ABSTRACT
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884, into a family of lineage, wealth, and uncommon sadness. The first child of Anna Hall Roosevelt and Elliott Roosevelt, young Eleanor-as she was called by her familyencountered disappointment early in life. Her father, mourning the death of his mother and fighting constant ill health, turned to alcohol for solace and was absent from home for long periods of time, engaged in either business, pleasure, or medical treatment. Anna Hall Roosevelt struggled to balance her disappointment in her husband with her responsibilities toward Eleanor and Eleanor's younger brother, Hall. As the years passed, the young mother became increasingly disconsolate.
