Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Stone

FDR Memorial Stone

Quick Facts

Amenities

2 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Public Transit

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) told a friend that he wanted his memorial to be: "a block about the size of [this desk]...in the center of that green plot in front of the Archives Building." True to his wishes, this memorial was dedicated in 1965. A much larger memorial dedicated to Roosevelt was built along the Tidal Basin and dedicated in 1997.

Sculptor: Eric Gugler

Inscriptions

Stone
In Memory of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
1882-1945
Plaque
IN SEPTEMBER 1941 PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT CALLED HIS FRIEND, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE FRANKFURTER, TO THE WHITE HOUSE AND ASKED THE JUSTICE TO REMEMBER THE WISH HE THEN EXPRESSED:
"IF ANY MEMORIAL IS ERECTED TO ME, I KNOW EXACLTY WHAT I SHOULD LIKE IT TO BE. I SHOULD LIKE IT TO CONSIST OF A BLOCK ABOUT THE SIZE OF THIS (PUTTING HIS HAND ON HIS DESK) AND PLACED IN THE CENTER OF THAT GREEN PLOT IN FRONT OF THE ARCHIVES BUILDING. I DON'T CARE WHAT IT IS MADE OF, WHETHER LIMESTONE OR GRANITE OR WHATNOT, BUT I WANT IT PLAIN WITHOUT ANY ORNAMENTATION, WITH THE SIMPLE CARVING, ‘IN MEMORY OF '".
A SMALL GROUP OF LIVING ASSOCIATES OF THE PRESIDENT, ON APRIL 12, 1965, THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH, FULFILLED HIS WISH BY PROVIDING AND DEDICATING THIS MODEST MEMORIAL.