FDR - Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Washington D.C.

So we gave up trying to find parking close to the Jefferson memorial and parked farther away. It turned out to be a good thing because we ended up walking through something I didn't even know existed at the time, the FDR Memorial. This place, while not totally out of the way, is far less of a tourist trap than many other places in historical DC. It's basically a park with three sections to represent each of FDR's three terms. The amount of people there was quite sparse, definitely a refreshing difference from the overwhelming crowds at the Lincoln Memorial getting the same picture that we see on the penny every day of our lives. Another thing I liked about it, which set it apart from the other presidential memorials, was that it was much more modest than the idolizing nature of the greco-roman architecture of the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials. If felt more like a memorial to a real man and a celebration of his accomplishments rather than to a temple to a larger than life figure sitting on a throne with grand quotes all over the for all the world to see and admire. There were also some world war 2 vets visiting it which was cool to see. There was just something about it I really liked about it. I would recommend it to anyone, but my suggestion would also be to walk through it on the way to the Jefferson memorial because that one's not to be missed either.

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What I find remarkable about this is how poised and elegant this sculpture is because it represents who Eleanor Roosevelt was.

Room four represents his last term and his death on April 12, 1945.

After FDR's death in 1945 she continued to be an internationally prominent author, speaker, politician, and activist. She worked tirelessly to enhance the status of working women and to protect human rights of all. She served as:

United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly
December 31, 1946 – December 31, 1952

President and Chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
1946 – 1952

Chair of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women
1961 – 1962

This quote reads:

"The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man, or one party, or one nation…it must be a peace, which rest on the cooperative effort of the whole world. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt, First United States Delegate to the United Nations."

The main part of the memorial remains open 24 hours a day. The Interpretive Ranger staff, are on site from 8am to 11:45pm daily except Christmas Day. The Bookstore opens from 8 am to 5 pm. All restroom facilities close at 11:30 pm.
Open All Year
Closures
December 25th.

Restrooms available at Memorial entrance and exit.

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The FDR Memorial is a very unassuming entity, located along the famous Cherry Tree Walk on the Western edge of the Tidal Basin near the National Mall, this is a memorial not only to FDR, but also to the era he represents. The memorial traces twelve years of American History through a sequence of four outdoor rooms-each one devoted to one of FDR's terms of office. Sculptures inspired by photographs depict the 32nd President: A 10-foot statue shows him in a wheeled chair; a bas-relief depicts him riding in a car during his first inaugural. At the very beginning of the memorial in a prologue room there is a statue with FDR seated in a wheelchair much like the one he actually used.

I tend probably to notice some of the unsual things that most people, but I noticed this. This seal was significant for them to include it among the memorial.


This is the inaugural seal present during 1933 FDR swearing in Ceremony

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was our 32nd President of the United States of America that served three terms from 1933 - 1945. He believed and wanted us Americans to have, cherish, and live the four freedoms. " Freedom of Speech", "Freedom of Worship", Freedom from Want", and Freedom from Fear".

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt was our 32nd President of the United States of America that served three terms from 1933 - 1945. He believed and wanted us Americans to have, cherish, and live the four freedoms. " Freedom of Speech", "Freedom of Worship", Freedom from Want", and Freedom from Fear".

This is during his third term and we see the jumble of blocks of granite represent our troubled time and what war has done to us a nation and that of our neighbors.

"I HAVE SEEN WAR

I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded…..I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed….I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives.

I HATE WAR. ~ President FDR"

The main part of the memorial remains open 24 hours a day. The Interpretive Ranger staff, are on site from 8am to 11:45pm daily except Christmas Day. The Bookstore opens from 8 am to 5 pm. All restroom facilities close at 11:30 pm.
Open All Year
Closures
December 25th.

Restrooms available at Memorial entrance and exit.

1 more image

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was our 32nd President of the United States of America that served three terms from 1933 - 1945. He believed and wanted us Americans to have, cherish, and live the four freedoms. " Freedom of Speech", "Freedom of Worship", Freedom from Want", and Freedom from Fear".

This sculpture illustrates how they tried to hide FDR's disability with a huge cape to hide his wheel chair and also their is a scuplture of his favorite little dog, Fala!

This quote reads:

"They who seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers….call this a new order. It is not new and it is not order. ~ President FDR"

The main part of the memorial remains open 24 hours a day. The Interpretive Ranger staff, are on site from 8am to 11:45pm daily except Christmas Day. The Bookstore opens from 8 am to 5 pm. All restroom facilities close at 11:30 pm.
Open All Year
Closures
December 25th.

Restrooms available at Memorial entrance and exit.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was our 32nd President of the United States of America that served three terms from 1933 - 1945. He believed and wanted us Americans to have, cherish, and live the four freedoms. " Freedom of Speech", "Freedom of Worship", Freedom from Want", and Freedom from Fear".

This room is during his third term and we had entered the war on many fronts. The quote reads:

"We have faith that future generations will know that here, in the middle of the twentieth century, there came a time when men of good will found a way to unite, and produce, and fight to destroy the forces of ignorance, and intolerance, and slavery, and war. ~ President FDR"

The main part of the memorial remains open 24 hours a day. The Interpretive Ranger staff, are on site from 8am to 11:45pm daily except Christmas Day. The Bookstore opens from 8 am to 5 pm. All restroom facilities close at 11:30 pm.
Open All Year
Closures
December 25th.

Restrooms available at Memorial entrance and exit.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was our 32nd President of the United States of America that served three terms from 1933 - 1945. He believed and wanted us Americans to have, cherish, and live the four freedoms. " Freedom of Speech", "Freedom of Worship", Freedom from Want", and Freedom from Fear".

This inscription to me represents the beginning of our envolvment when dictator Adolf Hitler in Germany aroused fears of a new world war. It was during the later of his second term, FDR knew we had to be diligent to protect the rights of our nations neighbors. This quote reads:

"We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We much remember that any oppression, any injustice, and hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization. ~President FDR"

The main part of the memorial remains open 24 hours a day. The Interpretive Ranger staff, are on site from 8am to 11:45pm daily except Christmas Day. The Bookstore opens from 8 am to 5 pm. All restroom facilities close at 11:30 pm.
Open All Year
Closures
December 25th.

Restrooms available at Memorial entrance and exit.