gram, also created in 1933, initially offered hope to blacks in parts of the Southeast. But the program essentially barred blacks from skilled and management jobs. Blacks were even barred from the new federal model town of Norris, Tennessee. Norris, named after Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska who sponsored the TVA act, was built by TVA to house construction workers who were building the Norris Dam, the first major dam built by TVA. Given the local oversight of hiring workers and managing the projects, black Americans were excluded both from higher paying construction jobs and residence in the company town. As a result, blacks in the area continued to live in shacks with no electrical wiring. Consequently, the black tenant farmers in the region received little benefit from the cheap electricity generated by the new TVA hydroelectric dams.
Why Not Promote Civil Rights?
Despite the activism of the New Deal President Roosevelt consistently rejected appeals by the black community to correct some of the social injustices imbedded in American society. White supremacy still ruled American politics, and President Roosevelt rightly figured that anyone who promoted civil rights issues would quickly lose political support to accomplish much of anything.
By 1937 and 1938, however, Roosevelt’s support on the New Deal was waning. Despite his choice not to actively seek to improve the situation for blacks, he lost support from the conservative element of the Democratic Party, partly over racial equality issues.
One person was particularly responsible for changing the attitude of the federal government toward helping black Americans. That person was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor had long held strong sympathies for the less fortunate in society. But she was especially struck by the uproar caused in 1933 by her simply having lunch with a black woman in Florida. Intent on making a difference in public attitudes toward racism, she took up the black cause for social justice and economic betterment. Her outspokenness on civil rights issues served to greatly raise public awareness of the problems. In a 1934 speech to a conference on black education, Eleanor Roosevelt stated that “the day of working together has come, and we must learn to work together, all of us, regardless of race or creed or color … We go ahead together or we go down together.” (quoted in Robert S. McElvaine. The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941, 1993).
The First Lady used many avenues to promote black issues. She held weekly press conferences with women reporters, she conducted lectures across the country, and she had her own radio program, and wrote her own syndicated newspaper column, “My Day.” Also, while traveling widely, she became her husband’s eyes and ears, particularly regarding issues concerning the underprivileged and racial minorities. While in Puerto Rico in early 1934, Eleanor made a point of being photographed where the public back home could see the dire living conditions in parts of the Caribbean.
Eleanor also used her unique access to policy-makers as First Lady to strongly lobby for greater federal assistance to the black community and recognition of civil rights. As an example she addressed congressional committees, conferred with committee chairmen, and wrote letters to members of Congress demanding that childcare assistance be provided. Unlike her husband, the president, Eleanor also publicly supported the passage of anti-lynching bills.
This role of social activism was unprecedented for a First Lady. Her action led to inclusion of black Americans into the political Democratic coalition, aligning the black vote with the party for the rest of the twentieth century. Speaking out against racial segregation in public places, Eleanor became the target of intense abuse from white racists.
Eleanor continued her crusade even after the Great Depression and New Deal years and Franklin’s death in April 1945. The following December President Harry Truman (served 1945-1953) appointed Eleanor to be a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nation