The Colorado Humanities History Speakers Bureau brings engaging living-history scholars to communities throughout Colorado.
Meet first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, portrayed by Susan Marie Frontczak. Starting in the 1920’s Eleanor worked to advance minimum wage, maximum hours, laws against child labor, women’s rights, women’s representation in government, civil rights, and other progressive causes. No other “first lady” had ever taken on such a public role. She continued to advance these causes while her husband was in office. She often served as her husband’s “eyes and ears” across the United States by inspecting factories, inner city tenements, military camps, etc. – because FDR’s polio confined him to a wheelchair. After his death, she became a delegate to the newly formed United Nations and led the development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Susan Marie Frontczak has given over 850 presentations as Marie Curie, Mary Shelley, Irene Castle, Clara Barton, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Erma Bombeck across 43 of the United States, and abroad in her 22 years as a Living History scholar. She also works with both adults and youth to develop their own Chautauqua presentations. Susan Marie authored the Young Chautauqua coaching handbooks for Colorado Humanities and coaches students 3rd through 12 grades. In 2022 she joined the faculty of the new Chautauqua Training Institute run through North Dakota Humanities which is coaching a dozen new Chautauqua scholars from across the country.