From the Museum

In the early afternoon of April 12, 1945, just 83 days into his fourth term of office, President Roosevelt died suddenly from a massive cerebral hemorrhage in his cottage at the presidential retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia. The President’s casket was placed on a funeral train that carried him to Washington D.C. Thousands lined the tracks in silent tribute as the train passed through towns and cities on its journey. After a solemn procession through Washington and a White House funeral, the President’s train continued north to his home in Hyde Park where FDR was buried near his beloved Hudson River on April 15, 1945.

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This U.S. stamp cover was created by one of FDR’s admirers on April 12, 1945 to commemorate the President’s death. It features a hand-drawn watercolor cachet by artist Sturgill. The illustration depicts the Hudson River and a snuffed-out candle bearing Roosevelt’s date of death, an American flag, and a book symbolizing the end of FDR’s life. The book includes part of a famous FDR quotation from 1944: “All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson”.

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The stamp cover bears a bright red violet 3¢ Florida Centennial Statehood Issue stamp. The envelope is not addressed and has no return address, but it is postmarked, “Victory, Vermont, April 12, 1945.”