Description
When Theodore Roosevelt died in 1919, memorial communities drafted plans for several monumental tributes. The most controversial was the national memorial at Washington D.C.'s tidal basin. This sacred space occupied the last vacant cardinal point on the national mall and completed the cross-shaped pattern originally designed for Washington. It took city planners and Congress years of deliberation to determine what should be erected there. Expectations ran high for a Roosevelt memorial, but in 1926 legislators rejected the proposal. Compared with other American icons with no shrine of their own, Roosevelt's beatification seemed hasty. Congress instead voted to construct the Thomas Jefferson memorial which occupies the tidal basin today. The story of Theodore Roosevelt Island begins here, where the absence of a memorial on the national mall prompted the search for alternatives. The Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Association (TRA) purchased Analostan Island in 1931 as the location for a national memorial. West of the Lincoln Memorial the island straddles the Potomac River. The TRA donated the island to the national government and renamed it Theodore Roosevelt Island. Renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed the island as primeval forest to celebrate Roosevelt's legacy as a conservationist and ornithologist, but after World War II the capital's engineers alleviated city traffic by building a four-lane highway across the island. The road destroyed Olmsted's vision of a nature reserve and forced the TRA to re-conceptualize Roosevelt's legacy. They successfully lobbied Congress to construct a memorial plaza and 17-foot statue of Roosevelt, and in 1967 President Lyndon Johnson dedicated the monument, emphasizing Roosevelt as progressive who left "a mark upon American life that will endure as long as America has pride in itself, and pride in its purpose." Today, most people observe the island from their car as they cross the bridge. The memorial plaza attracts few visitors, despite the island's proximity to the national mall. Few people know the island's place in Washington's history or the way it has influenced Roosevelt's public memory. This project will produce a documentary on the history of the island as a memorial to Roosevelt to invigorate public engagement. The documentary will begin with an examination of the TRA's plan to erect a memorial at the tidal basin site and their ultimate failure to do so. It will include a short history of Theodore Roosevelt Island prior to the TRA's purchase in 1931 before exploring Frederick Law Olmsted's landscape design for a conservationist memorial and the construction of the 1967 monument. It will conclude with the NPS plans for revitalization on the island and the forthcoming centenary of Roosevelt's death and 50th anniversary of the memorial's dedication. Dr. Michael Patrick Cullinane will craft the script in collaboration with Dr. Clay Jenkinson (TR Center at Dickinson State University) and ThunderShot Studios (Washington, D.C.). The film will feature distinguished academics, current members of the TRA, Roosevelt family members, National Park rangers, and local activists or residents. At the heart of the documentary is Dr. Cullinane's research on Roosevelt's public memory. This project will actively disseminate AHRC funded research in innovative ways and has the support of non-academic partners who independently identified a need to revivify public interest in the memorial island. The film will be released as a DVD and broadcast in multiple television markets.Period | 2016 → 2017 |
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Held at | Arts and Humanities Research Council, United Kingdom |