06-25-2017: Roosevelt Historical Sites

One of the things we’ve always wanted to do was visit Hyde Park.  Having spent the night in Yonkers (at a new Hampton Inn that was great), we were within about 60 miles of Hyde Park, so we drove up the Taconic Parkway to visit the Roosevelt historical sites.  The Taconic is a treacherous road, and I read while prepping for this post that the Taconic is the most dangerous road in New York State.  I certainly understand why it’s a dangerous route.  Fortunately, being early Sunday, we didn’t have much traffic to contend with, but the parkway is the main thoroughfare for traffic from Putnam and Westchester counties into and out of the city.  The parkway is a beautiful drive along the Hudson, but OMG!  It’s a curvy, windy road through the mountains where in some places the retaining wall holding up the mountainside is the edge of the righthand lane – NO shoulder.  The lanes are super narrow so if a car is overtaking you in the lefthand lane, you have no room due to the wall, and your side mirror practically touches the overtaking car.  It was pretty scary.  Thankfully, there are only a few places where this was the case.

The Roosevelt family estate, Springwood, is in Hyde Park.  In addition to the FDR historical site, there’s the Eleanor Roosevelt historical site called Val-Kill.  We were most interested in visiting this site.  I think Eleanor Roosevelt (ER) is a giant of a woman and after being at Val-Kill, I think even more highly of her and her accomplishments.

We were booked on a 10:30 tour, but the tour guide invited us to go earlier with the 10:00 group.  There were only 2 other couples, so it was a nice small group.  We started with a short film about ER which was awesome.  What a remarkable woman!  The location of Val-Kill is where FDR and ER had lots of picnics on the banks of the Fallkill Creek.  The name comes from parts of Dutch words for waterfall (val) and for stream (kil).  Two of ER’s friends, Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook, spent a lot of time with ER and FDR enjoying their picnic spot and FDR suggested that they build a cottage there as a year-round retreat and a place where ER could have a place to work on her ideas.  FDR leased the property to the three women and gave them lifetime use of the property.

Stone Cottage, completed in 1925, was the first building built.  Marion and Nancy, a lesbian couple, made Stone Cottage their residence, and ER stayed there whenever FDR was not at Springwood, the family estate house 2 miles away.  Nancy and Marion remained at Stone Cottage until 1947.

Shortly after Stone Cottage was built, a much larger building was built that housed Val-Kill Industries, a brainchild of the 3 women, to provide training for area rural workers who were struggling during the Depression.  It was a furniture manufacturing shop and produced uniquely designed furniture for  a decade.  There was also a pewter factory and a weaving shop.  When the factory closed, ER converted the larger building and several adjoining buildings into her primary residence which she called Val-Kill.

The new cottage included a small apartment for ER’s personal aide and secretary, Malvina “Tommy” Thompson, who served ER for decades.  There were some 7 bedrooms for guests and family and Val-Kill became a magnet for all kinds of people who knew ER.  Also, the many children and grandchildren would come for great adventures and time spent with ER and FDR on picnics and outings.

The photo above of the EMN embroidery tells somewhat of a story.  Eleanor was always doing some kind of needlework or knitting.  The EMN stood for Eleanor, Marion and Nancy and those initials were on lots of things, including on luggage that the 3 women used on trips.  These amazing 3 women really were very influential and a powerhouse team.  ER met them, and a fourth important friend and colleague, Caroline O’Day, through the State Democratic Committee.  They all were active in politics and women’s rights.  EMN bought Todhunter School in the late 1920s and ER taught American History there for a couple of years.  The whole Val-Kill Industries project was an EMN idea.

Behind the pink couch in the photo above was the location where JFK sat when he came to Val-Kill to ask for ER’s endorsement for his presidential bid.  There’s a little alcove behind the couch and ER sat in a large wing-backed chair, while the only other seat was a small rocker, where JFK sat.  They apparently had a very lengthy conversation as JFK pleaded his case and ER told him he wasn’t doing enough to advance civil rights.

Our tour guide, Trish, was exceptional, and in telling stories, like the JFK story, she really brought ER and Val-Kill to life.  Tricia was an encyclopedia on ER and her passion and enthusiasm for Val-Kill made for a terrific tour.

Picnics were one of the big activities at Val-Kill.  In addition to a tennis court out back, there was a huge outdoor barbeque.  We saw a photo of ER dipping an ear of corn into a kettle on that barbeque.

When the guide was talking about all the big picnics held at Val-Kill, Christine asked if we could picnic on the grounds.  The guide said, “Yes!  Eleanor would love that.”  That tickled us and so after wandering around the grounds and checking out the exhibits in Stone Cottage, we had a picnic down by the creek.

Val-Kill is an idyllic spot.  It is quiet and peaceful and very beautiful.  It’s easy to see why ER found this place to be home.

We really loved Val-Kill and it makes both of us want to read everything we can about Eleanor Roosevelt.  What an incredible American woman.

After Val-Kill, we drove the 2 miles back over to the FDR Historical Site visitor center.  We had booked a 1:30 tour of Springwood.  FDR was the country’s savior during the depression.  I know conservatives feel that the New Deal is where politics went wrong with the growth of big government, but nonetheless, I believe FDR was in the right place at the right time.  Before our tour, we watched a short film about the impact of FDRs New Deal.  It was very interesting and quite moving.  FDR and ER made a great team.  She travelled all over the country to see the plight of people during the Depression.  She would report back to FDR and discuss various programs to help people.  Although by the time FDR became president, the marriage was essentially long over, due to ER learning of FDR’s affair with Lucy Mercer, but the partnership between them was very dynamic.  Together, they crafted a great deal of legislation and world policy..

Springwood is where FDR stayed when he was stricken with polio.  Springwood was his mother’s residence, and she ruled over it and all in it.  ER was under Sarah Delano’s rule at Springwood.  It’s no wonder she wanted to escape to Val-Kill.  To try and recover the use of his legs, FDR would drag himself on crutches all the way down the tree-lined drive to the road and back to the house, but to no avail.  His legs became shriveled and useless to him.  He wore braces that locked at the knees.  He learned to move a bit in those braces, but for the most part he was carried in his wheelchair, always out of public sight.  We learned that at the time of his death, the majority of Americans had no idea he couldn’t walk.  There apparently are only 3 photos of him in his wheelchair and those are in family collections and not in the public view.

Springwood is a dark, formal home, very different from Val-Kill.  We got to tour some of the first floor where FDR had his office and where he met with people.  He would always be seated behind his desk when people arrived and the ramp down into the office would have been removed prior to guests arriving and they would step down several stairs into the FDR office.

I got a kick out of seeing games on the table near the sitting area.  The house was always full of grandchildren and I could image FDR playing games with his grandkids.  Chinese checkers and Parcheesi were on display.

Springwood was a rather typical big house with all the ornate trappings.  FDR collected paintings of ships and as a young boy he collected birds.  All the furniture and trappings were heavy and everywhere was quite cluttered.

FDR had the best bedroom, of course, that had a great view down the long slopping hillside to the Hudson River.  The trees have grown up blocking much of the view now days.  He did have a special telephone by his bed that connected him directly to the White House, which I thought was interesting.

The grounds of the estate are wonderful.  Everywhere there were huge old trees and nice lawns.

Both FDR and ER are buried at Springwood.

Also on the estate is the FDR Presidential Library, the first presidential library, and the first to have a wing dedicated to a first lady, for Eleanor’s papers.

The art installation was created by Winston Churchill’s granddaughter, and is two figures formed from sections of the Berlin Wall.  There are two large busts, one of FDR and the other of Churchill.

We looked at several exhibits in both the FDR section and the ER section of the library.

I loved this photo of an elder ER carrying her own suitcase as she walked to board a plane.

Again, I must say that ER was such an impressive contributor to the world.  Of course, FDR was too, but as a woman in a time period when women had just gotten the vote, but were not accepted in politics and certainly not as U.S. representatives to world organizations like the U.N., ER’s accomplishments are awesome.  The FDR/ER partnership was truly one of greatness.

We had a wonderful day at Hyde Park, but after two long days where  we were on the go and on our feet for hours taking in a great deal of stimulation and information, we were ready to head home.  The drive home was nice.  It was a beautiful day.  We passed through New Paltz, a very cute little college town, and along a scenic highway near the Shawangunk Ridge.  I’d read about “the Gunks” as it’s called but had never seen them.  It is a rock climbing haven as near the top of the ridge there is a lot of shear cliff face.  We stopped at a scenic overlook of the valley, and it was scenic.

We arrived home safely at about 6:00, glad to be home and feeling tired, but very happy with the weekend.  It was a great experience – both the Chihuly in the NY Botanical Garden and Hyde Park.  We are so blessed and lucky that we can travel and see such wonderful things.

Stay tuned for our next trip – San Antonio, TX in about 10 days.