Above: The entrance to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, DC. See the National Park Service's website on the memorial here. Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.
Above: One of the central features of the FDR Memorial are quotes, such as, "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a New Deal for the American people," spoken by Roosevelt when he accepted the Democratic nomination for president in Chicago on July 2, 1932. Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.
Above: These words were spoken by President Franklin Roosevelt during the dedication of a new chemistry building at the historically black Howard University, October 26, 1936. The building was constructed with funds from the New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA). Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.
Above: The FDR Memorial has many statues, like this one depicting Fireside Chats (a series of radio addresses that FDR made to the American public, to keep them informed of government actions and policy). Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.
Above: Yet another feature of the FDR Memorial are its many waterfalls - tantalizing on a hot Summer day. The FDR Memorial was designed by Lawrence Halprin: "The Roosevelt memorial was Mr. Halprin's favorite project, his wife said. Partly because he had loving memories of Roosevelt, and partly because of the sheer difficulty of the task... He went to a quarry and personally picked some of the 4,000 stones in the walls. He made a drawing of each of the 4,000 so he could put each one exactly where he wanted it" ("Lawrence Halprin, Landscape Architect, Dies at 93," New York Times, October 28, 2009). Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.
Above: Sculptures of FDR and his Scottish Terrier "Fala." Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.
Above: These stones are located in the World War II section of the Memorial, and probably represent bombing rubble. However, one might also think of them as the crumbling remains of the New Deal. Constant right-wing attacks on infrastructure funding, unions, Social Security, commonsense financial regulations, progressive taxation, healthcare, food assistance, as well as right-wing hatred of the poor and unemployed, have whittled away at the spirit and accomplishments of the New Deal. Is it any wonder then, that Americans are so depressed and increasingly suicidal? Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.
Above: A statue of Eleanor Roosevelt, arguably the greatest woman in American history - a woman who pushed and prodded the New Deal to include more and more people. See the National Park Service website, "Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site," as well as the Living New Deal's biography, Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962). Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.
Above: A view of the Washington Monument, from the FDR Memorial grounds. Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.
No comments:
Post a Comment