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Research ArticleArticles

The Public Struggle to Erect the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

John G. Parsons
Landscape Journal, January 2012, 31 (1-2) 145-159; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/lj.31.1-2.145
John G. Parsons
John G. Parsons, FASLA, joined the National Park Service in 1967 and spent 41 years directing the development of the 80,000 acres of parks within Washington, DC and the National Capital Region. From 1977 to his retirement in 2008 he served as the Associate Regional Director where he represented the Secretary of the Interior on numerous boards and commissions. During his tenure he directed the siting and design of 25 new memorials in the Nation's Capital, the establishment of five new units of the National Park System and the acquisition of 35,000 acres of new parklands. He was awarded the Department of the Interior's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, and is a Fellow in the American Society of Landscape Architects, which awarded him the 2003 Lagasse Medal for his leader-ship in protecting and enhancing parklands. In 2006 he was awarded the Herbert Adams Award by the National Sculpture Society for his support of sculpture in national memorials. In 2008 the Mayor of the District of Columbia presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant contributions in historic preservation
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Abstract

From 1955 to 2001 the FDR Memorial Commission worked through a laborious public process to complete the memorial. After two decades of failed attempts, it joined with the National Park Service (NPS) who assisted with design and construction of the memorial. In 1974 the NPS conducted an invited competition and selected Lawrence Halprin to design the memorial. By 1978 Halprin's design concept was approved by the various federal agencies. After more than a decade of delay due to lack of funding, the groundbreaking occurred in 1991 and the Memorial was dedicated in 1997. This was followed by the addition of a sculpture depicting FDR in a wheelchair in 2001. This narrative traces the role of the public, as well as elected and appointed officials during the 27-year public process that led to the completion of the memorial and the response of Lawrence Halprin to those inputs.

KEYWORDS
  • FDR Memorial
  • Lawrence Halprin
  • FDR Memorial Commission
  • National Park Service
  • Commission of Fine Arts
  • ©2012 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

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Landscape Journal: 31 (1-2)
Landscape Journal
Vol. 31, Issue 1-2
1 Jan 2012
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The Public Struggle to Erect the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
John G. Parsons
Landscape Journal Jan 2012, 31 (1-2) 145-159; DOI: 10.3368/lj.31.1-2.145

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The Public Struggle to Erect the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
John G. Parsons
Landscape Journal Jan 2012, 31 (1-2) 145-159; DOI: 10.3368/lj.31.1-2.145
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Keywords

  • FDR Memorial
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  • FDR Memorial Commission
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