FDR as Architect by Olin Dows - 1941 - FDR Presidential Museum and Library - Hyde Park NY - 2013-02-17

            The painting "FDR as Architect" by Olin Dows, located in the main hallway at the Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.  The library is located at Roosevelt's Springwood estate in Hyde Park, New York.

Dows was an artist from nearby Rhinebeck, and well-known to the Roosevelts.  He was living in the area when FDR began expanding his Springwood home, building Top Cottage and Val-Kill, and generally improving the Springwood estate.  Dows later headed a Depression-era U.S. Treasury program dedicated to hiring out-of-work artists to decorate Treasury buildings nationwide.

A Dutch Colonial Revival library building was designed by Roosevelt himself in April 1937. Roosevelt, first elected in 1932, believed that he would serve only two terms. Thinking his time as president was coming to a close, he began planning for his post-presidential future.  Roosevelt agreed to donate his Springwood estate, home, and library to the federal government, if it would maintain and run them.  Congress approved legislation accepting the estate on July 18, 1939.

The cornerstone for the library was laid on November 19, 1939. It opened to the public on June 30, 1941. By this time, FDR was in his third term as president and it was clear that the small library would not hold all his materials.  Roosevelt sketched out north and south wings for the library in 1942, but they were put on hold due to the war. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945.

Eleanor Roosevelt died on November 7, 1962.  Her private papers numbered over 3 million.  To accommodate them, the library's wings began construction in November 1963.  The new wings opened in May 1972.

In 2003, the 50,000-square-foot, $14 million Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center opened to the public.  Visitors formerly accessed the library via a parking lot and dingy ticket booth.  Now they had a gift shop, café, orientation lobby, and 140-seat theater.  The center also includes offices for the library and museum, and a conference center with 300-set auditorium and 24-seat executive conference room.

Renovation of the Library and Museum -- the first such endeavor since it was built in 1941 -- began on May 27, 2010.  Most importantly, the archives will be brought up to National Archives standards. The renovation will also improve drainage, modernize the plumbing and electricity, replace the sheet metal roof with a slate one, enhance security and fire protection, create an entirely new HVAC system, and make the library and museum completely accessible for those in wheelchairs. The $35 million project was funded with federal money.  The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute raised $6 million to build and maintain new exhibits in the museum.  Most of the library and museum closed on May 1, 2012, but will fully reopen on June 30, 2013.

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Taken on: February 17, 2013

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Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

Hyde Park

Sets appears in: • FDR Presidential Library and Museum

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