In this issue: Letters to President Roosevelt; We Dare Not Fail, the Animated Story of the Tuskegee Airmen; an Invitation to the White House Kitchens; a Story of Internment Camp Resilience; #FDRtheCollector a Painting of the Merrimac; Eleanor Rosoevelt and Marion Anderson.
Researcher Chris Brockman talks with Supervisory Archivist Kirsten Carter about his study of letters to FDR from the people of the United States. Brockman has produced online visualization tools that make it possible for anyone to examine how FDR drove engagement across all strata of society.
(Video, 36 minutes. This is a rebroadcast of a previously streamed program.)
RECENT PROGRAMS
We Dare Not Fail: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen entered the military to become soldiers. They became a symbol for courage, fighting fascism in Europe and segregation in the United States.We Dare Not Fail examines their successes in Europe and challenges back home. Produced by Drake Creative with the Pare Lorentz Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum. (7:10 minutes)
Presidents Day Weekend Programs: Dinner with the President with
Some of the most significant moments in American history have occurred over meals. Author and journalist Alex Prud’homme invites readers into the White House kitchen to reveal the curious tastes of twenty-six American presidents.
In the spring of 1942, the United States government forced 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes and sent them to incarceration camps across the West. Author Bradford Pearson tells the story of how one camp’s high school football team, the Eagles, started its first season and finished it undefeated, crushing the competition from nearby, predominantly white high schools.
Franklin Roosevelt was an avid, lifelong collector of prints, engravings, and paintings illustrating the history of the United States Navy. About this painting by Xanthus Russell Smith, FDR wrote to his art dealer, “Glad to have—Much better than I thought!”
One of his Delano relatives had been instrumental in the Merrimac’s construction.
In January 1939, Howard University petitioned the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) to use its segregated auditorium Constitution Hall for a concert by Marian Anderson. Despite pressure from the press, other great artists, and politicians, the request was denied. Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR and eventually the famed opera singer performed at the Lincoln Memorial to a crowd of 75,000.
"Whatever our individual circumstances or opportunities, we are all in it, and our spirit is good... and do not let anyone tell you anything different." FDR, Oct 12, 1942, fireside chat.
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