FDR, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library

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Hyde Park

Dutchess County

FDR, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library

800-337-8474

Click to enlarge Flag Flying in front of Presidential Library.

Click to enlarge photo of Flag Flying in front of Presidential Library.

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum is located on the grounds of the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site located at4079 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park NY 12538 in Dutchess County. The Library is easily reached by car, train or plane.

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum is America's first presidential library and the only one used by a sitting president. It was conceived and built under President Roosevelt's direction and opened to the public in 1941.

History of the FDR Library and Museum
"When President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed the idea of building a library to house his papers and memorabilia, detractors believed he was simply interested in constructing a monument to himself. Roosevelt, however, viewed the library as a solution to two problems – how to simultaneously preserve and provide public access to the records of his presidency. His was an attitude of “open government,” believing that the people of the United States were entitled to a better look at how their government was working, even at the executive level.

"As an avid amateur historian, Roosevelt recognized the value of his papers and believed they should be saved for future historians and the American people. His collections contain personal and family papers, manuscripts related to his public career at the state and national level, photographs, sound and motion picture recordings, books, and periodicals. FDR also had a vast memorabilia collection, including ship models, prints and paintings, state gifts, gifts from the American people, and family items.

"By the time FDR reached the Presidency, his personal and professional papers amounted to such a large collection of material there was no single place that could adequately house it all. During his presidency, Roosevelt received approximately 4,000 letters a day from people commenting on his policies and his running of the government. He enjoyed his contact with the people and encouraged their writing. On November 19, 1939 at the cornerstone laying ceremony for the library, Roosevelt said:

“Of the papers which will come to rest here I personally attach less importance to the documents of those who have occupied high public or private office, than I do the spontaneous letters which have come to me and my family and my associates from men, from women, and from children in every part of the United States, telling me of their conditions and problems, and giving me their opinions.” Fireside Chats from the Library, December 24, 1943
Roosevelt's actions served as a precedent. When Congress passed the Presidential Libraries Act in 1955, it regularized the procedures initiated by President Roosevelt for privately built and federally maintained libraries to preserve the papers of future Presidents. Roosevelt visited the library often during the war to sort and classify his records and memorabilia; and from his study in the library he delivered several of his famous radio speeches or fireside chats .

"In early planning for the Library the President expressed the hope that Mrs. Roosevelt's papers would eventually find a place here . . . At the time of her death in 1962 Eleanor Roosevelt's papers totaled a staggering three million pages. In 1972, the wings FDR envisioned were added to the original building. Mrs. Roosevelt's papers were stored in the South Wing, and a gallery devoted to Eleanor and her life and accomplishments was created in the museum portion of the new addition."Visit Val-Kill, Eleanor Roosevelt's National Historic Site

"The Library reflects the vision that its founder displayed when he spoke at the dedication of the library on June 30, 1941. To maintain archival facilities and records, he stated:

". . . A Nation must believe in three things. It must believe in the past. It must believe in the future. It must, above all, believe in the capacity of its own people so to learn from the past that they can gain in judgment in creating their own future." by Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Press blue button for information for Students, Teachers, Museum Visitors, and much more about the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Location: Hyde Park

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