First Lady of the World: Eleanor Roosevelt at Val-Kill (Teaching with Historic Places)

This lesson is part of the National Park Service’s Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) program.

“My Missus and some of her female political friends want to build a shack on a stream in the back woods and want, instead of a beautiful marble bath, to have the stream dug out so as to form an old-fashioned swimming hole.”

This is how Franklin D. Roosevelt described his wife Eleanor's ambition to build a retreat for herself and her friends away from the big family house at Hyde Park, New York. The "shack," built in 1925 near a gently flowing stream, was actually a stone cottage situated on land FDR offered the women for their lifetime use. The following year, the women had a second building constructed on the site to house a small furniture factory. After the factory closed in 1936, Roosevelt converted the building into a cottage for herself, her secretary, and guests, and christened it "Val-Kill Cottage." She used the cottage only sparingly until the death of FDR in 1945. Then, she moved permanently to Val-Kill. She had once described Val-Kill as the place "where I used to find myself and grow" and where "I emerged as an individual." It was truly her home and the place where she came into her own. She gained strength and inspiration from the pastoral surroundings. Use this lesson plan to learn more about Eleanor Roosevelt’s home at Val Kill.

Essential Question

Why is it important to have spaces for international dialogue?

Objective

1. To describe the general setting at Val-Kill and explain how it nurtured Eleanor Roosevelt's spirit, personal style, and humanitarian efforts;
2. To describe some of the people Roosevelt invited to her home and indicate how these visitors reflected her interest;
3. To examine the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and explain Roosevelt's involvement in its creation;
4. To investigate their own community for volunteer organizations dedicated to helping others.

Background

Time Period: 20th century
Topics: The lesson could be used in American history courses in units on efforts to achieve world peace during the Cold War in the 1950s, or on human rights and civil rights issues. Students will learn about Eleanor Roosevelt's contributions as a humanitarian.

Grade Level

Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade

Subject

Literacy and Language Arts, Social Studies

Lesson Duration

90 Minutes

Full Lesson Plan