Roosevelt Grandson Urges Social Action

Ford Roosevelt, grandson of Eleanor and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, spoke Wednesday at Adat Ari El synagogue where he urged a crowd of 200 to “shake off complacency” and “get involved” in addressing societal ills.

In his hourlong remarks on “The Roosevelt Legacy,” the 52-year-old Valley Glen resident focused primarily on the accomplishments of his grandmother, who died in 1962 when he was 16.

Sharing personal moments and family anecdotes, he described his grandmother as a “force of nature” who was a tireless worker for social causes, including youth employment and civil rights for African Americans and women.

Roosevelt’s grandmother served as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations and helped draft its Declaration of Human Rights. He said that if she were alive today she would be concerned about poverty and hunger and would wonder how much progress has been made since the declaration was adopted in 1948.

“She took the concerns of the world as her own,” said Roosevelt, who is active in several human rights causes, including Tibetan independence. “Don’t leave this room without a commitment to help a child who is hungry or a child who needs an education.”

The audience seemed receptive to his message.

“It’s up to all to carry on his grandmother’s legacy,” said Pearl Roseman of Sherman Oaks.

Roosevelt spoke as part of a contemporary issues forum of Multi-Interest Day, a 39-year-old adult education and community program sponsored by the synagogue’s sisterhood.

For the audience of mostly seniors, Roosevelt’s remarks reconnected them with historical moments that shaped their lives.

Holocaust survivor Ruth Slater grew up in Vienna, Austria, during World War II and remembers the day Franklin Roosevelt died: April 12, 1945. She remembers, she said, that her mother and grandmother cried because they believed Roosevelt was “the savior who was going to end the war.”

During a brief question-and-answer period that followed, Roosevelt, who is also active in local and national political campaigns, was asked if he had plans to run for office.

“I’d rather be on the outside and agitate,” he said.