“Signature Moments”
- Exhibit Focus: The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library’s “Signature Moments” exhibit features letters to and from FDR and Eleanor, highlighting the nation’s fight against fascism during the Great Depression and World War II.
- Exhibit Content: The exhibit includes letters from a diverse range of individuals, including ordinary Americans, celebrities, and world leaders, showcasing the collective effort to address economic hardship and war.
- Library Impact: The library serves as a sanctuary, offering a glimpse into a time when people came together to address challenges and promote a more just society.
- Library Survey: A young man conducted a survey for the National Archives to understand the library and exhibit’s significance to visitors.
- Contrasting Figures: The author contrasts the optimistic Franklin Roosevelt with a scowling image of Donald Trump, highlighting their differing approaches.
- Roosevelt’s Legacy: The author praises Roosevelt’s actions during the Great Depression and against fascism, contrasting him with more recent Democratic presidents.
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library’s (and Museum) special exhibit and grounds of his homesite, Springwood, and Rose Garden, where both the president and first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, and their two dogs, especially their Scottish terrier, Fala, are all buried, was like a sanctuary amid the mayhem beyond the tranquility of New York’s Hudson Valley and the nearby Hudson River.
Outside is the constant drumbeat of insanity that the far right has visited on the US and the rest of the world. There are wars with and without genocide, there is the nuttiness of fluctuating tariffs, there are constant ICE raids, religious fundamentalism, a worsening environment where fossil fuel is king, and a whole lot of other insanity. This is not government; this is the craziness of an insane asylum.
I have often sought sanctuary in this place. The Roosevelt Library’s newest special exhibit is Signature Moments, a compilation of letters to and from both the president and Eleanor to people all over the world, including the collection of letters to the Roosevelts from ordinary Americans during the Great Depression and World War II. A boxer, celebrities, heads of state, along with some primary documents from this country’s founding and the Civil War era are included in this exhibit. From Einstein to Clark Gable, there are those willing to help with the efforts to stem the economic depression and assist with the war effort. This is truly an extraordinary collection of a time in US history when people mattered and this nation fought fascism instead of promoting and representing it.
This history trip ended with my conversation with an employee of the presidential library and homesite. That person said that cuts to staff under Trump had affected staffing at the site, but the staff was holding its own in operating this bastion of what true liberalism meant at one time in US history during the New Deal and World War II.
Coming out of the library that houses the regular Roosevelt exhibit and this special exhibit, I was approached by a young man doing a survey of the library for the National Archives. It was a thorough survey, and its objective seemed to be an honest attempt to learn what the library and exhibits mean to ordinary people.
Earlier, entering the Henry Wallace Visitor and Exhibition Center, a scowling photo of Donald Trump was framed on a wall behind the information and ticket counter. Vance, not scowling, was placed just under Trump. I tried to juxtapose the ever-smiling and optimistic Franklin Roosevelt with the scowler-in-chief, and I could not do so.
Critics will say that Roosevelt was a member of the upper class and protecting capitalism. They might say he had many flaws, and I would answer that this is the real world and let those among us who are without sin cast the first stone to use a well-worn phrase. Roosevelt acted to salvage the system from both an economic cataclysm and the very real threat of fascism. Compared to neoliberals like Clinton, Obama, and Biden, he stands alone with very real accomplishments for ordinary people. The scowler-in-chief is like a visitor from Mars compared to both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.
The internment of about 120,000 Japanese-Americans was a major blot against the liberalism that FDR represented. There are no excuses for that action!
Photo credits: FDR Presidential Library and Museum, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt