About
Historic Hyde Park is a group of government and private non-profit organizations based in Hyde Park, New York. Each has a unique mission, but all are united in their dedication to extending the legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt to new generations.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library & Museum
is one of our nation’s eleven presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. Designed by FDR himself, it is the first presidential library and the only one ever used by a sitting president. The Museum offers permanent and changing exhibitions, K-12 curriculum-based educational programs and public programs, including a World War II “Bivouac” and USO Show on Memorial Day weekend, the annual Roosevelt Reading Festival in June and Children’s Reading Festival in December. The FDR Library and Museum’s special exhibition: “Action and Action Now” FDR’s First Hundred Days opens on March 4, 2008. The Roosevelt Library archive is the premier research center in the world for study and research of the Roosevelt era. It contains more than 17 million pages of documents, photographs, books, and audiovisual materials, including the papers of President and Mrs. Roosevelt and more than 375 of their associates.
The FDR Library also operates the Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center, which serves all visitors to the Roosevelt site with its orientation exhibits and film, visitor amenities, conference and education facilities, The New Deal Store which is open daily, and Mrs. Nesbitt’s Café, which is open April 1 through mid-November.
The Library’s Digital Archive, created in partnership with Marist College, contains more than 15,000 digitized archival documents, public domain photographs, and finding aids. The museum is open daily. Admission is charged.
For further information visit the Library website or contact the Library at 1-800-FDR-VISIT.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Home
The National Park Service administers the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, Roosevelt’s Top Cottage retreat, and the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site at Val-Kill. President Roosevelt bequeathed his 35-room home, Springwood and much of his Hudson River property to the federal government as a gift to the American people in 1945. Eleanor Roosevelt’s home at Val-Kill, where she lived from 1945 until her death in 1962, opened in 1984 as the first National Historic Site dedicated to a First Lady. The combined Roosevelt historic sites comprise more than 500 acres of the original 1500-acre family estate.
- Guided tours and educational programs are conducted daily at Springwood.
- Guided tours and educational programs daily at Val-Kill May through June, and Thursday through Monday the rest of the year.
- Tours of Top Cottage depart from the Home of FDR Thursday through Sunday, May through October.
- The extensive grounds include walking trails and the Rose Garden where the President and Mrs. Roosevelt are buried.
- A fee is charged for tours of the historic buildings.
- Access to the property is available dawn to dusk at no charge.
Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site
The National Park Service also administers the Vanderbilt Mansion, designated a National Historic Site by Act of Congress in 1939 and recognized by President Roosevelt as one of the oldest and best preserved country places in the Northern United States. Several prominent architects, landscape designers and interior decorators designed the estate for Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt. The grounds include formal gardens, specimen trees and stunning views of the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains. Tours are offered daily.
- A fee is charged for tours of the historic buildings.
- Access to the property is available dawn to dusk at no charge.
For further information visit the websites for the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site at Val-Kill and the Vanderbilt Mansion or contact the National Park Service at 1-800-FDR-VISIT.
The Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute is a charitable, not-for-profit organization working to inform new generations about the ideals and achievements of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and to inspire the application of their spirit of optimism and innovation to the solution of current problems. Housed in the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, the Institute functions as the Library’s private sector partner, frequently working with the Library to sponsor research grants and to produce conferences and education programs. Independently, the Institute runs programs regionally, nationally, and internationally with study centers in both Moscow and the Netherlands. The Institute presents the Four Freedoms Awards in alternate years in the United States and in the Netherlands, the FDR International Disability Award at the United Nations, and the Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Award in American History and Public Commentary. In addition, the Institute manages an online teaching and research resource, The New Deal Network.
For further information visit the Institute's website or call 845-486-7769.
The Eleanor Roosevelt Center At Val-Kill
The Eleanor Roosevelt Center At Val-Kill (ERVK) is a private, not-for-profit, and nonpartisan organization that continues the humanitarian work of Eleanor Roosevelt. Its mission is to perpetuate her courageous ideas and high ideals in the areas of human rights, social justice, gender and racial equality, youth education and development, conflict resolution and the pursuit of peace. Its programs include the Girls’ Leadership Workshop, the Community Partnership with Schools and Business, the Diversity Coalition, the Welfare Reform Coalition, and the Eleanor Roosevelt Elderhostel Program. ERVK annually awards the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal to eminent individuals who have contributed significantly to society in various areas of humanitarian concern. ERVK’s headquarters is in the Stone Cottage at the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site.
For further information visit the ERVK website or call 845-229-5302.