Administered by United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Washington District of Columbia
Located West Potomac Park Between Tidal Basin, Ohio Drive, and Potomac River Washington District of Columbia
Date:
Designed 1978. 1991, 1994-1997. Dedicated May 2, 1997. Wheel-chair figure of Roosevelt added: Jan. 2001
Notes:
Art Inventory staff, 1999, 2001.
Dupre, Judith, "Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory," New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 2007, pg. 174-181.
Image on file.
Dupre, Judith, "Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory," New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 2007, pg. 174-181.
(Plaza includes timeline of important dates and events from FDR's life) (Text on Graham New Deal Social Policy panels also appears in Braille)
The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
Summary:
An elaborate landscaped memorial setting with shade trees, waterfalls, statuary and alcoves. The memorial is divided into a forecourt and four outdoor galleries, one for each of Roosevelt's four terms in office. In the forecourt is a life-size bronze statue of Roosevelt, seated in a wheel chair. He faces the Washington Monument, chin uplifted. The adjacent outdoor gallery "rooms" are defined by walls of red South Dakota granite and by ornamental plantings; guotations from FDR are carved into the granite. The first room introduces Roosevelt's early Presidency (1932-1936), when he launched the New Deal. A relief sculpture depicts his first inauguration., with a scene of Roosevelt riding in a car waving at crowds. There is also a bronze sculpture of The Presidential Seal and a Roman-American eagle, with wings spread before a circle ringed with stars.
The second room (Social Policy, 1936-1940) features an urban breadline with five men huddled together; a farmer dressed in overalls, standing next to a seated woman; and a man listening to a fireside chat on the radio. New Deal social and economic programs are depicted in surrounding bronze panels. Scenes include a woman cleaning, a factory grinding machine, construction workers, and a dam laborer carrying a drill from the Tennessee Valley Authority project. In the third room (War Years, 1940-1944), Roosevelt appears seated in a dining room chair with roller casters and wearing a floor-length cape, with his dog Fala seated nearby. The fourth room (Seeds of Peace, 1944-1955), includes a full-length statue of Eleanor Roosevelt standing before the seal of the United Nations and bas-relief scenes of Roosevelt's funeral. Waterfalls throughout the memorial allude to Roosevelt as an avid boater, and former Secretary of Navy. The memorial is lit at night.