As Women’s History Month continues, many feel the life and impact of one New Yorker, Eleanor Roosevelt, on the state and the nation was indelible.

“Eleanor Roosevelt was a remarkable first lady,” said Franceska Macsali-Urbin, supervisory park ranger at the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites. “She was the person who really broke the mold of what normally people would think a first lady's duties were.”

Born in New York City in 1884, Eleanor Roosevelt moved to the Hudson Valley to live with her grandmother after her mother died in 1892.

“She really loved the beauty of this area, whether it was the Hudson River or just taking a walk on the many trails here,” Macsali-Urbin said.

In 1905, she married her fifth cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became more active in politics, especially when her husband contracted polio. He built her the Val-Kill Cottage, which is now the location of the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, to give her a space of her own.

That space proved critical.

“It was a place where she brought people together for conversation, to talk about issues that were important to her, issues like civil rights, gender equality, world peace, poverty. These were all things that she was involved with,” Macsali-Urbin said.

Macsali-Urbin said she admires the work of Eleanor Roosevelt. That admiration, along with her love of American history, had a major impact on why she began working for the National Park Service at the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites more than 30 years ago.

“I love sharing the story of Eleanor Roosevelt because she is an inspiration to women. She was a woman who was an activist and who wanted to make a difference in some way in the world, make it a better place, and she really was a person who made you realize that it really is important to speak out when you see that something is not right,” Macsali-Urbin said.

Macsali-Urbin gives tours of the Val-Kill Cottage and said it’s important to pass Roosevelt’s messages on to others, as they are still significant in today’s society.

“She would say things like, you should stand up for what you believe in, that you should look at things from all points of view, no matter what side of the political spectrum you're on because the only way for you to learn what is the best thing to do is to learn about, you know, different points of view,” Macsali-Urbin said.

The Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site opened to the public on what would have been her 100th birthday in 1984. Macsali-Urbin said she doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon.

“I enjoy doing tours. And to me, the public is what makes the national park service special because we're here to serve them and to teach them a little history. And at the same time, they can enjoy themselves and have fun,” Macsali-Urbin said.

Along with the Eleanor Roosevelt NHS, the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites include the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt NHS and the Vanderbilt Mansion NHS, making up more than 1,100 acres within three miles of each other in Dutchess County. According to the National Park Service, about 500,000 people visit the site each year.