Cultural Landscape Report for Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, Volume I

Nowak, Lisa

At Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site (Eleanor Roosevelt NHS or Val-Kill), a CLR has been prepared to provide information about the cultural landscape to inform the most appropriate presentation of the Val-Kill landscape that allows visitors a snap-shot of the place Eleanor Roosevelt so affectionately called home. This report represents the first volume of a CLR, including a site history, existing conditions, and analysis of significance and integrity, which will hopefully be followed by a comprehensive landscape treatment plan in the future. Currently, a general management plan (GMP) is being prepared for the combined Roosevelt/Vanderbilt properties, including Val-Kill, the Home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Top Cottage, and Vanderbilt Mansion to replace outdated individual GMPs. As numerous changes have occurred to the regional area and park management in past decades, an effort to update the comprehensive vision of the related historic sites is needed. This CLR will provide information about the history and significance of the Val-Kill landscape to support the ongoing GMP effort. It is intended that treatment actions proposed in the second volume of the CLR treatment plan, to be completed in the future, be subordinate to the strategies outlined in the GMP. This report synthesizes new research with previous research efforts and existing management documents in its four distinct chapters. An understanding of the evolution of the site is provided in the site history chapter, which was created through documentary research and historical photo analysis. It is intended that this chapter present information about the historic landscape to provide a concise reference tool for park staff. Integral to the preparation of the site history were numerous oral history interviews that captured the institutional memory of former site employees of Mrs. Roosevelt, John Roosevelt, and the National Park Service. These personal recollections, which span eight decades, were invaluable in understanding the evolution of the Val-Kill landscape. Period plans, or diagrams that graphically capture the appearance of the site at key moments in history, are provided for 1935, 1945, 1960, and 1970. The existing conditions chapter represents an inventory of the site’s extant characteristics. The discussion is structured by grouping similar landscape components like vegetation and circulation systems, that when combined, provide a complete picture of the physical environment of Val-Kill. The analysis of significance and integrity chapter seeks to address the association of Val-Kill’s cultural landscape with Eleanor Roosevelt and whether the existing resources retain integrity to the period of significance (1924-1962). This chapter is based on definitions and criteria set by the National Register of Historic Places program that is administered by the National Park Service. Landscape characteristics as well as specific features are documented for their contribution to the presentation of the historic scene.

Cultural Landscape Report for Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, Volume I

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