68 pages • 2 hours read
The First Ladies
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Themes
Transcending Social Boundaries
The theme of transcending social boundaries is integral to the novel for historical accuracy, conflict-creation, and character arcs. Given the historical period, there are social boundaries between the races and between male and female spaces. Throughout the novel, characters find way to transcend these boundaries in a way that weakens or dismantles them altogether.
When Eleanor and Mary’s friendship first begins, the ladies at the club luncheon are shocked that Sara Roosevelt and Eleanor would invite a Black woman to the event. By sitting with Mary, Eleanor shocks the women but slowly begins to normalize white and Black women being friends. As their friendship progresses, so do their symbolic acts of boundary-crossing. They shake hands in public. They are seen eating together. They attend functions together, and Eleanor joins the NAACP and attends functions Mary organizes for Black causes. Eleanor hosts Mary at her home, and Mary accepts an invitation to spend the night at Hyde Park, the Roosevelt’s New York home. Both women understand that being intentional about their friendship when they’re in the public eye does more to weaken these boundaries than lectures or laws.
There are also boundaries between male and female spaces. Eleanor is particularly uncomfortable in traditional roles of a politician’s wife. Rather than host parties, make small talk, and maintain a purely social calendar focused on the home and traditional female hobbies, she is more comfortable charting her own path. She writes a daily newspaper column, flies in an airplane with a Black pilot, and is an active partner in the political process. Similarly, Mary founds a school, seeks funding from wealthy white men, and is as comfortable in government spaces working with men as she is on her own school campus. Both women’s demanding professional roles put them regularly in male spaces, and they each possess a presence that commands respect in those spaces.
Women’s Rights and Empowerment
The theme of women’s rights and empowerment is key to Eleanor and Mary’s characters. As women, they face unique struggles that men don’t, including balancing their time between children, their professional lives, and their passions. In Eleanor’s case, she is not traditionally feminine and sometimes feels guilty for not achieving the ideal standard of domesticity. The media often calls her “frumpy” for not wearing fashionable clothes, and she is uncomfortable in traditional female roles. Still, Eleanor builds her life around her happiness, allowing herself to be independent and follow her causes, including establishing the Todhunter girls’ school and teaching there. After Franklin’s affair, she is given more liberty with her life as long as she agrees to stay with him for appearances. It’s an ironic choice; on one hand, she literally becomes the woman behind the man as she supports Franklin physically when he has to walk in public or stand for any amount of time. On the other hand, her position as his wife opens doors to her independence. She has access to privilege that allows her to work for the causes she’s passionate about and create meaningful change. Thus, she raises her children (though she says she’s not a natural mother) and involves herself with numerous women’s organizations, fights for equality for women and all races, and takes a deep interest in education. She maintains a busy schedule of acting as Franklin’s confidante and conscience for politics, supporting him through his polio, travels for his campaigns, starting charities, etc.
When Franklin gives her Val-Kill, he empowers her to have her own home and own space. At this cottage, she can be her most authentic self, and she enjoys the company of her friends Marion and Nan. Later, Eleanor also finds a sexual awakening with her friend Hick, showing that women can be involved romantically together without it being taboo. Mary even applauds her for finding her own source of love. Even though Eleanor remains married to Franklin, her independence from him empowers her to create her own life according to her own beliefs and convictions.
Mary finds empowerment primarily through education. Her own education empowered her to create a school from essentially nothing, and she is determined to empower Black girls (and then all Black youth) with an education that will make them inferior to no one. She is single-minded in her commitment to make sure her school is funded, and she is audacious in her requests to wealthy white men who have the resources she needs.
One aspect that empowers both women is their choice of wardrobe. Mary is a more traditional with fashionable clothes, but she, like Eleanor, forges her own path in life that is not typical for most women of her time. She finds a sense of empowerment from the clothes Miss Harriet provides her because they symbolize how far she’s come from her early days on the plantation. Mary also frequently thinks of her parents and other family who didn’t have her opportunities and never enjoyed the power or influence Mary has earned through her perseverance. Clothes (and her favored walking canes) also establish an outward sign of her inner dignity. In this way she is different from Eleanor. Eleanor is expected to dress and behave a certain way, so simple clothes empower her to be her own woman. Mary’s clothes reflect the respect she commands because white people frequently refuse to see past her skin color.
Civil Rights Activism
The theme of civil rights activism propels the plot from start to finish and defines the course of both women’s lives. Civil rights can be defined as the “guarantees of equal social opportunities and equal protection under the law, regardless of race, religion, or other personal characteristics” (“Civil Rights.” Britannica). Because Eleanor and Mary met, became friends, passionately embraced advancing civil rights, and relied on each other’s strength and wisdom, they exemplified and created meaningful social change. They advanced education and opportunities for Black youth, dismantled barriers to Black military service, raised awareness of the horrific crime of lynching, created jobs, and changed public perception of what Black Americans are capable of.
Mary’s storyline provides a personal insight into the fight for civil rights and exemplifies how education can be a powerful tool to work toward a more equal society. Mary’s beliefs about the importance of education reflect the views of others in the Black community, such as the girl she meets on the train journey to the White House in 1930, whose parents have sent her to stay with family in the hopes that she might be able to attend school. Mary was the first person in her family to attend school, and she has worked hard to build her own all-girls college from the ground. Mary understands the intersections between race, gender, and education, and she is especially passionate that young Black women should have the right to an education—even if that means they start learning in a room with “straw matting on the floors and the single broken-down Singer sewing machine” (21). Mary’s persistence, however, means that she is able to secure more funding to greatly improve conditions at the college. Mary understands that personal and social education must be continued beyond the classroom and pursued at local and national levels, but she also recognizes the evident impact of her and other campaigners' efforts when she sees Black businesses opening in areas that were considered the “white section” of town, such as the “Tea Shop” that her son Albert opens. Mary is buoyed by the prospect of future generations having greater opportunities, and this continues to drive her campaigning and advocacy.
Mary and Eleanor’s friendship also dismantled widely held perceptions about friendship between Black and white people. While they created positive change with legislation and through government channels, some of their most dramatic impact on civil rights came from their public interactions—the laughter, meals, handshakes, and time spent together. Mary and Eleanor didn’t accomplish all of their goals, but they opened doors that had previously been closed to Black people and modeled true equality for the world.
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