The Monument to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt is situated in the northeast part of the UN grounds. It consists of a semicircular granite bench with the inscription “1884 – Anna Eleanor Roosevelt – 1962,” and a tall slab, or stelae, facing the bench and showing a bas relief of a flame that bears the inscription “She would rather light a candle than curse the darkness, and her glow warmed the world.”   The memorial was conceived by American architect Eric Gugler (1889 – 1974) at the request of the Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial Foundation. The foundation was created by an act of Congress signed on April 23rd 1963 by President John F. Kennedy. It was deemed fitting that the memorial be built on the United Nations grounds, where Mrs. Roosevelt worked for a world in which all people could talk in peace and dignity.  

In 1945, Mrs. Roosevelt was appointed as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly by USA President Harry S. Truman. In April 1946 she became the first chairperson of the Human Rights Commission, where she was instrumental in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

She said, “Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.” 

The memorial was opened in a ceremony on April 23rd 1966. Mrs. Roosevelt’s daughter, Anna Roosevelt Halsted, and her son, Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., were in attendance. 

Secretary-General U. Thant (1909 – 1974) said at the ceremony, “Eleanor Roosevelt was not only a stalwart protagonist of the rights of man; she gave an added dimension to man’s lifelong striving for dignity and respect. /…/ It is especially good, therefore, that this monument to her, at once artistic and utilitarian, should be erected here.”