Significant others : the fictive kin of Eleanor Roosevelt, 2013

Item — Call Number: MU Thesis Mal

Identifier: b7636381

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The collection consists of theses written by students enrolled in the Monmouth University graduate History program. The holdings are bound print documents that were submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Master of Arts degree.

From the Collection:

During the fall 2022 semester (in instances where the requisite waivers were received from consenting student authors), the Monmouth University Library, together with the University's Graduate School and Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences, began providing open access to select full-text digital versions of current theses and dissertations through links to the ProQuest Dissertations Publishing website in the Library's Online Public Access Catalog. Links to these open access digital publications can also be found in the "External Documents" section under any conforming titles that are listed among the holdings itemized in the collection inventory for this finding aid.

Dates

Creation: 2013

Creator

Maloney, Patricia M. (Patricia Maureen) (1956-2022) (Author, Person)
Parkin, Katherine J. (Thesis advisor, Person)
Dorment, Maureen (1946- ) (Thesis advisor, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use. Access is by appointment only.

Access to the collection is confined to the Monmouth University Library and is subject to patron policies approved by the Monmouth University Library.

Collection holdings may not be borrowed through interlibrary loan.

Research appointments are scheduled by the Monmouth University Library Archives Collections Manager (723-923-4526). A minimum of three days advance notice is required to arrange a research appointment for access to the collection.

Patrons must complete a Researcher Registration Form and provide appropriate identification to gain access to the collection holdings. Copies of these documents will be kept on file at the Monmouth University Library.

Extent

1 Items (print book) : 174 pages ; 8.5 x 11.0 inches (28 cm).

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Biographies of Eleanor & Franklin Roosevelt note that by the time FDR took office in 1932, the Roosevelt marriage was more of a political partnership than an intimate personal relationship. They married for love in 1905 and had six children but, as a keenly intelligent woman, Eleanor Roosevelt struggled against the confines of her role as a society matron. In addition, her mother-in-law was a forceful and influential presence in her son's life and FDR proved unwilling to support his wife in the inevitable conflicts that arose between the women. Over time ER came to feel that her family did not value her or her contributions. This was made especially evident to her when she discovered that her husband was having an affair with her social secretary. Although they remained married, from 1918 on the Roosevelts really led separate emotional lives.

In response to the challenges she faced Eleanor Roosevelt sought to make a life for herself outside of her home and family. She formed close relationships with people to whom she was unrelated but who nevertheless became like family to her. These fictive kin relationships often superseded her ties with the members of her "blood" family. For ER, the "significant others" in her life were often women friends with whom she worked, and often lived, as she embarked on her public career.

This thesis examines Eleanor Roosevelt's relationship with four women who, at various points in her life, were her closest companions: Nancy Cook, Marion Dickerman, Lorena Hickok, and Malvina Thompson. These individuals all contributed directly to the formation of ER's public image and career. They also enjoyed a serial significance in Roosevelt's life, in that during the time when she needed them most in support of her public life, each of them was also her most intimate companion - her most significant other. While all of the women appear in the extant Eleanor Roosevelt historiography, this work examines them in detail in a way that specifically traces the trajectory of their involvement with Roosevelt as well as exploring their individual "outrageous" lives as "New Women" in the Roosevelt Era. Their choices are representative of the opportunities available to women within the political and social framework of the era and render them worthy of study both in relation to and apart from their connection to Eleanor Roosevelt.

Keywords