By: John Lane Jr. E-mail: johnamaxon@yahoo.com The Contributions of Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 11, 1884. She was one of America's great reforming leaders who had a sustained impact on national policy toward youth, blacks, women, the poor, and the United Nations. As the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she was one of the most active First Ladies as well as an important public personality in her own right. When Eleanor Roosevelt traveled to New York City a week after her husband's funeral in April 1945, a host of reporters were waiting at the door of her Washington S