Sunday, October 30, 2016

Lower Level of FDR Museum & Top Cottage

September 20, 2016
This one is posted out of order, I just realized that I was missing some things.



The Lower level of the FDR museum

The Lower Level of the museum is where many of FDR's papers and items that aren't being displayed, at this time, are stored.
The largest item in this collection is FDR's car that was modified with hand controls so he could drive it.  He loved driving it around Hyde Park, whenever he had a chance.








The Four Freedoms appear many times throughout the museum.





Some of the Roosevelt Paintings


Glass encased rooms containing boxes and boxes of Roosevelt papers and belongings.


I keep coming back to Eleanor.  A whole section of this museum area is dedicated to her and her accomplishments.



The contents of Eleanor's wallet when she died.


Eleanor was unusual in many aspects.  Here's something you probably didn't know about her.  She was packin'.





After Franklin's death, Eleanor continued to be a voice of social conscience and activism.


A Timeline of some of her accomplishments after FDR's death.












Her TV program on PBS
Prospects of Mankind on PBS  March 1961
Eleanor with Guests: Sargent Shriver, Chairman of the Chicago Board of Education and newly named Director of the Peace Corps; Senteca Kajubi, from Makere College University of East Africa in Uganda, which will receive the first group of Peace Corps teachers, and presently at the University of Chicago; Senator Hubert Humphrey (D-Minn.), chief supporter of legislation for the permanence and expansion of the Peace Corps, Chairman of the Disarmament Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and Samuel Hays, author of The Peace Corps Task Force Report requested by President Kennedy and a social scientist in the Department of Economics at the University of Michigan.
Earlier in the program JFK was interviewed by Eleanor about his Peace Corps Initiative.








Busy until the very end.  I remember listening to her with my parents as a child and admiring her as a young adult.  I lost five of my heroes in the 60's, ER, My Dad and JFK, MLK, and RFK.


Her Typewriter


Her Desk









Back to Franklin.  I was visiting my cardiologist recently and he told me that FDR's blood Pressure was extremely high, 300+/150+ and in that era, it was not treated.  He also said that with today's medicine, FDR heart condition and hypertension would have been controlled and he would have lived a longer life.
















Top Cottage was designed by FDR as a retreat from the pressures of being president.  He planned it to be his retirement home.  It was designed by FDR to meet his needs and be accessible by wheelchair.  The floor is all one level, no thresholds to impede the chair.  Even his desk is accessible.
He never spent the night here, but hosted world leaders, held picnics, and he even served hot dogs to British Royalty.







I love this porch. In FDR's day, the view was spectacular.  Today the trees have grown and obscure the view.


Donna sits at FDR's desk and reads.


Accessible bath.


Daisy Suckley spent many days at Top Cottage.  She helped with the design.












The furniture is all reproduction and visitors are invited to make themselves comfortable.  This was a casual house.















The Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area
About center is the FDR and Eleanor Historic homes.  There is so much to see and we had to limit our adventures.





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