Franklin D. Roosevelt
Presidential Library and Museum
announces the opening of
a new special exhibition
SIGNATURE MOMENTS:
LETTERS FROM THE FAMOUS,
THE INFAMOUS, AND
EVERYDAY AMERICANS
Saturday, June 28, 2025
(runs through July 7, 2026)
Regular Library and
Museum admission applies
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum will open a new special exhibition, SIGNATURE MOMENTS: LETTERS FROM THE FAMOUS, THE INFAMOUS, AND EVERYDAY AMERICANS, on Saturday, June 28, 2025, in the William J. vanden Heuvel Gallery of the Library and Museum. The exhibit runs through July 7, 2026. Regular Library and Museum admission applies to view the exhibit.
Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Walt Disney, Abraham Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth II, Benjamin Franklin, Joe Louis, Thomas Edison, Frank Sinatra, Dalai Lama, Shirley Temple, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Mao Tse-Tung, Harpo Marx, and General George S. Patton …
What do each of these famous figures have in common? They, among many others, wrote to Franklin or Eleanor Roosevelt, sent a special gift, or FDR himself collected their documents as historic treasures.
During their extraordinary public careers, the Roosevelts interacted with a “who’s who” of the 20th century. SIGNATURE MOMENTS opens the FDR Library’s archives and museum for an insider’s view of the remarkable -- and sometimes surprising -- variety of personal exchanges with an amazing array of famous (and a few infamous) people. This fascinating group includes over 100 golden age movie stars, queens and kings, scientists, and legendary military heroes. Visitors will see signatures of literary giants, celebrated artists, world leaders, and, of course, prominent politicians and political activists -- including seven American presidents. Some letters are even paired with unique gifts from the sender.
SIGNATURE MOMENTS is a key part of the Roosevelt Library’s celebration of America250. The exhibit features prize selections from FDR’s personal collection of historical documents of America’s Founders, including items signed by George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. These items provide a direct connection to the Colonial Era, offering visitors a host of first-person encounters with key figures of our nation’s past.
Most importantly, the exhibit features a new, short film showcasing the hundreds of thousands of letters that everyday Americans sent to the Roosevelts. Here visitors encounter people like themselves who wrote to the President and First Lady. FDR considered letters from the public the most important records preserved in his Library.
“Of the papers which will come to rest here I personally attach less importance to the documents of those who have occupied high public or private office, than I do to the spontaneous letters which have come to me and my family and my associates from men, from women, and from children in every part of the United States, telling me of their conditions and problems, and giving me their opinions.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Cornerstone Laying,
Hyde Park, New York. November 19, 1939
Please contact Cliff Laube at (845) 486-7745 with questions about the event.
