THE FOXBOROUGH HISTORICAL SOCIETY

March 2013 44th Year Issue #6

The Foxborough Historical Society Presents:

Louis McHenry Howe and his importance in the life and career of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Speaker: Ernest G. Hirsch

Tuesday, March 26, 2012, 7:30 p.m. at Council on Aging Center, 75 Central Street, Foxborough, MA

From the pen of Program Chairman Patrick Lyons:

Louis McHenry Howe With President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

FOXBOROUGH HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO LEARN ABOUT LOUIS MCHENRY HOWE

Although Louis McHenry Howe died in 1936 when Foxborough’s Ernie Hirsch was only eight years old, Ernie has been interested in Howe for many years.

Ernest G. Hirsch will share his reflections on Howe (and some photos) at the March 26 meeting of the Foxborough Historical Society.

Who was Louis McHenry Howe, you may ask, and why is he important to history?

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said of him, “Howe made me President!”

And his wife called Howe “one of the most influential people” in her life.

Hirsch’s talk will cover from when Howe and Roosevelt met in 1910 to Howe’s death in 1936. Their critical relationship would start at the time Roosevelt was first elected to the New York State Senate. Roosevelt was involved in internal party fights with , in the election of a U.S. Senator, and in the nomination of for President in 1916. Howe and Roosevelt were together in these fights.

When Roosevelt contracted polio, Louis Howe ran his successful re-election campaign.

A few years later, President Wilson appointed Roosevelt Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Roosevelt made Louis Howe his clerk. The nation’s entrance into World War I brought them to national attention.

In 1918, Roosevelt’s affair with Lucy Mercer forced a separation between him and his wife Eleanor. Louie (as he was called), together with Franklin’s mother, held the two together in a “separate but equal” relationship.

After Roosevelt’s polio attack, Louie Howe is credited with persuading FDR to continue in politics.

Howe also spent hours with Eleanor teaching her how to read, write and speak effectively, making her an effective member of the team.

With Howe at his side, Roosevelt was elected state in 1928, receiving more votes from the state than former New York Governor who lost the race for President that same year.

In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt was elected President in the midst of the .

Soon after Roosevelt assumed the Presidency, the “fireside chats” commenced. The brainchild of Howe, he compiled many of Roosevelt’s speeches until his death near the end of Roosevelt’s first term.

Louie Howe was the only person FDR and Eleanor shared as an intimate friend. The highly visible Howe was at the President's side for many years acting as his campaign manager, speech writer and advisor both in New York State and at the national level.

A disheveled Louie Howe lived at the White house with the Roosevelts. Much to the chagrin of Eleanor Roosevelt, Howe slept anywhere where he happened to be sitting. Eleanor watched over him during his many bouts with illness. Always frail and ailing, Howe was finally taken to Walter Reed Hospital where he died at the age of 64 in 1936.

Howe’s body was transported to Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River, Massachusetts, where, after a small private graveside service attended by a grieving Eleanor and FDR, he was interred.

Louis Howe’s widow, Grace Hartley Howe, died in 1955 in Fall River. She is buried alongside her husband. (Mrs. Howe, incidentally, was a cousin to Lizzie Borden, also of Fall River - oh how much we learn from history!)

The Historical Society will meet at the Foxboro Senior Center on Tuesday, March 26, at 7:30 pm. The Senior Center is at 75 Central Street (Route 140), near Foxboro center. Please enter through the rear door which will be illuminated.

Meetings of the historical society are free and everyone is welcome.

The Evelyn Thomas Memorial Scholarship is expected to be available this year to a student with an interest in the field of history.

Foxborough Historical Society Organization President: Charles Clifford 543-8403 Vice President: Jean Prendergast Clerk: Janet Roxborough 942-1482 Treasurer: Mary Anne Baker 543-8945 Newsletter/Membership: Paul Godin 543-7945 Programs: Patrick Lyons 543-3728 Directors: Immediate Past President Robert Hicks, Ralph Guimond, Joan Stafford and Lauren Bitar

Memorial Hall is open every Wednesday evening, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on the second Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon.

50 YEARS AGO IN FOXBOROUGH [News extracted from the Foxboro Reporter] 2-7-1963 Total Town Budgets for 1963 Nearly Two Million Dollars. Dr. John T. Shea, superintendent of the State Hospital, gives permission for the Annual Town Meeting to be held in the hospital auditorium. 2-14-1963 Boy Scouting in Foxboro began 3 years after the program was founded in 1910. Foxboro sponsored the pioneering group in the area when the late Rev. William E. Lawson organized Troop 2. Lillyman family moves to South America….. Walter H. Lillyman Jr. becomes U. S government official in Buenos Aires. Mr. Lillyman graduated from Foxboro H. S. in 1939. 2-21-1963 Funeral today for Miss May Pond, 99, at Doolittle Home. 3-7-1963 Plans are unveiled for proposed Fernandes Supermarket to be located on Main St. Transfer Mansfield pupil here, can’t walk across Route 95 construction. New wing for Doolittle Home announced at yearly meeting. Foxboro High Girls Basketball Team upset by Braintee in the semi-finals. We’re still country according to Robert Ferenstein, animal inspector. In 1962, 294 cattle were inspected in 1962, 1 bull, 60 horses, 550 pigs, 12 goats, 37 sheep and 42 barns. 3-14-1963 Bertha M. Fales of 51 Main St. observed her 96 th birthday on March 6. 3-21-1963 School Superintendent Charles G. Taylor submitted his resignation. He guided the education system for the past 11 years. He graduated from Foxborough High School in 1917. He is a World War I Veteran. Foxboro residents awakened on the 1st day of Spring today and were greeted by 4” of snow.