// Quotes from The Firebrand and the First Lady //
Eleanor Roosevelt with granddaughter Sara “Sally” Roosevelt (left), whom Pauli Murray and her niece Bonnie Fearing met at Val-Kill the weekend a category 4 hurricane struck New York State, October 15-17, 1954. ER’s “indomitable courage” in the face of this ferocious storm was an “example” that would inspire Murray for years to come. (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library)
“For me, becoming friends with Mrs. Roosevelt was a slow, painful process, marked by sharp exchanges of correspondence, often anger on my side and exasperation on her side, and a gradual development of mutual admiration and respect.”
“One of my finest young friends is a charming woman lawyer–Pauli Murray, who has been quite a firebrand at times but of whom I am very fond.”
“The measure of her greatness was her capacity for growth, her ruthless honesty with herself, and the generosity with which she responded to criticisms.”
“I have known Miss Murray for a long time and she is a very brilliant girl.”
“She asked me of my future plans and seemed to approve. You would have thought I was talking to either you or Aunt Sallie, the way she talked to me.”
“When more whites and Negroes become friends and lose whatever self-consciousness they started out with, we shall have a much happier world.”