Dorothy Kemp Roosevelt, 86, Michigan Political Contender
BIRMINGHAM, Mich. — Dorothy Kemp Roosevelt, a sister-in-law of Eleanor Roosevelt and the first woman ever to win a Democratic congressional primary in Michigan, died Sunday in her suburban Detroit home, family members said. She was 86.
Mrs. Roosevelt was married to the late G. Hall Roosevelt, a Detroit banker and brother of Eleanor Roosevelt and nephew of Theodore Roosevelt. They were divorced in 1937.
In 1942, she became the first woman to win a Democratic congressional primary in the state but was defeated overwhelmingly in her mainly Republican 17th District.
After the election, Victor Reuther, brother of United Auto Workers leader Walter Reuther, asked her to serve with the War Production Board in Detroit as a specialist on women’s problems in war industries.
Mrs. Roosevelt also was an accomplished pianist and performed often in recital at the White House during the Roosevelt years.
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