Theodore Roosevelt Memorial on Roosevelt Island

GETTING THERE

To get to the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial, once you cross the footbridge from Virginia and stop on to the island, take a right on the wide trail at the bulletin board and then stay left at the fork just fifty yards ahead. This trail, the Woods Trail, immediately forks as well. Stay to the left once again to reach the memorial.

Official trail to the Roosevelt Memorial

MEMORIAL HISTORY

In 1931, the Roosevelt Memorial Association (RMA) began negotiating the purchase for what was then called Analostan Island from the Washington Gas Light Company for the purpose of creating a “living memorial” to Theodore Roosevelt, the 26^th President of the United States. The initial site for the memorial was the Tidal Basin, as the RMA felt Roosevelt was worthy of a memorial equal to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. However, Congress, which had originally approved the site, reversed its decision after an outcry from the public that Roosevelt hadn’t been dead long enough, nor was he important enough to have a memorial in such a prominent location. It was decided that the Tidal Basin would be reserved for a Thomas Jefferson memorial.

It wasn’t until January 1932 that the RMA officially received title to the island, and nine months later it was given to the Federal government and renamed Roosevelt Island. In 1933 it was turned over to the National Park Service, though the RMA would still be instrumental in its development as a park.

At the time the RMA acquired the island, it was pretty much an overgrown mess that was still used as a late night meeting place for low-life gamblers and other crooks. The first order of business was to transform it back to its natural state. The RMA hired the Olmsted Brothers landscape design firm, headed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., son of the famed Frederick Sr., along with architect John Russell Pope, to draft a plan for transforming the island into something worthy of a memorial to a president. The initial idea was that “the island should be in essence a sort of sanctuary—sacred grove—bird and (small native) wild animal sanctuary—with no through automobile traffic, at least parts of it developed in apparently natural forest and glade, as far as is consistent with intensive pedestrian use.”

Work began on clearing the island of weeds and invasive plant species in 1934. This work was carried out by the Civilian Conservation Corps, an organization created by the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration to put men back to work during the Great Depression. (FDR was a fifth cousin to Theodore Roosevelt).

At the time the landscaping project began, there was no definite decision on whether a physical memorial would be constructed. Olmstead had a location in mind, but the decision of how to landscape the island hinged on whether a memorial would be built. With no decision forthcoming, he went with his natural landscaping plans. As it turned out, it wasn’t until decades later that the physical memorial was approved and constructed.

Another obstacle to landscaping the island was the ruins of a mansion built by John Mason, the son of George Mason, one of the country’s founding fathers (there is a memorial to George just off the National Mall near the Jefferson Memorial). Historical preservationists wanted the mansion ruins stabilized and to remain part of the island. Others felt John Mason was an insignificant figure, plus his son ended up being instrumental in the Confederate cause during the Civil War, and thus he did not deserve to have his legacy preserved along with Roosevelt’s. In the end, the mansion was torn down and below ground foundations were buried.

Work progressed slowing, then came to a standstill once the United States entered World War II. During this time the island was used by the military for training exercises. Pontoon bridges connected it with Georgetown and Virginia. However, when the war ended the military removed all structures.

By 1947, the money for the memorial had run out. The southern end of the island had not been landscaped, plans for building a few visitor amenities had never been carried out, and construction on a connecting footbridge never began. However, trails had been laid and the landscaping of the northern end had been completed. In 1952 the National Park Service began weekend ferry service to the island, thus making it accessible to the public for the first time.

In the early 1950s, plans were made to build an automobile bridge between Virginia and Washington, D.C., with the bridge site being somewhere over Roosevelt Island. This was in contrast to the original agreement that the island be preserved as a natural area. While work on the island had ceased since 1947, the RMA, which changed its name to the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), seized on the bridge proposal to gain public support to kill the idea while revitalizing interest in the completion of the memorial. However, the government ruled that there was no legal obligation to preserve the island as a natural area and proceeded with plans to build the bridge, which eventually crossed at the southern end. The TRA was able to finagle some funds from Congress, and in 1955 a restroom facility was constructed and water, sewage, and electrical services were installed.

In January 1956, the TRA decided to go ahead with a physical memorial and hired New York architect Eric Gugler to come up with a design. Gugler brought in sculptor Paul Manship—the two had worked together on a few other projects. The plan called for a $2.5 million memorial, complete with a 200-car parking lot on the island and lights to illuminate it, all to be completed and ready for dedication in time for Roosevelt’s 100^th birthday on October 27, 1958. Unfortunately, funding never came through and the island was dedicated without a memorial.

Gugler’s plan was approved by the National Capital Planning Commission in 1960, but everyone—the public, the Roosevelt family, journalists, and Congressmen—hated it. The memorial was simply too large and ruined the concept of the living memorial: a natural area and a bird sanctuary. Many felt this would pave the way for making the island a tourist attraction complete with concession stands and carnival barkers. Nevertheless, the House of Representatives approved the memorial and its funding, but the Senate vetoed the bill, stating that a new design would need to meet the approval of the Roosevelt family.

This sent Gulger and Manship back to the drawing board, and this time around there were no electric lights and no parking lot. The new memorial would have a sculpture of Roosevelt with four granite panels flanking it that would be engraved with some of the president’s most famous quotes. A water-filled moat would run around the perimeter of a granite plaza with two pools at its center. Water for the pools would come from fountains that sat upon ornamental bases in the middle of each pool. Visitors would access the plaza by crossing one of two footbridges over the moat.

Roosevelt statue on Theodore Roosevelt Island