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Documentary Film Screening

August 22, 2026

Rohna Classified

With filmmaker Jack Ballo
Henry A. Wallace Center

Time: 2pm ET

REGISTER for in-person attendance» 

Nearly 2,000 American soldiers board an overcrowded transport ship, unaware of its non-functioning lifeboats and inadequate lifebelts. When one of the first radio-guided missiles ever used in war strikes, the HMT Rohna sinks, claiming 1,015 lives — the single greatest loss of life at sea by enemy action in U.S. history.

This event is free to attend but registration is required.

Special Exhibition

ONGOING

Declaring the Revolution: America's Printed Path to Independence

William J. vanden Heuvel

Special Exhibits Gallery

Historical Works from the David M. Rubenstein Americana Collection

This exhibition honors the Declaration of Independence as the central printed achievement of America's revolutionary generation by assembling various political and intellectual forerunners of that momentous document, as well as printed evidence of the ways that America's founders self-organized to bring about its stated ideals.

Guest Curator: Mazy Boroujerdi, Curator, David M. Rubenstein Americana Collection

June 26, 2026 - December 6, 2026
Regular admission applies, go to VisitFDR.org to purchase tickets»

New History Shorts

FDR Awakens the Nation to a Changing World

Now Available

For a century from 1815 to World War I, Americans enjoyed a position of free security, with oceans on either side and non threatening neighbors on its borders, uncommon in the modern world. Andrew Preston examines how FDR prepared a country that felt safe for a threat to the American way of life.

Watch the short (2:10 minutes)
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Polio and FDR's Rebirth

Now Available

FDR contracted infantile paralysis, or polio, at the age of 39 and many assumed his political career was over. Paul Sparrow Lecture speaker Jonathan Darman looks at how his illness prepared FDR to lead.

Watch the full length talk»

Watch the short (2:01 minutes)
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1939 New York World's Fair Concept Drawing

This original watercolor and gouache conceptual illustration by Nembhard N. Culin features a proposed design for an exhibit of FDR’s stamp collection at the 1939 New York World's Fair. See it on temporary display in the Museum's Behind the Scenes area until mid-September.

See more in our online collection»

What sport was televised as part of the 1939 World's Fair?