Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site

01/10/2021

My Day- December 4, 1941

“I was sorry that the President had such a short stay in Warm Springs, Ga., but I think the change was good for him. He told me they had a wonderful dinner at the Foundation on Saturday night, and he had a good sleep in his cottage.
For once, he left his dog, Fala, behind. I imagine he thought they are apt to get ticks in the South, and that the trip was not going to be long enough to warrant so much time spent on the train for a little dog. However, left behind, Fala was a very pathetic and lonely object. He deigned to spend his nights in my room and woke me up in the mornings by pawing the side of my bed and by little yaps to attract my attention. When the President came in, Fala nearly wagged his tail off”

Photo - Roosevelt's Little White House

01/08/2021

Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site

Do you like hiking, walking, running....skipping?
If you do, why not take advantage of the more than 34 miles that make up the Hyde Park Trail?
HIke through the woods of the Home of FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt, Vanderbilt Mansion, Winnakee Nature Preserve, Staatsburgh State Historic Site and more!
We have plenty of nature and specatular views throughout the year.
Remember to hike safely, stay on marked trails, park in designated areas only, and enjoy the fresh air!
The trails are open year-round, from sunrise to sunset, weather permitting.
So...take a hike through history in Hyde Park, NY.

For more information on the trail system visit:
https://hydeparkny.us/460/Hyde-Park-Trails

Audio Podcasts:
https://www.nps.gov/hofr/learn/photosmultimedia/audio-podcasts.htm

Cell Phone Tours:
https://www.nps.gov/hofr/learn/photosmultimedia/cell-phone-tours.htm

#NPSHydePark #HydeParkTrail #HudsonValley #HudsonRiver Winnakee Land Trust Scenic Hudson Dutchess County Government Town of Hyde Park, NY #hudsonrivergreenwaytrail #NYNJTrailConference National Park Service Hudson River Valley Greenway Staatsburgh State Historic Site #findyourpark #BeWellStaySafe

01/07/2021

#OTD in 1955 Marian Anderson became the fist African American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera.

In 1939 the Daughters of the American Revolution refused permission for Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in their Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. Thousands of DAR members, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned from the organization as a result.

In response, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Walter White, executive secretary of the NAACP, helped arrange an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for Anderson. The concert with a crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions was a sensation.

Photo of Marian Anderson - wikipedia
Photo of Marian Anderson and Eleanor Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

#EleanorRoosevelt #MarianAnderson #FDR #metropolitanopera #OTD #throwbackthursday

01/06/2021

On January 6th, 1919 Eleanor Roosevelt’s favorite Uncle, the 26th President of the United States, passed away at his home at Sagamore Hill. In 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt gave Eleanor Roosevelt away on her wedding day. She wrote about the day in her Autobiography, “It was exciting and the wedding plans were complicated by the fact that Uncle Ted, at the time president of the United States, was coming to New York to give me away, and our date had to fit in with his plans. Finally, it was decided that we would be married on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1905, because Uncle Ted was coming … for the parade that day.”

Eleanor wrote about the day her Uncle died “Uncle Ted was ill in the hospital, but none of us dreamed that it was anything very serious. We heard about his death over the radio. I knew what his loss would mean to his close family, but I realized even more keenly that a great personality had gone from active participation in the life of his people. The loss of his influence and example was what I seemed to feel most keenly.”

Photos courtesy of Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

01/06/2021

FDR - Four Freedoms Past and Present

On Monday, January 6, 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the 1941 State of the Union address which was known as the Four Freedoms speech. In his address he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" should be able to enjoy.

What is Freedom? What does Freedom mean to you?

Freedom of Speech and Expression
Freedom of Worship
Freedom from Fear
Freedom from Want

What is Freedom? What does Freedom mean to you?Freedom of Speech and ExpressionFreedom of WorshipFreedom from FearFreedom from Want

01/05/2021

#NationalBirdDay

Eleanor advocated for humane treatment of wild birds for their feathers in her My Day column on November 23, 1940.

"First and foremost, I have a really serious letter from the Audubon Societies. More than thirty years ago, they led the fight to stop the slaughter of wild birds for their plumage. It appears, we ladies in those days used too many pretty feathers from wild birds on our hats and in other decorative ways. Now the National Audubon Society has conducted an investigation and finds that they must start a new campaign. They ask the women of the United States to help them.
We ladies are guilty, of course. If we realized that we were stamping out so many beautiful wild birds and destroying the species for all time, we would not be very happy, no matter how becoming our headdress might be. But, most of us buy such things with little thought as to what lies behind the product.
There are always some feathers which are permissible to wear because they can be obtained without injuring the birds. If we dress these feathers up with very nice names, which modern advertising surely can do we will be just as happy wearing them as if they were some of those banned by the Audubon Society.
I hope, therefore, that the Audubon Society's crusade will be very successful, and that all of us who like to think we are well dressed, will shun the use of feathers obtained by killing wild birds. We should look askance at anyone who cannot say: "I bought this before 1940," and hope that if such a lady buys feathers of the banned variety we can at least say of her that fashions are against her."

Photo - Eleanor Roosevelt and Queen Elizabeth en route to the White House from Union Station. 1939 Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

#npshydepark #EleanorRoosevelt #myday #valkill #hats

01/04/2021

#NationalTriviaDay

What was Eleanor Roosevelt's favorite song?

Yup! You guessed it: “Brighten the Corner Where You Are”

Written by Ina Duley Ogdon, a Midwestern wife and mother and Sunday School teacher during the early 20th century. Ogdon had ambitions of becoming a preacher but family responsibilities intervened. Her poem “Brighten the Corner Where You Are” was written in 1912 while she was caring for her sick father. Set to music by Charles H. Gabriel, the tune became a nationwide hit after evangelist Billy Sunday made it a staple of his revival meetings. (from the Blog Reiter's Block by Jendi Reiter)

1. Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,
Do not wait to shed your light afar;
To the many duties ever near you now be true,
Brighten the corner where you are.

* Refrain:
Brighten the corner where you are!
Brighten the corner where you are!
Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar;
Brighten the corner where you are!

2. Just above are clouded skies that you may help to clear,
Let not narrow self your way debar;
Though into one heart alone may fall your song of cheer,
Brighten the corner where you are.

3. Here for all your talent you may surely find a need,
Here reflect the bright and Morning Star;
Even from your humble hand the Bread of Life may feed,
Brighten the corner where you are.

Lyrics courtesy of the Timeless Truths free online library.

Photo - Hymntime.com

#DYK #NationalTriviaDay #NPSHydePark #EleanorRoosevelt #ValKill #FavoriteSong

01/03/2021

The grounds of the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site will open at 11:00 on Monday January 4th.

01/03/2021

In her January 3, 1949 "My Day" column, Eleanor wrote about the beautiful sunrises at Hyde Park. Even though winter is upon us, the days are now growing longer and sunrise can be seen around 7:30am this time of year.

"HYDE PARK, Sunday—It is worthwhile waking early in winter because the sky is nearly as beautiful at sunrise as at sunset. I have been lucky enough to see it a number of times in the last few weeks and each time I wished that we could return more or less to some of the habits of our earlier ancestors who, when the fire died down and they no longer could see by that light, went to bed and, therefore, woke earlier in the morning!"

#EleanorRoosevelt #valkill #npshydepark #winter #MyDay

01/01/2021

12/30/2020

#1 post of 2020 from September 1st.

#EleanorRoosevelt #SheSheShe #CCC #NPSHydePark #BeWellStaySafe #HappyNewYear

The She-She-She Camps were organized by Eleanor Roosevelt in the US in response to the formation of the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) programs designed for unemployed men. ER found that the men-only focus of the CCC program left out young women who were willing to work in conservation and forestry and to sign up for the 6-month programs living away from family and close support. She lobbied for a sister organization to the CCC that would be for young women. Eleanor Roosevelt proposed that this would consist of camps for jobless women and residential worker schools. The She-She-She camps were funded by presidential order in 1933, and unlike the segregated CCC camps, were integrated. Labor Secretary and Cabinet Member Frances Perkins championed one such camp after ER held a White House Conference for Unemployed Women on April 30, 1934, and subsequently Roosevelt's concept of a nationwide jobless women's camp was achieved. While the public largely supported the New Deal programs and the CCC was a huge success, the women's version barely topped 5,000 women annually by 1936 and overall served 8,500.

Camp TERA began on June 10, 1933 with 17 young women from New York. Currently Bear Mountain State Park, NY, in 1934 the site had 12 camps for CCC enrollees. At the end of 1933, after Camp Tera was established, ER had stated, "There is nothing more exciting than building a new social order." When ER first visited Camp TERA, she found only 30 girls at the 200-acre camp. ER appreciated the camp, but decided the requirements were too strict. She could not believe there were not enough women willing to accept the job and warned that the numbers had to increase, or the idea might be abandoned.

It was at Camp TERA that ER first met Civil Rights, feminist, and LGBTQ pioneer Pauli Murray who was among the first enrollees there. Murray said, “The camp was ideal for building up run-down bodies and renewing jaded spirits”. The two would strike up a friendship that would last nearly a quarter of a century.

The offer of work was enticing to those who did not want to pass up the chance of a job and with glowing reports coming back from participants the proponents of She-She-She renewed efforts in the fall of 1933 to expand the program. Going against this was that in the 1930s many Americans objected to the use of public resources to support individuals, especially women. Most had a more traditional view that the role of the woman was in the home. Others considered the idea of putting women out in the woods to learn dubious skills just plain wrong.

The She-She-She camps for women closed in October of 1937. The NYA (National Youth Administration, then in charge of the program, criticized the objectives and necessity of the camps and decided it was too expensive. As the crisis of hunger and shelter eased, the camp program for women could not be justified and it ended.

12/29/2020

#2 from September 6th

#EleanorRoosevelt #ValKill #NPSHydePark #BeWellStaySafe

#NationalReadABookDay

Oh Ranger - was given to Mrs. Roosevelt during a visit to Yosemite National Park and signed by all the Rangers.

#Yosemite #Rangers #EleanorRoosevelt #Read National Park Service Yosemite National Park

12/28/2020

#3 from May 19th

#EleanorRoosevelt #FirstLady #Knitting #Hobbies #ValKill #NPSHydePark #BeWellStaySafe

Eleanor Roosevelt didn’t just knit in the House Gallery.... she knit everywhere she could.

12/27/2020

#4 from March 22nd

#EleanorRoosevelt #ValKill #NPSHydePark #BeWellStaySafe #ERQuotes

“We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it as not as dreadful as it appears, discovering that we have the strength to stare it down" - ER

12/26/2020

For the next 5 days we are going to share our most popular posts of 2020. Thank you to all of our followers for the comments and likes and for hanging in with us during this year of Covid. We look forward to some new and exciting posts in the future and to welcoming visitors back when it is safe do so.

We start with #5 from June 2nd,

#EleanorRoosevelt #ValKill #NPSHydePark #BeWellStaySafe

"We have no room in this country for racial prejudice because our people come from every race and were brought together by an idea and made strong as a nation by the fact that we believe in certain democratic ideals.

- May 30, 1946 My Day

12/25/2020

Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site

Reposting our popular holiday greeting!

A Classic Holiday Poem with a National Park Service Twist!

12/25/2020

12/24/2020

Season's Greetings

Eleanor Roosevelt and Daughter Anna at Val-Kill (February 1935)

12/23/2020

Eleanor Roosevelt's Christmas Cards - Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)

To read more about Mrs. Roosevelt's Christmas cards and to watch a video, visit our website at:

https://www.nps.gov/elro/learn/historyculture/christmas-cards.htm

#EleanorRoosevelt #Christmas #christmascards #ValKill #NPSHydePark Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

Eleanor Roosevelt loved Christmas and all the traditions associated with the holiday. Christmas Cards were something she enjoyed receiving, as well as sending. One year she wrote in her My Day newspaper column “I want to thank the many friends throughout the country, both known and unknown who sen...

12/22/2020

My Day - DECEMBER 22, 1945

NEW YORK, Friday—Now that I have been confirmed by the Senate, I can say how deeply honored I feel that President Truman has named me one of the delegates to the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization. It is an honor, but also a very great responsibility. I know it has come to me largely because my husband laid the foundation for this Organization through which we all hope to build world peace.

In many ways I am sure I will find much to learn; but all of life is a constant education. Some things I can take to this first meeting—a sincere desire to understand the problems of the rest of the world and our relationship to them; a real goodwill for all peoples throughout the world; a hope that I shall be able to build a sense of personal trust and friendship with my co-workers, for without that type of understanding our work would be doubly difficult.

This first meeting, I imagine, will be largely concerned with organization and the choice of a site within this country as a permanent home.

* * *

Being the only woman delegate from this country, I feel a great responsibility, also, to the women of my own country. In other lands women have gone with their men into the fighting forces. Here we have more nearly followed the traditional pattern of working and waiting at home.

To be sure, some of our work was done outside the home in places which the mothers and wives of earlier days never would have dreamed could be a woman's working sphere. But fundamentally we were doing what we could to help our men win the war. We were striving to give them, when they returned, the kind of country and the kind of home they had dreamed of and sometimes gave even their lives to preserve.

I feel a great responsibility to the youth who fought the war. When they were not called upon to make the supreme sacrifice, they gave years of their lives which most of them would rather have spent in building up their personal futures. Some of them will carry handicaps incurred in fighting the war, throughout the rest of their lives. Every one of us has a deep and solemn obligation to them which we should fulfill by giving all that we are capable of giving to the making of the peace so they can feel that the maximum good has come from their sacrifice.

* * *

Willy-nilly, everyone of us cares more for his own country than for any other. That is human nature. We love the bit of land where we have grown to maturity and known the joys and sorrows of life. The time has come however when we must recognize that our mutual devotion to our own land must never blind us to the good of all lands and of all peoples.

In the end, as Wendell Willkie said, we are "One World" and that which injures any one of us, injures all of us. Only by remembering this will we finally have a chance to build a lasting peace.

I am sure in President Truman's heart, as in that of everyone of our delegates, is the prayer that in this coming year, we may make measurable strides towards goodwill and peace on earth.

Photo - Eleanor Roosevelt addresses the UN General Assembly at the United Nations 1947 - Courtesy of FDR Library