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.
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.