Anna Roosevelt Halsted

Anna Roosevelt Halsted
Halsted c. 1932
Born	Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1906-05-03)May 3, 1906 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	December 1, 1975(1975-12-01) (aged 69) New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting place	St. James Episcopal Churchyard, Hyde Park, New York, U.S.
Occupations	Writer editor socialite
Spouses	Curtis Bean Dall ​ ​ (m. 1926; div. 1934)​ Clarence John Boettiger ​ ​ (m. 1935; div. 1949)​ James Addison Halsted ​ ​ (m. 1952)​
Children	Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Dall Curtis Roosevelt Dall John Roosevelt Boettiger
Parents	Franklin D. Roosevelt Eleanor Roosevelt
Relatives	See Roosevelt family

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Halsted (May 3, 1906 – December 1, 1975) was an American writer who worked as a newspaper editor and in public relations. Halsted also wrote two children's books published in the 1930s. She was the eldest child and only daughter of the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt and assisted him as his advisor during World War II.^[1]

Halsted worked with her second husband Clarence John Boettiger at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, serving as editor of the women's pages for several years. She later worked in public relations for universities. In 1963, John F. Kennedy appointed her to the Citizen's Advisory Council on the Status of Women. She also served for several years as vice-chairman of the President's Commission for the Observance of Human Rights.^[1]

Biography

Sara Delano Roosevelt (1932)

Anna Boettiger with her son John Roosevelt Boettiger and her mother Eleanor (1939)

Anna Boettiger, Sarah Churchill, FDR and Winston Churchill aboard the USS Quincy before the Yalta Conference (1945)

Anna Halsted with Eleanor Roosevelt at Syracuse University

(1956)

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Jr. was born at 125 East 36th Street in New York City. She was named for her mother, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, and maternal grandmother, Anna Rebecca Hall. She graduated from Miss Chapin's School in 1924. She then entered Cornell University for a short course in forestry.^[2] On June 5, 1926, she married Curtis Bean Dall, a New York stockbroker, in Hyde Park, New York. They had two children, Anna Eleanor, born March 25, 1927, and Curtis Roosevelt, born April 19, 1930. The Dalls were divorced in July 1934, and Anna returned to her family, living in the White House. She then married Clarence John Boettiger, a journalist she met on her father's campaign train, in March 1935. They had one son, John Roosevelt Boettiger, born March 30, 1939.^[3]

Early career

Anna was active as an editor and journalist. Between 1932 and 1934 she was associate editor of a magazine called Babies Just Babies; hosted a radio program sponsored by Best and Company Department Store; and contributed articles to Liberty magazine. She also wrote two children's books, Scamper and Scamper's Christmas. After her second marriage, she moved to Seattle with her husband, where he was hired by William Randolph Hearst to be the editor of the Seattle Post Intelligencer. From December 1936 to September 1943 they ran the newspaper. Anna was editor of the women's page and a columnist for the newspaper.^[4] In 1942, Clarence Boettiger became concerned he was not doing his part for the war effort. He was given a leave of absence by Hearst and was appointed a captain in the Army.^[4]

Work in the White House and the Yalta Conference

After her husband joined the Army, and at her ailing father's request, Anna moved into the

Anna Boettiger was a witness to many historic moments, but she also carried the burden of dealing with some of the most intimate and painful decisions of her parents during their unconventional marriage.[7] After her father's death, Anna had to tell her mother that FDR had been with his long-time mistress, Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd. In addition, she told her that Franklin had continued the relationship for decades, and people surrounding him had hidden it from Eleanor.^[6]

Subsequent career and marriage

After Roosevelt's death in April 1945, William Randolph Hearst no longer had reason to favor Boettiger and they had a falling out. Boettiger left the Seattle Post Intelligencer and he and Anna bought a weekly newspaper in Phoenix, Arizona. They renamed it the Arizona Times and had turned it into a daily paper by May 1947. However, they were attempting to turn it into a left-leaning newspaper in Arizona, and the paper failed. The failure left the Boettigers bankrupt and put a great strain on their marriage. They divorced August 1, 1949.^[1] For a year after her divorce, she and Eleanor collaborated on a joint radio show called the Eleanor and Anna Roosevelt Program. She also edited a magazine called The Woman and contributed a series of articles called My Life with F.D.R.^[4]

In 1952 she married Dr. James Halsted, a doctor who was employed by the Veteran's Administration. They moved to New York where she took up work in public relations for hospitals and medical centers. The Halsteds moved to the Imperial State of Iran, where Halsted helped establish the Pahlavi University Medical School. Anna worked there in public relations and administration. When they returned to the United States, Anna immersed herself in humanitarian work and contributed to the legacy of both her parents.^[6]

In October 1963, Anna was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to the Citizen's Advisory Council on the Status of Women. In February of that year, she was appointed vice-chairman of the President's Commission for the Observance of Human Rights.^[2]

In 1971, the Halsteds retired to a cottage in

• The Daughters of Yalta (2020) book

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Asbell, Bernard: Mother and Daughter: the letters of Eleanor and Anna Roosevelt. Fromm International, 1988

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anna Roosevelt Halsted.

• Anna Roosevelt Halsted at Find a Grave
• The New York State Archives has 34 feet (10 m) of the Anna Roosevelt papers