These words by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ushered the United States into World War II and defined what it is to be an American. Stop by this secluded memorial and begin to understand the Roosevelt legacy.
This part of the memorial represents FDR's 1st term as president.InscriptionsWall, right to leftTHIS GENERATION OF AMERICANS HAS A RENDEVOUS WITH DESTINYI PLEDGE MYSELF TO A NEW DEAL FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLEIN THESE DAYS OF DIFFICULTY, WE AMERICANS EVERYWHERE MUST AND SHALL CHOOSE THE PATH OF SOCIAL JUSTICE...THE PATH OF FAITH, THE PATH OF HOPE, AND THE PATH OF LOVE TOWARD OUR FELLOW MAN.NO COUNTRY, HOWEVER RICH, CAN AFFORD THE WASTE OF ITS HUMAN RESOURCES. DEMORALIZATION CAUS
(274 words)<br />FDR Memorial: 1st Term is located in the second outdoor section of the FDR Memorial, about three hundred seventy-five feet east from the memorial entrance.<br />Set atop the right-side wall as you enter the 1st Term room is a bronze eagle with spread wings set on a round plaque of stars and engraved at the bottom to read: 1933.<br />Inscriptions along the wall, from right to left, read:<br />THIS GENERATION OF AMERICANS HAS A RENDEVOUS WITH DESTINY<br />I PLEDGE MYSELF TO A NEW DEAL FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE<br />IN THESE DAYS OF DIFFICULTY, WE AMERICANS EVERYWHERE MUST AND SHALL CHOOSE THE PATH OF SOCIAL JUSTICE...THE PATH OF FAITH, THE PATH OF HOPE, AND THE PATH OF LOVE TOWARD OUR FELLOW MAN.<br />NO COUNTRY, HOWEVER RICH, CAN AFFORD THE WASTE OF ITS HUMAN RESOURCES. DEMORALIZATION CAUSED BY VAST UNEMPLOYMENT IS OUR GREATEST EXTRAVAGANCE. MORALLY, THE GREATEST MENACE TO OUR SOCIAL ORDER.<br />Along the southern wall exiting the room is a bronze bas-relief of a man seated in the back of an open car, waving his hat to a crowd on his right. Above him is inscribed:<br />THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF<br />A single waterfall sits to the right of the bas-relief, set back in a square alcove.<br />On the wall opposite the waterfall, an inscription set among vines reads:<br />MEN AND NATURE MUST WORK HAND IN HAND. THE THROWING OUT OF BALANCE OF THE RESOURCES OF NATURE THROWS OUT OF BALANCE ALSO THE LIVES OF MEN.<br />A final wall inscription around the corner exiting the room reads:<br />AMONG AMERICAN CITIZENS THERE SHOULD BE NO FORGOTTEN MEN AND NO FORGOTTEN RACES.<br />END OF DESCRIPTION<br />
This part of the memorial represents FDR's second term as presidentInscriptionsAbove bread lineThe Test of Our Progress is Not Whether Add More to the Abundance of Those Who Have Much, It Is Whether WE Provide Enough for Those Who Have Too Little.Above sculptures of farmersI See One Third of a Nation Ill-Housed, Ill-Clad, Ill-NourishedAbove radio sculptureI Never Forget That I Live in a House Owned by All the American People and That I Have Been Given Their Trust.Wall, right
(505 words)<br />Entering the FDR Memorial: 2nd Term room an inscription along the walkway reads:<br />SECOND TERM: 1937 - 1941<br />The room consists of a bronze statue of five figures facing to the left, all male, all with eyes downcast and all dressed in long coats and hats, standing in line in front of an eight-foot high brick wall. A windowless wooden door they all face remains closed in front of them. The wall and door are imbedded in an approximately ten-foot high granite wall about seventy-five feet long.<br />Just behind them, to the left, is an inscription on the granite wall which reads:<br />The Test of Our Progress is Not Whether Add More to the Abundance of Those Who Have Much, It Is Whether WE Provide Enough for Those Who Have Too Little.<br />Further to the left is another bronze sculpture, of two sullen figures. A man stands with both arms at his sides. To the right is a woman in a chair, her hands in her lap. Behind them is an eight-foot high wooden wall with open swinging wooden window.<br />Spanning the top of the granite wall, above both sculptures, is an inscription that reads:<br />I See One Third of a Nation Ill-Housed, Ill-Clad, Ill-Nourished<br />Along the west-side wall of this plaza area is another bronze sculpture. It features an approximately fifty-foot wide, ten-foot tall granite wall with a thirty-foot wide, eight-foot tall square opening, that recedes about three feet into the wall at an angle. On the left side of the open space in the wall is a sculpture of a man in pants and rolled up sleeves is seated slightly to the right, his arms resting on his knees, as he listens to a 1940's-era radio on a wooden stand.<br />Along the right side of the granite wall is an inscription that reads:<br />I Never Forget That I Live in a House Owned by All the American People and That I Have Been Given Their Trust.<br />Walking around the wall, you will come into an open area with five ten-foot tall pillars with four-foot tall bases and tops.<br />An about one-hundred foot-long, eight-foot high mural runs across the backside of the wall. Similar artwork is wrapped around the middle of the five pillars. The five-paneled wall mural is a collage of various scenes and objects, including initials, faces, and hands; the images on the mural are inverted on the five columns and feature tactile reliefs with braille writing.<br />On the opposite side of this plaza from the wall is a thirty-foot wide stepped waterfall. An inscription to the left reads:<br />I PROPOSE TO CREATE A CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS TO BE USED IN SIMPLE WORK...MORE IMPORTANT, HOWEVER, THAN THE MATERIAL GAINS WILL BE THE MORAL AND SPIRITUAL VALUE OF SUCH WORK.<br />One additional wall inscription within the 2nd Term room reads:<br />IT IS TIME TO EXTEND PLANNING TO A WIDER FIELD, IN THIS INSTANCE COMPREHENDING IN ONE GREAT PROJECT MANY STATES DIRECTLY CONCERNED WITH THE BASIN OF ONE OF OUR GREATEST RIVERS.<br />TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY<br />END OF DESCRIPTION<br />
Inscriptionswest wallWE MUST BE THE GREAT ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACYBouldersI HATE WARWall by waterfallI HAVE SEEN WARI 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 CHIDREN STARVING. I HAVE SEEN THE AGONY OF MOTHERS AND WIVES.I HATE WARBehind FDR sculptureTHEY (WHO) SEEK TO ESTABLISH SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT BASED ON THE REGIMENTATION OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS BY A HANDFUL OF INDIVIDU
(301 words)<br />As you approach the FDR Memorial: 3rd Term room an inscription on the west wall reads:<br />WE MUST BE THE GREAT ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY<br />Inscribed along the walkway as you enter is written:<br />THIRD TERM - 1941<br />Granite slabs are scattered in piled and randomly strewn across the plaza floor as you enter the room. A pile of the boulders stacked in the plaza are inscribed with I HATE and WAR.<br />Further south, along the west side is a large waterfall featuring block-shaped boulders laid and stacked along the wall. An inscription on the wall reads:<br />I HAVE SEEN WAR<br />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 CHIDREN STARVING. I HAVE SEEN THE AGONY OF MOTHERS ABD WIVES.<br />I HATE WAR<br />Beyond the stones to the south is a large sculpture of Roosevelt and his dog set on a two-step platform. The ten-foot tall sculpture depicts Roosevelt cloaked and in a seated position. His hands are crossed, and his right knee is visible through his cape. To the right is his terrier dog, sitting and facing outward. An inscription on the wall behind him reads:<br />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...<br />IT IS NOT NEW AND IT IS NOT ORDER.<br />Inscribed along the wall to the left of Roosevelt is written:<br />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 INTOLREANCE, AND SLAVERY, AND WAR.<br />END OF DESCRIPTION<br />
InscriptionsWall, entranceMore Than as End to Wars We Want and End to the Beginnings of All WarBeneath United Nations emblemEleanor RooseveltFirst United States DelegateTo the United NationsLeft of Eleanor Roosevelt sculptureThe Structure of World Peace Cannot be the Work of One Man, or One Party, or One Nation... It Must be a Peace Which Rests on the Cooperative Effort of the Whole World.stepsJanuary 30, 1882 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Born at Hyde Park New York - 1905 Marrie
The FDR Memorial: 4th Term room is home to the statue of Eleanor Roosevelt. As you enter, inscribed on the ground is: FOURTH TERM 1945. On the granite wall to the left is inscribed: "More Than an End to Wars, We Want and End to the Beginnings of All Wars." Entering the plaza area from the west, a bronze mural sits in a space setback and down a ramp about fifty feet, on the granite perimeter wall along the right side. The mural is a bas-relief depicting the funeral procession of FDR. Spanning about thirty feet across, it shows three horses on the far left, the lead horse cloaked in a blanket. They pull a funeral carriage followed by about fifteen people, heads bowed. A still pool of water about four-feet wide and running along the entire back wall, sits beneath the mural. Following the ramp back down and the right, a couple steps and two railings are on the right side along the wall. A two by two square foot granite wall borders the ramp in the middle of this area. Around the corner to the right, and setback in a four-foot deep alcove is the statue of Eleanor Roosevelt. She wears a long coat and her hands are clasped. She stands next to a bronze United Nations emblem of a globe bracketed by a wreath of olive branches. Beneath the emblem is inscribed: Eleanor Roosevelt First United States Delegate To the United Nations. An inscription to the left of the sculpture 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 Rests on the Cooperative Effort of the Whole World." Five steps arch around the backside of Room 4, three have inscriptions of a timeline of events in President Roosevelt's life. A final waterfall of large five by six granite blocks lines the right-side wall as you leave this area. Spanning about sixty feet across, it seems as if the blocks are being put back in place. Some are stacked neatly on top of each other, others sit in the pool of water below, as if the structure is not yet complete but well in progress. Inscriptions on the right wall around the corner from the waterfall and as you exit the memorial to the east read: "The Only Limit to Our Realization of Tomorrow Will be Our Doubts of Today. Let Us Move Forward with Strong and Active Faith. Freedom of Speech; Freedom of Worship; Freedom from Want; Freedom of Fear.
"Fireside chat" depicts an Appalachian couple and a line of people waiting for bread.
Depicted to the left are two statues. One is sitting in a chair, the other has their hand on top of the should of the one sitting. Depicted to the right are five statues of people waiting in line. These statues are all positioned in front of a stone wall.
The four open-air rooms of the FDR Memorial represent each of the four terms of office to which he was elected. A meandering pathway leads past waterfalls, bronze sculptures, and his own powerful words carved on the granite walls. A statue of Roosevelt sitting in a wheelchair greets visitors and reminds them of the man who refused to let disability stop him.
(294 words) The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial is located along the western edge of the Tidal Basin, south of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, on West Basin Drive SW, about 400 feet east of Ohio Drive SW. The memorial covers seven and one-half acres and consists of a sequence of four open-air rooms. A meandering pathway leads past water features, bronze sculptures, and FDR’s own words carved on the granite walls. Approaching the memorial from the west-side main entrance, an open plaza area is shaded by thirty-foot trees on the left. A twenty-foot tall wall of granite blocks runs along the left half of the plaza’s far end. Across the wall is inscribed: Franklin Delano Roosevelt President of the United States 1933 - 1945 Also, on the left of the entrance plaza is a one-story building, featuring equal-sized thirty by twenty-foot FDR exhibit room on the right and bookstore to the left. An area of five, two-foot high granite benches are set along the building’s left front, and three thirty-foot tall trees line the front of the building entrance. This building also houses restrooms on its backside. A life-size bronze statue of Roosevelt sitting in a wheelchair greets visitors on the right side of this entrance plaza area. Behind him along a ten-foot high granite wall is a bronze sign that reads "Franklin's illness...gave him strength and courage he had not had before. He had to think out the fundamentals of living and learn the greatest of all lessons - infinite patience and never ending persistence." Eleanor Roosevelt The same text in enlarged braille is below. Four two-foot high granite benches surround the statue. As you leave this area and proceed east to the next space, inscribed on the granite block pathway is written: PROLOGUE END OF DESCRIPTION
(180 words)<br />The south entrance to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial is at the far east side, just off Ohio Drive SW as it crosses into West Potomac Park from the east and about a one-hundred feet around the Tidal Basin to the north.<br />A cement sidewalk leads into the south entrance, the Tidal Basin on the right. A black metal chain fence lines the right side. Also, on the right is an eight-foot tall granite wall with an inscription that reads:<br />FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT<br />President of the United States<br />1933 - 1945<br />Entering from the south, a small building with restrooms are on the left, about thirty feet into the memorial. Trees line both sides of the path and become more full as you continue along the walkway.<br />An eight-foot tall granite wall on the left has an inscription reading:<br />Freedom of Speech<br />Freedom of Worship<br />Freedom from Want<br />Freedom from Fear<br />Trees and garden beds are set within an open plaza area as you continue into the memorial and the last of four outdoor rooms that makeup the FDR Memorial.<br />END OF DESCRIPTION<br />
There is an elongated set of 5 stairs that connects the upper level to the lower level. It gives the look of an amphitheater, where one might sit to watch the big show of the impressive fountain.
Visitors often get so focused on looking at the fountain that they end up missing an interesting feature of Room 4. There is an elongated set of 5 stairs that connects the upper level to the lower level. It gives the look of an amphitheater, where one might sit to watch the big show of the impressive fountain. Etched on the middle three stairs is a biography of important events in FDR’s life. There are seven stone blocks on the upper level, above the aforementioned steps, acting as a safety feature to help alert visitors of the change of levels of the curved steps.
Visitors see the five-panel mural that occupies the back of the wall dividing Room Two into two halves. They also see the five columns that they may deduct tie in somehow with the five panels of the mural. “Social Programs” was created by Robert Graham.
Five columns are positioned in a pyramid formation. They have tactile designs and stand in front of a stone wall with similar tactile designs.
Leaving the “Funeral Cortege” is another ramp to the left and a handrailed stairs to the right. Turn the corner, a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt is standing, behind her head is an emblem of the United Nations with inscription below: “Eleanor Roosevelt, First United States Delegate To The United Nations.”
A statue of a women in a long coat is positioned in the middle of a stone structure. To her right is a quote and circular symbol. To her left is a quote with larger text.
Just beyond the two jumbles of stones and the fountain, is an alcove. There sits a larger than life statue of FDR wearing a cloak, portrayed in one of his favorite chairs at Hyde Park, New York. Hidden from view are the wheels on the chair located on the back.
A statue of a dog is positioned next to a statue of FDR in a wheelchair. Two stairs lead up to the statue. Words are engraved into the wall behind the statues.
Voters did not know the seriousness of Franklin Roosevelt's heart disease when they elected him to a fourth presidential term. With victory in sight, FDR made a final trip to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. At Yalta, he negotiated post-war agreements with the Soviet Union and Great Britain.
A bas relief is positioned on a stone wall. Leading up to the relief, there are two stairs on the left and a ramp to the right. The surface is wall-maintained stone.
World War II began in Asia and Europe in the 1930s. FDR campaigned on keeping the US out of the war while secretly providing weapons and ships to democratic Great Britian without Congress knowing. These resources helped Great Britian fight authoritarian German and Japanese forces. With conflict raging off both coasts, voters reelected President Roosevelt to an unprecedented third term.
The one to the left consists of 12 stones. The one to the right consists of five stones. The large fountain is in a state of disorder. Stones are displaced. Some are in the water. Some are randomly around the perimeter. Water spews in different directions. It’s as if the fountain has been bombed.
Step off the Silver Line to take a walk on Theodore Roosevelt Island, or sight see from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Each of the parks listed here are 1 mile or less from each metro stop (about a 20 minute walk) or a 10 minute bus ride away.
Blue Line - DC Metro
From the National Mall and Memorial Parks to the Mount Vernon Trail, travel the Blue Line to see what the southern portion of Washington, DC has to offer. Each of the parks listed here are 1 mile or less from each metro stop (about a 20 minute walk) or a 10 minute bus ride away.
Travel Through Time at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
From the Great Depression to World War II and beyond, follow a timeline representing America's longest-serving president and the challenges our nation faced.
