he may have talked about his years at prep school, the Harvard-Yale game, or Eleanor's brother. But in his mind was another subject: Eleanor herself. He had never even kissed the lively girl who was walking by his side, and she would have been shocked at so forward a gesture from him. But during the past year they must have often held hands and looked into one another's eyes, acknowledging the bond that had grown between them. In the autumn woods Franklin gave words to his feelings and asked Eleanor to marry him. She must have been expecting the question for she immediately accepted.
Franklin knew the countryside well because he to had attended Groton. As they strolled along, he may have talked about his years at prep school, the Harvard-Yale game, or Eleanor's brother. But in his mind was another subject: Eleanor herself. He had never even kissed the lively girl who was walking by his side, and she would have been shocked at so forward a gesture from him. But during the past year they must have often held hands and looked into one another's eyes, acknowledging the bond that had grown between them. In the autumn woods Franklin gave words to his feelings and asked Eleanor to marry him. She must have been expecting the question for she immediately accepted.