It's up to the Women

Description

Written at the height of the Great Depression, IT'S UP TO THE WOMEN is Eleanor Roosevelt's advice to women of all ages on every aspect of life. During a time of extreme hardship, she called on women particularly to do their part-cutting costs where needed, spending reasonably, and taking a personal responsibility to keep the economy going. She wrote, "Women, whether subtly or vociferously, have always been a tremendous power in the destiny of the world and with so many of them now holding important positions and receiving recognition and earning the respect of the men as well as the members of their own sex, it seems more than ever that in this crisis, 'It's Up to the Women!'" Roosevelt was among the earliest and most influential people of the time to compile such a wide-ranging treatment of the roles women should take in both private and public life. Her opinions about women's equality, civil rights, and a higher standard of education in the United States were ahead of her times. She argued for: * the need for equal pay for equal work * the sheer necessity of quality education * less indifference regarding the right to vote * the necessity of knowing one's neighbours for both urban and rural citizens. She also commented on the stark "condition" changes related to the Great Depression-homelessness, hunger, and alterations in the social order within communities and within families. Within this context, she calls upon the women to lead with this timely advice: Although Roosevelt was still within her first year as First Lady of the United States when she wrote this book, she had already rewritten the role with her active participation politics, speaking tours around the country, and her participation in press conferences. In this book, she showed a firm grasp of what was going on in the lives of the American women and of the role women could and should fulfil in the life of the nation.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) was an American politician, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, holding the post from March 1933 to April 1945. She made Gallup's list of "People that Americans Most Widely Admired in the 20th Century," and Time's "The 25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century."

"It's Up to the Women challenges us anew to foster community, adhere to the highest standards of ethics, raise fearless children with a concern for the world, and embrace and act on the notion that it is 'the attitude of women towards changes in society [that] is going to determine to a great extent our future in this country.' Inspiration for the work ahead is found here, in wise advice for women in the 1930s."--Julia Stasch, President, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation "Eight decades after the Great Depression, American women are facing yet another test of courage and ingenuity. Eleanor Roosevelt's advice to women living through the world's greatest economic crisis remains relevant, comforting, and, for all of its practicality, profoundly inspiring."--Amanda Foreman, bestselling author of Georgiana and A World On Fire "In l933, Eleanor Roosvelt launched her first book to galvanize an urgent movement for democracy, peace and freedom. As fascism threatened the world, she believed women's activism would save the future... This book, bold and vividly written, is needed NOW!"--Blanche Wiesen Cook, Distinguished Professor of History at John Jay College and author of a prize-winning three-volume biography of Eleanor Roosevelt "This must-read primer by America's greatest first lady is so much more than quaint, decades-old history. [It's Up to the Women] powerfully reminds us of how much women have achieved since Eleanor's time-and how much more must be done to secure the level playing field she advocated. Ably reintroduced by the brilliant Jill Lepore, this book is as timely now as when it first appeared in the depths of the Depression.. . . What Eleanor advised women then remains truer than ever today: our mission will only be fulfilled when 'we can say we never saw a wrong without trying to right it.'"--Jennifer J. Raab, President, Hunter College and founder of Roosevelt House at Hunter "Whatever the topic, Roosevelt's advice is insistently practical... wholesome and heartening."--Kirkus Reviews