NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Foundation Document Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site New York September 2017 Foundation Document I V E R N R H U D S O 9 ENTRANCE Parking Bellefield Henry A. Wallace Gardener’s cottage Visitor Center Greenhouse Coach house and Rose garden Stables Gravesite Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum Springwood To Rhinebeck To Rhinebeck Bard 0 1 Kilometer Rock 0 1 Mile 9 Vanderbilt Mansion North National Historic Site R E 41 V I Crum E t St lbow R R arke d East M H y Hyde Park d To 16 and e Taconic State Parkway N P a O 9G r S k 9 D T r U a i Home of l H Franklin D. Roosevelt Eleanor National Historic Site Roosevelt National D Wallace Haviland Historic Site A Center O R FDR Presidential Library and Museum T S Springwood (Home of FDR) O P Top 40A Cottage Y N To Poughkeepsie and 84 To Poughkeepsie A B L A Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site Contents Mission of the National Park Service . 1 Introduction. 2 Part 1: Core Components . .3 Brief Description of the Park 3 Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area 4 Park Purpose 5 Park Significance 6 Fundamental Resources and Values 7 Other Important Resources and Values 7 Related Resources 8 Interpretive Themes 10 Part 2: Dynamic Components . 11 Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments 11 Special Mandates 11 Administrative Commitments 12 Assessment of Planning and Data Needs 12 Analysis of Fundamental Resources and Values 12 Analysis of Other Important Resources and Values 21 Identification of Key Issues and Associated Planning and Data Needs 25 Planning and Data Needs 26 Part 3: Contributors. 29 Home of Franklin D Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Sites 29 NPS Northeast Region 29 Other NPS Staff 29 Appendixes . 30 Appendix A: Enabling Legislation and Legislative Acts for Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site 30 Appendix B: Interpretive Themes for Home of Franklin D Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Sites 37 Foundation Document Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site Mission of the National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world. The NPS core values are a framework in which the National Park Service accomplishes its mission. They express the manner in which, both individually and collectively, the National Park Service pursues its mission. The NPS core values are: · Shared stewardship: We share a commitment to resource stewardship with the global preservation community. · Excellence: We strive continually to learn and improve so that we may achieve the highest ideals of public service. · Integrity: We deal honestly and fairly with the public and one another. · Tradition: We are proud of it; we learn from it; we are not bound by it. · Respect: We embrace each other’s differences so that we may enrich the well-being of everyone. The National Park Service is a bureau within the Department of the Interior. While numerous national park system units were created prior to 1916, it was not until August 25, 1916, that President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act formally establishing the National Park Service. The national park system continues to grow and comprises more than 400 park units covering more than 84 million acres in every state, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These units include, but are not limited to, national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and the White House. The variety and diversity of park units throughout the nation require a strong commitment to resource stewardship and management to ensure both the protection and enjoyment of these resources for future generations. The arrowhead was authorized as the official National Park Service emblem by the Secretary of the Interior on July 20, 1951. The sequoia tree and bison represent vegetation and wildlife, the mountains and water represent scenic and recreational values, and the arrowhead represents historical and archeological values. 1 Foundation Document Introduction Every unit of the national park system will have a foundational document to provide basic guidance for planning and management decisions—a foundation for planning and management. The core components of a foundation document include a brief description of the park as well as the park’s purpose, significance, fundamental resources and values, other important resources and values, and interpretive themes. The foundation document also includes special mandates and administrative commitments, an assessment of planning and data needs that identifies planning issues, planning products to be developed, and the associated studies and data required for park planning. Along with the core components, the assessment provides a focus for park planning activities and establishes a baseline from which planning documents are developed. A primary benefit of developing a foundation document is the opportunity to integrate and coordinate all kinds and levels of planning from a single, shared understanding of what is most important about the park. The process of developing a foundation document begins with gathering and integrating information about the park. Next, this information is refined and focused to determine what the most important attributes of the park are. The process of preparing a foundation document aids park managers, staff, and the public in identifying and clearly stating in one document the essential information that is necessary for park management to consider when determining future planning efforts, outlining key planning issues, and protecting resources and values that are integral to park purpose and identity. While not included in this document, a park atlas is also part of a foundation project. The atlas is a series of maps compiled from available geographic information system (GIS) data on natural and cultural resources, visitor use patterns, facilities, and other topics. It serves as a GIS-based support tool for planning and park operations. The atlas is published as a (hard copy) paper product and as geospatial data for use in a web mapping environment. The park atlas for Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site can be accessed online at: http://insideparkatlas.nps.gov/. 2 Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site Part 1: Core Components The core components of a foundation document include a brief description of the park, park purpose, significance statements, fundamental resources and values, other important resources and values, and interpretive themes. These components are core because they typically do not change over time. Core components are expected to be used in future planning and management efforts. Brief Description of the Park Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, on the east bank of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, is the birthplace and lifelong home of the 32nd president of the United States. The Hyde Park estate of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) served as a wellspring for the ideals that he championed in his political life as well as his family home and public life throughout his career and especially during his presidency. It is the only place where a U.S. president maintained lifelong connections, from birth through his career to his final resting place. Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site comprises almost 772 acres of the former 1,522-acre historic Roosevelt Family Estate. The FDR home, called Springwood, is the centerpiece of the estate. It contains furnishings and objects of great historical value. Among the more than 10,000 items in the site’s collection are FDR’s bird collection, top hat, personally designed wheelchairs, and the telephone that once connected directly to the White House. Support structures that were familiar features during FDR’s life include the Stable, Garage, Gingerbread House, two Ice Houses, and Greenhouse. Top Cottage, at the easternmost reach of the historic Roosevelt Family Estate, was conceived and built by FDR as a personal retreat. It reflects his architectural sensibility, regional connections, and physical needs. Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site preserves lands of the historic Roosevelt Family Estate that stretched from the Hudson River east to Cream Street in Hyde Park and includes gardens, grounds, orchards, woodlands, and former agricultural lands. Significant features include the native oak forest, forest plantations, remnants of FDR’s first Christmas tree plantation set out in 1926, and experimental plantations established in cooperation with the New York State College of Forestry between 1930 and 1933. The site’s magnificent view overlooking the Hudson River to the mountains beyond inspired the president’s deepest feelings. FDR chose the family Rose Garden as his final resting place, where he and his wife Eleanor lie buried in a gravesite of his design. Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site also includes roughly half of the estate of FDR’s half-brother, James Roosevelt. This property historically was similar to the FDR property in layout, with a straight tree-lined main entry drive and a stately home—the Red House—at its terminus. In 1974–1975, the National Park Service acquired 24 acres of the adjacent Newbold-Morgan estate, known as Bellefield, for use as park headquarters. The parks’ main administrative building (circa 1795) is the historic centerpiece of the Bellefield property. 3 Foundation Document The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum was established in 1938 by Congress as the nation’s first presidential library.