Henry A. Wallace Visitor Center at Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Henry A. Wallace Visitor Center at Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site is named after Roosevelt’s vice president during his third term. Wallace was replaced by Harry Truman during Roosevelt’s fourth bid for president, which he won. When he died in April 1945, Truman became president. Roosevelt’s vice president for his first two terms, John “Cactus Jack” Garner, decided to seek the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1940, which is how Wallace ended up as vice president.

Even today, vice presidents have to be nominated and chosen by the political party they represent, which is done at the party’s national convention at the same time various candidates vie for the presidential nomination. However, since the 1950s, the presidential nominee’s choice for vice president is pretty much accepted by the party. Back in Roosevelt’s day, this was not always the case. Wallace was not nominated for the 1944 election because many people knew Roosevelt was sick, and the Democratic Party bosses didn’t want Wallace becoming president if Roosevelt died.

Roosevelt did nominate Wallace for Secretary of Commerce during his fourth term, and Wallace was confirmed. He was eventually asked to resign by Truman due to a conflict of interests. Wallace ran a third-party campaign for president in 1948 as the candidate for the newly formed Progressive Party, which was pro-labor and thus suspected by many as being a mouthpiece for the Communists. Furthermore, its pro-Civil Rights stance made the party unpopular in the South. Needless to say, Wallace had little chance of being elected. He received roughly two percent of the votes.

OPERATING HOURS

The Henry A. Wallace Visitor Center at Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site is open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM, except when closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Keep in mind that times can always change, so be sure to get the latest schedule on the National Park Service’s official Operating Hours and Seasons web page for the park.

AMENITIES

Information desk at the Henry A. Wallace Visitor Center, Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site

• Ranger-staffed information desk where you can ask questions and pick up a park brochure and trail map
• Meeting place for the Top Cottage Tour (held seasonally)
• Purchase tickets for the Springwood House Tour and the FDR Presidential Library and Museum
• Park film
• Book and souvenir store
• Café
• Conference rooms for rent by non-profit and corporate groups
• Restrooms

Book and souvenir store at the Henry A. Wallace Visitor Center, Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site

PARK FILM

The 20-minute film Rendezvous with History plays on the hour and half hour in the Milstein Auditorium. While the film covers Roosevelt’s political career, it also focuses on the personalities of Franklin and Eleanor. The film is comprised of historical footage and interviews with his grandchildren, Curtis and Anna Roosevelt. There is no objectionable material. The film is suitable for all ages.

The auditorium is named for Seymour and Vivian Milstein. Seymour was a real estate developer and, after becoming rich, a philanthropist. The Milstein Foundation, along with others, provided funding for the Visitor Center. Various sections of the building are named after these donors.

Milstein Auditorium at the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site Visitor Center

EXHIBITS

There are only a few informational exhibits in the Visitor Center due to the fact that the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Musuem next door houses a massive museum dedicated to FDR. The only exhibit of note in the Visitor Center is the original Kneeling Woman sculpture commissioned by Roosevelt of artist Ralph Stackpole. Roosevelt had seen Stackpole’s Worship sculpture in 1915 at the Panama-Pacific Exposition and always remembered it. In 1938 he contacted Stackpole and commissioned what he thought would be a replica of Worship, but Stackpole was no longer sculpting in the same style. Worship was more in the neo-classical style of sculpture, while Kneeling Lady was in the Modernist or Socialist Realism style. When it was completed in 1943, Roosevelt hated it so much that he had it placed out of sight on the garden grounds. After years of deterioration, it was restored in 2015 by artist Carolyn Palmer and put on display inside the Henry A. Wallace Visitor Center.

Kneeling Woman sculpture on display inside the Visitor Center at Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site

UNCLE SAM’S CANTEEN

The Henry A. Wallace Visitor Center also has a café where visitors can grab a bite to eat. While now named Uncle Sam’s Canteen, it was originally Mrs. Nesbitt’s Café. After doing a little research, it is easy to see why the name was changed. Henrietta Nesbitt was one of the Roosevelts’ neighbors at Hyde Park who Eleanor Roosevelt hired to be the housekeeper and kitchen supervisor at the White House. Supposedly, under her supervision the White House food was awful, but she remained employed until finally being fired by Bess Truman.

Outdoor seating at Uncle Sam’s Canteen at the Henry A. Wallace Visitor Center, Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site

Just around the corner from the café in the courtyard of the Visitor Center is a sculpture of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt that is based on a 1933 photograph taken of the couple on the south lawn of their Springwood estate. Visitors are welcome to sit next to Franklin and have their photo taken.

Sculpture of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt just outside Uncle Sam’s Canteen at the Visitor Center for Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site

SCHEDULING YOUR TIME

A half hour should be plenty of time to watch the park film and read some of the information at Visitor Center. The only other activities are shopping at the souvenir store and purchasing house tour and museum tickets.

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