… was dedicated on this date in 1997.
Located along the famous Cherry Tree Walk on the Western edge of the Tidal Basin near the National Mall, this is a memorial not only to FDR, but also to the era he represents. The memorial traces twelve years of American History through a sequence of four outdoor rooms-each one devoted to one of FDR’s terms of office. Sculptures inspired by photographs depict the 32nd President: A 10-foot statue shows him in a wheeled chair; a bas-relief depicts him riding in a car during his first inaugural. At the very beginning of the memorial in a prologue room there is a statue with FDR seated in a wheelchair much like the one he actually used.
Franklin Roosevelt was paralyzed as a result of polio at age 39 in 1921. He could not walk by himself. The public knew he had polio, but not the extent of his incapacity. He avoided being photographed in a wheelchair.
Is the depiction of FDR in a wheelchair at the memorial justified, or simply an attempt at political correctness?