home and Eleanor had her own room, although she rarely spent the night. Cook, an expert woodworker, made all furniture. Towels, linens, and various household items were monogrammed "EMN", using the three women's initials. In 1927, Val-Kill Industries was founded by friends, Eleanor Roosevelt, Nancy Cook, Marion Dickerman, and Caroline O'Day (Associate Chairwoman of the New York State Democratic Committee). They women established the project to provide work for immigrants, but also to farmers on their off-seasons as a means for them to support their families through the less profitable times of the year, by producing furniture in the Colonial Revival Style that was sweeping through America at the time. They hoped the factory would be a haven for small-town people during off-seasons and would provide many full-time jobs to those in need. Dickerman and O'Day were financial investors, but not actively involved in the business. Cook managed the daily operations of the business until it closed in 1936. The project failed to survive during the Great Depression, closing due to setbacks and Eleanor's need to focus on her duties as First Lady. Thrilled with FDR's victory, Cook and Dickerman found it difficult to understand Eleanor's anxiety over her role as first lady. When Val-Kill Industries dissolved in 1936, Eleanor moved out of the Stone Cottage and had the factory building remodeled. Lorena Hickok took an active dislike to Dickerman and this started to unravel the relationship between the three. Dickerman and Cook continued to live in Stone Cottage until after Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in 1945. They sold all interest in the Val-Kill property to Eleanor in 1947 when they moved to New Canaan, Connecticut, where Dickerman became the educational programming director for the Marine Museum. Cook lived there with Dickerman until her death and is buried next to Dickerman at Westfield Cemetery, Westfield, New York. References Sources Cook, Blanche Wiesen. Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume One, 1884-1933. New York: Viking Press, 1993 Cook, Blanche Wiesen. Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume Two, 1933-1938. New York: Viking Press, 1999 Davis, Kenneth. Invincible Summer: An Intimate Portrait of the Roosevelts Based on the Recollections of Marion Dickerman. New York: Atheneum Press, 1974 1884 births 1962 deaths American feminists Lesbian feminists People from Massena, New York People from Fulton, Oswego County, New York Syracuse University alumni