FDR Art
Franklin D. Roosevelt Signed Report to Congress
Typed Document Signed (DS)
Yavneh Klos Collection, U.S. Presidents
President Franklin D. Roosevelt transmits a report from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts to Congress, detailing activities from 1935 to 1939—a period marked by major developments in American civic architecture, public art, and cultural investment. This document, signed boldly by FDR, reflects a democratic leader’s commitment to transparency, congressional oversight, and the cultivation of national identity through the arts.
Contrasted with the contemporaneous correspondence of Nazi officials Franz von Papen and Hans Heinrich Lammers—who worked to consolidate totalitarian control—this communication from Roosevelt illustrates the sharp divergence between American democratic governance and the bureaucratic machinery enabling the Holocaust. Dated just months before the full escalation of Nazi deportations and war crimes, it underscores how the United States, though not yet at war, maintained procedural and cultural normalcy amid rising global instability.
Archival Note: Signed presidential communications to Congress are rare. This example is docketed "3/4/40" and marked "V.P. Library Read," suggesting it was handled by Vice President John Nance Garner’s office.
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