1924: A Year of New Beginnings

Franklin D. Roosevelt in his wheelchair aboard the Nourmahal, April 1935. Credit Robert Cross-Sailor in the White House. NPx 06-01. By Kevin Thomas, Archives Technician 1924 does not resonate the way 1933, or 1941 does when thinking of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. It was, however, a year filled with encounters that would profoundly change both. … Continue reading 1924: A Year of New Beginnings

D-Day, the FDR Library, and a Remarkable Story

D-Day has been the subject of countless articles, books, and motion pictures, but many  aspects of this pivotal moment in world history remain unknown or unacknowledged. Perhaps surprisingly, one involves the FDR Library, according to the Library's first director, Fred Shipman. His tale of events in late 1943 and early 1944 regarding a misfiled document, … Continue reading D-Day, the FDR Library, and a Remarkable Story

Black Women in the Wartime Struggle

Members of an NAACP Planning Committee at a recruitment event. Photograph: Library of Congress Black women were on the frontlines of civil rights activism during the war years. The grassroots organizing work of young leaders like Rosa Parks, Juanita Jackson, and Ella Baker helped fuel a dramatic increase in NAACP membership and branch activism. Union … Continue reading Black Women in the Wartime Struggle

The First Lady of the Struggle

Mary McLeod Bethune acted as leader of the Black Cabinet. Bethune was a friend and confidante of Eleanor Roosevelt and FDR held her in high regard. She used her unique connection to the Roosevelts to bring race-related issues directly to the President. Photograph: Library of Congress Much of the success of the Black Cabinet was … Continue reading The First Lady of the Struggle

Irvin and Elizabeth McDuffie

“Throughout the nation today, colored men and women are playing the part in the government under President Roosevelt’s New Deal that we have awaited . . . these seventy years which have passed since President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.”                    —Elizabeth McDuffie, Campaign Speech, St. Louis, Missouri, 1936  Elizabeth and Irvin McDuffie, two Black … Continue reading Irvin and Elizabeth McDuffie

Remembering President Warren G. Harding (1865-1923)

President Warren G. Harding's body lying in state in the East Room of the White House. Image from the Library of Congress https://lccn.loc.gov/2006683674 by Kevin Thomas, Archives Technician August 2, 2023, marks the 100th Anniversary of the sudden death of Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States. The news, no doubt, shocked Americans, … Continue reading Remembering President Warren G. Harding (1865-1923)

Special Exhibition Highlight: Walter White

Walter White was a Black American civil rights leader and executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1929 to 1955. Born into a prominent family in Atlanta, Georgia in 1893, he was a graduate of Atlanta University. White joined the NAACP in 1918 and gained prominence for his … Continue reading Special Exhibition Highlight: Walter White

Special Exhibition Highlight: Marian Anderson

“If you have a purpose in which you can believe, there’s no end to the amount of things you can accomplish.” Marian Anderson by Kirsten S. Carter, Supervisory Archivist Born February 27, 1897, Marian Anderson first sang publicly at age six with the Union Baptist Church choir in her home city of Philadelphia. Backed by … Continue reading Special Exhibition Highlight: Marian Anderson