Ellen S. Woodward

by Martha H. Swain

Ellen S. Woodward (1887-1974) was touted as Roosevelt's second most powerful woman appointee. Among American women only Eleanor Roosevelt and Labor Department Secretary Frances Perkins could claim more elevated roles in the circle of FDR's administration. This long overdue biography of such a remarkable leader traces Woodward's odyssey from the parlors of her Mississippi clubwomen associates to a position as director of women's work relief under three successive New Deal agencies from 1933 to 1938. This expansively researched study of an outstanding New Deal figure, Martha H. Swain portrays Woodward as extraordinary in making inroads in behalf of unemployed women. Though present-day critics may disparage her for not attaining even more, given the times in which she worked, Woodward's accomplishments in uplifting such women were considerable. Swain depicts her in the vital roles she took in alleviating their plight.