The FDR Library turns 75: A rich history, a cutting-edge future
A Dutchess County landmark with a global reach that touches history, research, tourism and the power of the presidency is looking back on 75 years and looking ahead toward a future driven by digitization and plans for capturing a younger audience.
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum June 30 will mark its 75th anniversary.
The site on Route 9 in Hyde Park is the nation’s first presidential library and houses millions of pages of historical documents that chronicle the life of the nation’s 32nd president, who was born, lived and is buried in Hyde Park.
But for all its international glory and the manner in which FDR used Hyde Park to shape world affairs, the library remains a Dutchess County icon first.
The FDR Presidential Library and Museum, said Dutchess County Historian William P. Tatum III, “should be, and in many respects is, the source of immense local pride because it was the very first presidential library. And it will stand out among all the others no matter how many we end up having.”
At the same time, the broad impact of the library cannot be overlooked.
“This is a site that is of significance to the entire planet’s population, due to FDR’s role in leading both the United States and the overall allied cause during the second World War, as well as leading us through and out of the Great Depression,” Tatum said.
Underscoring the library’s wide reach is the insight it also provides on the legacy of FDR’s wife, Eleanor. A major presence in Dutchess County, she redefined the role of the first lady and carved her own career as a pivotal player in national and international politics.
Together, the Roosevelts took American society, politics and culture in a bold, new direction. The seismic impact of the Roosevelt legacy continues to resonate today.
The new Roosevelts of Hyde Park
And all of this is captured in the library, which in 2013 unveiled $35 million in renovations and $6 million in new exhibits, many of them interactive. Also, the library has digitized a million pages of historical documents, with 16 million remaining.
Gabriel Wynn of Malaysia recently visited the library grounds during a road trip with his father, a Long Island resident. He called FDR “one of the most influential presidents.”
“We just felt like, if we’re passing through, we’ve got to stop off here,” the 29-year-old said.
FDR Presidential Library and Museum Director Paul Sparrow said the 75th anniversary “represents a belief in democracy. FDR said when the library was first opened, ‘The creation of a presidential library says three things — a belief in our past, a belief in our present and a belief in our future of democracy.”
Prior to FDR, a president’s papers were considered private property when he left office, Sparrow said. Roosevelt believed the papers belong to the American public.
FDR’s launch of his library, Sparrow continued, “was the beginning, in some ways, of the concept of an open government.”
Along with its link to the White House, the library has some extremely interesting items in its collection. Among them is a Babylonian clay tablet, which contains a tax list and is dated 2350 B.C., that was given to FDR in March 1944 by Cecil B. DeMille, the Hollywood producer and director.
And approximately 700 researchers utilize the library on an annual basis. Famed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns conducted research at the library for his 2014 PBS documentary, “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History.”
That documentary helped generate tourism.
"The Roosevelts: An Intimate History" aired Sept. 14-20, 2014, on PBS. The presidential library and Home of FDR National Historic Site in Hyde Park sold 6,020 tickets from Sept. 14-23, 2014, a 25 percent increase from the same time period in 2013.
And the library remains a pivotal component of the local tourism industry. In 2015, it attracted 192,680 visitors. That figure for 2014 was 173,475.
“Nowhere,” said Mary Kay Vrba, president of Dutchess Tourism, “can you visit the library of a four-term president.”
John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo