University at Albany Libraries' Two Millionth Volumes

Roosevelt, Eleanor
*It's Up to the Women*
New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1933
From the final chapter: "It is important that women think beyond the mere moment through which we are passing and acquaint themselves with all phases of life and conditions in our own country. I think we shall have fulfilled our mission well if when our time comes to give up active work in the world we can say we never saw a wrong without trying to right it; we never intentionally left unhappiness where a little effort would have turned it into happiness, and we were more critical of ourselves than we were of others. When I was a little girl, my grandmother would often say to me, 'You are a girl and I expect you to be more sensible and more thoughtful than your brothers.' She was of the generation which did not demand so much recognition for women, but which accomplished many things by working through the men when they hardly knew they were being influenced. I do not mean for a minute that we should go back to the ideas of that generation or that women should return to the old status. I am merely pointing out that women, whether subtly or vociferously, have always been a tremendous power in the destiny of the world and with so many of them now holding important positions and receiving recognition and earning the respect of the men as well as the members of their own sex, it seems more than ever that in this crisis, 'It's Up to the Women!'"

From the final chapter:

"It is important that women think beyond the mere moment through which we are passing and acquaint themselves with all phases of life and conditions in our own country. I think we shall have fulfilled our mission well if when our time comes to give up active work in the world we can say we never saw a wrong without trying to right it; we never intentionally left unhappiness where a little effort would have turned it into happiness, and we were more critical of ourselves than we were of others.

When I was a little girl, my grandmother would often say to me, 'You are a girl and I expect you to be more sensible and more thoughtful than your brothers.' She was of the generation which did not demand so much recognition for women, but which accomplished many things by working through the men when they hardly knew they were being influenced. I do not mean for a minute that we should go back to the ideas of that generation or that women should return to the old status. I am merely pointing out that women, whether subtly or vociferously, have always been a tremendous power in the destiny of the world and with so many of them now holding important positions and receiving recognition and earning the respect of the men as well as the members of their own sex, it seems more than ever that in this crisis, 'It's Up to the Women!'"