Currently, PBS stations are airing The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. The seven part, 14 hour long series, is another of Ken Burns’ epic works. The series covers the fascinating lives of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Growing up on Long Island, I remember many trips to tour Sagamore Hill, Theodore Roosevelt’s summer home in Oyster Bay. I always tried to envision what it was like when TR was alive and the home and grounds were bustling with family activity.
Both Theodore and Franklin attended Harvard University. Theodore was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and Alpha Delta Phi. Franklin was a member of Alpha Delta Phi. He was also a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon (known as the “Dickey Club”) at Harvard, but by that time, the DKE national organization did not recognize the chapter because of the chapter’s stance on dual membership.
At the time she came of age, women in Eleanor Roosevelt’s social class did not typically attend college. They might have attended “finishing schools” as Eleanor did, but their main purpose in life seems to have been to “marry well.” She was, however, active with the Junior League in its early years. The Junior League for the Promotion of Settlement Movements, as it was first known, was founded by Mary Harriman (Rumsey), Kappa Kappa Gamma. Eleanor taught dancing and calisthenics in the East Side slums.
Later in life, Eleanor became an Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. That story is told in a post at http://wp.me/p20I1i-A5R. She was also involved with the awarding of the Chi Omega National Achievement Award. That story is told by my Chi Omega friend, Lyn Harris. It is at http://wp.me/p20I1i-mw.
Theodore Roosevelt was instrumental in the founding of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). See http://wp.me/p20I1i-10A for that story.
I recently wrote about Franklin Roosevelt’s involvement in the G.I. Bill, one act of which opened wide the doors of higher education. That story is at http://wp.me/p20I1i-10t.
Another of my favorite obscure facts is that after his mother died, Franklin Roosevelt inherited her stock in the Beekman Tower (Panhellenic) Hotel. The story of the Beekman Tower (Panhellenic) is at http://wp.me/P20I1i-1n
Other random GLO tie-ins to the Roosevelts:
Genevieve Forbes Herrick, Kappa Alpha Theta, Northwestern University, was a noted reporter of the day and several histories talk about Herrick being part of Eleanor’s inner circle.
Doris Kearns Goodwin, Delta Delta Delta, Colby College, won a Pulizer Prize in History (1995) for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.
Edward Herrmann, Phi Kappa Psi, Bucknell University, gives voice to FDR in the Ken Burns series. He also portrayed FDR in two made for television movies, Eleanor and Franklin (1976) and Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977). Both performances earned him Emmy Best Actor nominations. He also played FDR in the film, Annie. Younger viewers might recognize him for his work in The Gilmore Girls. He portrayed family patriarch Richard Gilmore.*
A letter from the Chi Omega Archives. This letter was written before FDR became President. During her White House years, Eleanor and Chi Omega National President Mary Love Collins took part in the Chi Omega National Achievement Award festivities.
* (I hear a Gilmore Girls movie might be in the works. It has my vote. The series is one which helped cement my daughter’s love for the study of television series. She is currently ABD and is writing a dissertation for a doctorate in Mass Communications.)
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2014. All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory/
