How Is It Remembered?

Eleanor Roosevelt died in 1962, leaving Val-Kill to one of her sons. In 1970, after the federal government rejected his offer of Val-Kill, he sold it to developers. In 1975, a group from the Hyde Park community decided to save Mrs. Roosevelt’s beloved home and open it as a museum honoring her accomplishments.

Eventually, this group of community activists enlisted the support of the federal government. Largely through their efforts, legislation was passed creating the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site. The site is managed by the National Park Service. The Park provides tours through Val-Kill Cottage, focusing on Val-Kill as the place where Eleanor Roosevelt grew intellectually and promoted her humanitarian causes.

The private, not-for-profit Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill (ERVK) presents the federally mandated programs that reveal the ongoing relevancy of Mrs. Roosevelt’s legacy. The Center’s mission is founded on Eleanor Roosevelt’s concept of what needs to be understood and acted upon to improve the world: “My interest or sympathy or indignation is not aroused by an abstract cause but by the plight of a single individual. Out of my response to an individual develops an awareness of a problem to the community, then to the country and finally to the world.”

This vision has helped ERVK become a distinctive regional, national and international center that promotes public dialogue, education, and action on the great humanitarian causes that concerned Eleanor Roosevelt. In her words, “Staying aloof is not a solution: it is a cowardly evasion.” The causes she championed - universal human rights, social justice, gender and racial equality, youth education and development, peace, and conflict resolution, continue to challenge the world today.

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How Is It Remembered?

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