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Eleanor Roosevelt Seagraves

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Eleanor Roosevelt Seagraves
"Sistie" Dall in 1943
Born
Anna Eleanor Dall

(1927-03-25) March 25, 1927 (age 97)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materState University of New York
Occupations
  • Educator
  • librarian
Spouse
Van H. Seagraves
​
(m. 1948)​
Children3
Parents
RelativesSee Roosevelt family

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Seagraves (née Dall; born March 25, 1927) is an American librarian, educator, historian, and editor. She is the eldest grandchild of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Her parents are Anna Roosevelt Dall and her first husband Curtis Bean Dall.[1] She is usually known as "Sistie", "Ellie" or "Eleanor".[2]

Early life

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Sistie, as she was affectionately called in the press during her grandparents' tenure in the White House, was named for her mother and for her maternal grandmother, Eleanor Roosevelt. When her parents separated in 1933 (they divorced in 1934), she, along with her mother and brother Curtis, moved into the White House with her grandparents. Her mother would later remarry two more times and a younger half-brother, John Roosevelt Boettiger would join the family in 1939.[2]

Career

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Seagraves completed three years of college at Reed College before her marriage and later earned a master's degree in Library Science from the State University of New York at Geneseo in 1964.[3][4][5]

Seagraves is one of the few living Roosevelt family members who witnessed events firsthand during the White House years. Seagraves also is one of the few surviving people who witnessed her grandmother Eleanor Roosevelt's diplomacy. Each year, when Seagraves' grandmother held a picnic at Val-Kill for delinquent boys, she assisted Mrs. Roosevelt with these events. She was close to Eleanor Roosevelt throughout her life.[citation needed]

Seagraves has enjoyed a career as an educator and librarian. She edited Delano's Voyages of Commerce and Discovery (Berkshire House Publishers, 1994), drawn from the journals of Amasa Delano, as well as The Val-Kill Cook Book (The Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill, 1984). Seagraves concentrated her career on keeping alive many of the causes her grandmother began and supported. She is an active participant in Democratic Party events in her area, and endorsed Barack Obama for the 2008 Presidential campaign. At 97, Seagraves resides with her husband in Maryland.[citation needed]

Marriage and children

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On July 7, 1948, she married Van H. Seagraves.[1] Together, they had three children:

  • Nicholas Delano Seagraves (born August 7, 1949)
  • David Delano Seagraves (born August 26, 1952)
  • Anna Fierst (née Anna Eleanor Seagraves) (born August 16, 1955)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Roosevelt Genealogy". Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  2. ^ a b Krebs, Albin (December 2, 1975). "Anna Roosevelt Halsted, President's Daughter, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  3. ^ "Grandchild of Late President Wed in Phoenix". The New York Times. July 8, 1948. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Appointment of Eleanor R. Seagraves as an Alternate United States Member of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission". The American Presidency Project. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  5. ^ Bennett, Judy. "Remember 'Sistie'? She's Mother Now", Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, 131st year, July 5, 1963, page 6B.
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