Eleanor Roosevelt Focus of Lecture at Keuka

Christopher Brick, director and editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., will speak at Keuka College Tuesday, April 17.Brick will discuss “Eleanor Roosevelt and Israeli Nationhood, 1945-1962” at 6:30 p.m. in Hegeman Hall 109. It is free and open to the public.Roosevelt was not only an ardent champion of human rights, but also one of the century’s most prolific journalists, publishing more than 8,000 columns, 580 articles, 27 books, and 100,000 letters. She also delivered more than 1,000 speeches, and appeared on more than 300 radio and television shows.Since 2000, The Eleanor Roosevelt Project has worked to return her voice back into the written record and train approximately 6,000 teachers, 500 civil society leaders, 100 policymakers, and countless citizens around the world to study and apply her writings, knowledge, and strategy in their various arenas.It was founded in 2000, with strong support from the National Archives, National Endowment for the Humanities, the George Washington University, a host of private donors, and an advisory board chaired by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Arthur Schlesinger Jr.Keuka College’s connection with the first lady dates back to Feb. 16, 1938, when she visited campus to deliver a lecture and meet with students.Two years later, College President J. Hillis Miller wanted Keuka to contribute to the war effort should the country be drawn in. But how? The answer came from Roosevelt.Miller wrote Roosevelt and she replied by urging the College to set up courses in nursing and work with the Red Cross. Three years later, during World War II, Keuka’s nursing program was born.