Coffee Hour: Eleanor Roosevelt's Healing Advice
Friday, March 12th at 11:00 AM
Advice columnist is not the first term that comes to mind when describing Eleanor Roosevelt. Yet for more than twenty years, from the time she was first lady until her death in 1962, she wrote an advice column called “If You Ask Me.” Her answers to readers’ questions about life, love, education, politics and aging are wise, witty, and as relevant as the latest tweet.
Join historian Mary Jo Binker for an illuminating look at this unusual column and the woman who wrote it.
About Mary Jo Binker:
Mary Jo is a consulting editor for the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project at George Washington University and an adjunct professor of history at George Mason University. Besides her work at the Project, she has edited two books on Eleanor Roosevelt’s work: If You Ask Me: Essential Advice from Eleanor Roosevelt (Atria, 2018) and What Are We For? The Words and Ideals of Eleanor Roosevelt (HarperCollins 2019). Her articles have appeared in Time (online), Ms. (online), and White House History Quarterly. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Oregon State University and a master’s degree in history from George Mason University.
