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Tuesday, August 9, 2005
FDR museum at Union
Station will have more exhibit space
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Eleanor and Franklin
dolls and marionettes are among the many mementoes on
exhibit at the Franklin D. Roosevelt American Heritage
Center Museum at Union Station. (T&G Staff/PAUL KAPTEYN)
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FDR would no doubt be pleased.
The Franklin
D. Roosevelt American Heritage Center Museum, which opened a year
ago at Union Station in Worcester, is about to expand into an
adjacent room, increasing its size by a third.
Dr. Joseph J.
Plaud, who founded the museum with his extensive personal collection
of FDR documents, letters, artifacts and mementos, said the
expansion will allow space for special displays dedicated to topics
of current interest.
“Our collection is so extensive, and
it’s very important to have an ability to have topical displays and
changing exhibits,” Dr. Plaud said.
City officials were
helpful in arranging for the additional space, Dr. Plaud said, but
Mayor Timothy P. Murray was “central in getting the expansion under
way.”
“We’ve had it all repainted and special tinted window
treatment done. New display cases are being built, and we are
planning two displays,” he said.
One exhibit will be on
Social Security and the other on FDR’s time at Warm Springs, Ga.,
where he went for rehabilitation from the effects of polio, which
left him without use of his legs. The exhibit will include a look at
the making of “Warm Springs,” the HBO movie about FDR’s struggle
with adversity that aired in April.
“We have so many
interesting items of FDR’s from Warm Springs, including a letter he
wrote on what progress he was making,” Dr. Plaud said. “He divulged
so much personal information. He did not typically do that.”
The museum already has become a magnet for national, state
and local Democratic politicians.
In March, former U.S. Sen.
Max Cleland of Georgia visited the museum before giving the keynote
address at the Center for Living and Working awards night. During
his speech, Sen. Cleland mentioned his visit and the inspiration he
received from FDR’s legacy.
The following month, the museum,
which is on the second floor of the railroad station, was the site
of Mr. Murray’s press conference announcing that Worcester will host
the 2006 Massachusetts Democratic Convention. On hand were Philip W.
Johnston, Democratic Party chairman; Sen. Harriette L. Chandler,
D-Worcester; City Manager Michael V. O’Brien; and William J. Eddy,
chairman of the Worcester Democratic City Committee.
“We
continue to look for ways to expand,” Dr. Plaud said. “In the
future, we want to do more educational programs and host
conferences. We are doing more to become a bigger and more visible
museum. We’re an active cultural component to the growth of Union
Station.”
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