She wrote a daily newspaper column

During her lifetime, Eleanor Roosevelt broke many barriers and traditions. She was the first First Lady to write a daily newspaper column as a First Lady. During the Great Depression, she frequently traveled across the country to assess Americans' living conditions.

From December 31, 1935, to September 26, 1962, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote "My Day," a nationally syndicated newspaper column (six days a week until January 1961, then three days a week thereafter). She didn't keep a diary, and her appointment books are woefully inadequate.

As a result, "My Day" is the only consistent account of her public actions that exists. Eleanor also hosted a weekly radio show, wrote a monthly magazine column, and held press conferences.

While the columns are not a complete record of Roosevelt's daily activities, they do reveal a lot about who she met, where she traveled, what books she read, which plays she saw, and how she dealt with the pressures of public life. They chart her transformation from awkward "diarist" to skilled advocate for the New Deal, civil rights, the United Nations, and a plethora of other domestic and international issues. To summarize, "My Day" provides an extraordinary glimpse into Roosevelt's public and political life.