Educational Programs | January 14, 2010

FDR Birthday Celebration

The National Park Service, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum and the Roosevelt Institute will host a series of afternoon events to commemorate Franklin D. Roosevelt's Birthday on Saturday, January 30, 2010. The programs begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home with a book talk and signing by Richard D. Heffner and Alexander Heffner about their book, A Documentary History of the United States. Following the talk, the National Park Service will hold a 3:00 p.m. ceremony at President Roosevelt's grave in the Rose Garden. Refreshments will be served in the Wallace Center after the ceremony. These events are free of charge and open to the public.
Book Talk and Signing 1:30 p.m.


The FDR Presidential Library and the Roosevelt Institute will host an author talk and signing at 1:30 p.m. on January 30 with historian and broadcaster Richard D. Heffner and online journalist Alexander Heffner about their book, A Documentary History of the United States. The coauthors will discuss the origins of the book (an expanded and updated eighth edition), the new chapter on Barack Obama and his Inaugural Address, and comparisons between the Inaugural Addresses and progressive politics of Franklin D. Roosevelt and President Obama. The program will include archival film footage. A book signing in the lobby will follow the discussion.


Rose Garden Ceremony 3:00 p.m.


The National Park Service will host the graveside ceremony at the Home of Franklin Roosevelt National Historic Site Rose Garden at 3:00 p.m. on January 30. Robert Clark, Supervisory Archivist at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum will make remarks. The United States Military Academy at West Point honor guard and color guard will be present in the Rose Garden for the ceremony and Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, Dean of the Academic Board at West Point, will present a wreath on behalf of the President of the United States. Other presenters include the Town of Hyde Park, the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce, American Legion Post #1303, the March of Dimes, The Roosevelt-Vanderbilt Historical Association, the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill, and the National Park Service. The public is cordially invited to lay flowers on the grave and attend all events.


The Roosevelt Library invites attendees for refreshments and birthday cake after the ceremony in the Henry A. Wallace Center.


For more information please call: Cliff Laube, Roosevelt Library, (845) 486-7745; or Franceska Macsali Urbin, National Park Service, (845) 229-6214.


Historic Hyde Park is a group of government and private non-profit organizations based in Hyde Park, New York. Each has a unique mission, but all are united in their dedication to extending the legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt to new generations. HHP includes the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, and Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site. For more information about HHP visit www.HistoricHydePark.org.