Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library
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Entrance To Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site
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41°46′07″N 73°56′03″W / 41.768680°N 73.934115°WCoordinates: 41°46′07″N 73°56′03″W / 41.768680°N 73.934115°W Hyde Park, New York, United States |
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| Construction start | 1939 |
| Completion date | 1940 |
| Dedicated | 30 June 1941 |
| Named for | Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
| Size | 16 acres (6.5 ha) |
| Cost | $376,000 |
| Management | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Website | www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu |
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum is the first presidential library in the United States, built to hold the records of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States (1933–1945). Located on the grounds of Springwood, the Roosevelt family estate in Hyde Park, New York, the library was built under the President's personal direction in 1939-1940, and dedicated on June 30, 1941. It is one of the fourteen presidential libraries under the auspices of the National Archives and Records Administration.
Built by Philadelphia contractor John McShain, it was constructed on 16 acres (6.5 ha) of land donated by the President and his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt. The library resulted from the President's decision that a separate facility was needed to house the vast quantity of historical papers, books, and memorabilia he had accumulated during a lifetime of public service and private collecting.
Margaret Suckley, who acted as Roosevelt's personal archivist during his life, was involved in the establishment of the Presidential Library and served as its archivist for its first two decades.
Prior to Roosevelt's Presidency, the final disposition of Presidential papers was left to chance. Although a valued part of the nation's heritage, the papers of chief executives were private property which they took with them upon leaving office. Some were sold or destroyed and thus either scattered or lost to the nation forever. Others remained with families, but inaccessible to scholars for long periods of time. The fortunate collections found their way into the Library of Congress and private repositories.
Roosevelt was the first to make his papers available to the public by donating them to the government. In erecting his library, Roosevelt created an institution to preserve intact all his papers. These included papers from all his political offices, New York state senator (1911–13), assistant secretary of the Navy (1913–20), governor of New York (1929–32), and President of the United States (1933–45) and his private collections of papers, books, and memorabilia on the history of the U.S. Navy and Dutchess County, New York.
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