Meet first lady Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937, during her husband’s second term as president. For almost two decades Eleanor Roosevelt had worked to advance minimum wage, maximum hours, laws against child labor, women's rights, women's representation in government, world peace, civil rights, and other progressive causes. A few days after FDR was installed in office in 1933, she held a press conference — for women reporters only. No other "first lady" had ever held a press conference, had ever taken on such a public role. She continued to advance her causes while her husband was in office. Furthermore, Eleanor often served as her husband's "eyes and ears" across the United States by inspecting factories, inner city tenements, military camps, and even coal mines.

Behind this public life is the story of a little girl who lost both parents before the age of ten, a debutante who felt trapped by society’s expectations, and a young wife who raised five children before emerging as one of the 20th century’s most remarkable women.

Today, seven decades later, it is easy to take for granted the existence of Social Security, Minimum Wage, the Security Exchange Commission, Labor’s right to organize and bargain, and even the United Nations. But none of these existed when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in March of 1933. What was Eleanor Roosevelt’s role in those first years of the New Deal? What formative experiences made her such a force in the world?

Through a series of vignettes, witness alternating glimpses into Eleanor Roosevelt's pubic and private personae. Mrs. Roosevelt moves back and forth between an intimate setting of speaking off the record with close friends and a podium setting for her public addresses.

One-hour program consists of a monologue in character, followed first by a question and answer period with "Mrs. R" and then by a question and answer period with the scholar/presenter.