FDR’s 136th Birthday Celebration
From the parking lot of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, the faint sound of a drum was heard. The beat was coming from the Rose Garden, the final resting place of the 32nd U.S. President and his wife, Eleanor.
On January 30th, a crowd of about 80 people gathered at the FDR National Historic Site to celebrate Roosevelt’s 136th birthday. Cadets from West Point presented the flag, played the bugle and drums, and fired rifles. For the first time, a female brigadier general, Cindy Jebb, delivered the remarks. Following Jebb’s speech was a presentation of wreaths. Local veterans attended in uniform, saluting the President.
Roosevelt’s grandson, David, and his daughters were at the ceremony as well to lay flowers on the grave. The outdoor ceremony followed with cake and refreshments in the Wallace Center.
For David Silverman and his wife, who came from Boston, it was two celebrations in one. “We’ve been studying his uncle, Theodore,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to come here and I knew that his birthday was the same day as my birthday.”
Wendy Laurent, a lifelong democrat and Westchester County resident, had a personal connection with FDR. “My parents were children during the depression, so I heard a lot of stories from them and the role that President Roosevelt had on their life,” said Laurent.
Without FDR, there would not be presidential libraries. When he took office, he discovered that many documents and records were destroyed, lost, or damaged. In order to save important historical documents, Roosevelt created the National Archives and Presidential Library system.
“Each Presidential Library is a slice of history. It provides an extraordinary look inside how our government really works,” said Paul Sparrow, director of the FDR Presidential Library.
Although FDR created these systems to save documents, it was not until the Presidential Records Act of 1978 that Presidential records were established as government property. Before, they were property of the family.
Sparrow continued, “FDR strongly believed that it was important to preserve the records of his administration so that historians in the future, a hundred years from now, could come back and really understand how the government worked, why they made the decisions they made.”
When asked what would have happened to FDR’s records had he not made the effort to save them, Sparrow said, “Eleanor probably would have done what she could have to preserve them, but the children were fairly notorious for selling everything they could get their hands on. We believe many of the documents, artifacts and materials would have been sold.”
During his presidency, FDR never won the majority vote in a very conservative Dutchess County. But, as seen by the many people who came to honor his birthday, Roosevelt has a lasting legacy. “People can look at the contributions they made to save the American economy during the Great Depression, to helping to put together the United Nations, to winning World War II,” Sparrow said.
Park Ranger Mike Twardy has worked at the library for over 11 years. He believes that Roosevelt is a symbol of “hope for the nation.”
All 13 Presidential Libraries honor birthdays, and some presidents attend their own celebrations. It is believed that the library in Hyde Park first observed FDR’s birthday in 1947, two years after his death.
“Over time people move out of partisan roles and take on historic significance, and both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt have moved into that category,” Sparrow said. “They are two of the most important people in American History.”
