Katherine Parkin, Ph.D., professor of history, recently published research on Eleanor Roosevelt’s career as an advertising spokeswoman in Advertising & Society Quarterly (Vol. 27, Issue 2, 2026). The work was co-written by the late Patricia Maloney ’13M.
The paper, “From Mattresses to Margarine: Eleanor Roosevelt’s Advertising Career, 1927-1962,” is built on research conducted by Maloney, who wrote her graduate thesis at Monmouth on Roosevelt’s relationships with women. Their most recently published study traces Roosevelt’s work in commercial advertising, which afforded her the income to achieve financial independence while supporting both charitable and social causes.
The authors found that Roosevelt carefully chose endorsements that aligned with her public image and values, lending her name to products she used, such as hearing aids, as well as campaigns supporting hospitals, children’s charities, and civil rights. They argue that this authenticity helped make her one of the nation’s most trusted public figures and an effective spokesperson.
Parkin and Maloney conclude that Roosevelt viewed advertising as an essential tool for advancing her life’s work, understanding that it took money to achieve her personal and societal goals. Rather than diminishing her legacy as a humanitarian and champion of civil rights, they argue, her paid endorsements and media work helped finance her advocacy, charitable giving, and public service, cementing her as “the most important public woman of the twentieth century.”
Maloney was an Eleanor Roosevelt expert; in addition to completing her master’s thesis on the subject, she also served as a volunteer docent giving tours at Val-Kill, Eleanor’s home in Hyde Park, and worked as a National Park Service ranger at all the Roosevelt homes in town.
Parkin is the Jules Plangere, Jr., Endowed Chair in American Social History. Her recent scholarship includes “The Abortion Market: Buying and Selling Access in the Era Before Roe,” published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. Her related work, “The Business of Abortion: Referral Services, Advertising, and Canadian Women’s Access to Abortion in New York State, 1970-1972,” co-written by Sarah Elvins, Ph.D., was awarded Best Scholarly Article in Canadian Business History in 2025.