Education and Leadership Development
- Partner with educators and others to develop original educational content and create professional development opportunities on all aspects of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s legacy.
- Initial focus on FDR’s leadership qualities gained through his disability experience, the campaign led by people with disabilities to depict FDR in a wheelchair at the Memorial, and the role FDR and the Memorial play in the Disability Rights Movement.
- Future focus on lessons learned from FDR and Eleanor’s relationships with notable African Americans leaders of their time, and the impact on the Civil Rights Movement
As part of LDA’s 60th Annual International Conference, members of our FDR Committee, Rosalie Boone, Ed.D., Mary E. Dolan, M.A., M.A., and Arlene King-Berry, J.D., presented Advocacy Strategies from Lived Experiences of Disabled Leaders: Preparing LD Students for Transition. The presentation can be found below.
Documentation and Research
- Document the history of the campaign led by people with disabilities to add a depiction of FDR in a wheelchair at the Memorial.
- Conduct oral histories with interviews with people involved in the development of the FDR Memorial, and the fight for the statue.
- Currently, we have a grant from Humanities DC for an oral history project. (Link to press release to come)
- Encourage original research about FDR and Eleanor.
- Conduct oral histories with interviews with people involved in the development of the FDR Memorial, and the fight for the statue.
Protecting the Memorial
- Press the National Park Service and its partner agencies for accountability in repairing and restoring the FDR Memorial and to safeguard it for the future.
- Presently, the water features at the Memorial are fully out of service, along with some of the lighting fixtures.
- Overall refurbishing is needed throughout the Memorial due to deferred maintenance.
- Ensure that the FDR Memorial is updated for accessibility and inclusive design for all visitors and users.
- There is no Braille signage or other assistive technology available at the Memorial.
- The FDR Memorial is routinely flooded by the Tidal Basin on which it sits causing inaccessible pathways and danger to Memorial structures.