FDR Memorial

Category: Parks

The FDR memorial was completed after 40 years of design at a cost of $48 million in 1997. Some things among the 7.5 acres have been revisioned to comply with the dictates of political correctness: FDR’s almost permanent cigarette holder has disappeared through the design process; so too has Eleanor’s signature fox fur. And most controversial of all, FDR’s wheelchair is concealed by a cloak. Many feel that FDR’s disability is stigmatized by its lack of representation. Designers acquiesced to demands by disability advocates and installed casters, turning the chair upon which Roosevelt sat into a symbolic wheelchair. The move did little to please disabled advocates who – despite Roosevelt’s own well-known misgivings about being seen publicly in a wheelchair – protested the memorial’s dedication.