LOUISIANA: NEW ORLEANS, Part 2 - National World War II Museum and New Orleans Museum of Art

November 6-10, 2019 

I visited two really good museums while I was in New Orleans: The National World War II Museum and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

1. The National World War II Museum

At the end of a long day of conferencing, I grabbed a taxi (Uber was SUPER slow in New Orleans, but a cab was always waiting at the hotel) and headed to what Congress designated in 2003 as America's official National World War II Museum. The museum's website states, "The National WWII Museum tells the story of the American experience in the war that changed the world--why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today--so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn."

Originally called the D-Day Museum, the museum opened (appropriately) on June 6, 2000. It is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution and is worth much more time than I was able to give to it. Since its opening it has had many expansions and added many new exhibits. It is a must-see museum, whether your are a war buff or history aficionado or neither. Just go.

I started in the European theater section, and was reminded that the United States lost far fewer of its service members than its enemies did.

The war was also NOT a popular cause in the early years.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: THE REFLECTING POOL AND TIDAL BASIN MONUMENTS, PART 2

We left the Jefferson Memorial and continued clockwise around the Tidal Basin.

Our next stop was the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. It was dedicated in 1997 by President Bill Clinton. It's distinguishing feature for me was its sprawling layout. It covers 7.5 acres! I kept expecting to come to the end of it, but then there would be another section. Of course, it does have to cover the longest presidency in U.S. history--12 years. The basic format is four "rooms," one for each of FDR's terms.

One especially cool thing about the FDR Memorial is that it is completely wheelchair accessible--a nod to FDR's disabiity.

FDR was known for his pithy statements, and many of them are engraved on the walls of his memorial, such as this one that reads, "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith."

This one states, "The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man or one party or one nation...it must be a peace which rests on the cooperative effort of the whole world."

Wow. That's an ideology that seems completely foreign in today's political climate.

Next to that quote is a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt--the only First Lady honored at a Presidential memorial. Eleanor stands next to the seal of the United Nations, to which she was the first delegate from the United States:

HYDE PARK, NEW YORK: ELEANOR ROOSEVELT'S VAL-KILL

Two miles east of the Roosevelt home and Presidential Museum and Library lies a beautiful patch of ground with a lazy stream running through it. Fallkill Stream meanders for 38 miles before it joins the mighty Hudson in Poughkeepsie. Franklin Roosevelt purchased 181 acres here in 1911, and the land was often used for family picnics and gatherings with friends.

In the 1920s, Franklin encouraged Eleanor to develop this piece of land, which she named "Val-Kill," loosely translated from the Dutch to mean "waterfall stream."  "Kill," the Dutch word for "stream" or "creek," is a common part of compound words in this part of New York--think "Schuylkill River" or "Catskill Mountains."

HYDE PARK, NEW YORK: ROOSEVELT PRESIDENTIAL MUSEUM AND LIBRARY

We love Presidential Museums and Libraries. There are thirteen, and with our visit to the Franklin D. Roosevelt site, we have toured twelve of them. The only one we have left to go is the Gerald R. Ford site, which is actually divided between two places: the Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The FDR Museum and Library is located in Hyde Park on the large estate where Franklin, the only son of wealthy parents, grew up.

One area of the museum gives information about Franklin's and Eleanor's ancestry and childhoods:

FDR's illustrious ancestors:

The 10 lb. baby boy referenced below is none other than FDR, and that's his bassinet on the right:

The picture on the left shows Eleanor (Franklin's 5th cousin) with her two little brothers, and the picture on the right shows her at age 14:

Franklin was 20 and Eleanor was 18 when they began courting. They were married in 1905, and Eleanor's uncle--President Teddy Roosevelt--gave away the bride.

HYDE PARK. NEW YORK: ROOSEVELT'S HOME

About 90 miles due north of New York City, just north of Poughkeepsie and on the Hudson River, lies Hyde Park, the hometown of the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

With about 22,000 residents, Hyde Park is relatively small compared to some of its famous neighbors, but it's a pretty upscale place, a fitting hometown for one of America's royal families--the Roosevelts.

And there they are, Eleanor and Franklin, waiting to entertain any visitors in their outdoor reception area:

The statue was adapted from a picture taken of the couple in 1933 right here in Hyde Park.