Related Records

1. American Flag from 1932 - Small silk American flag from 1932. The flag was given to the donor as a child when President Franklin D. Roosevelt came to Salem, Virginia, to dedicate the Veterans Administration Hospital. The flag has 48 stars.

   1986.58

   Record Type: Object

   
2. Fabric campaign banner - Sixth District Democratic Party banner utilized by Clifton A. Woodrum's re-election campaign in the 1940 federal election. The fabric banner, which is hand painted, has brass grommets at the corners. Woodrum served in the United States Congress from 1923 until 1945. He effectively represented his district, obtaining funding for bridges, the Post Office building (now the Commonwealth of Virginia Building), and the airport now known as Roanoke Regional Airport and formerly known as Woodrum Airport, but the most noteworthy of the accomplishments on behalf of his constituents was the use of his committee influence to have the Veterans Administration Hospital located in the Roanoke Valley. Always an important employer, the hospital had a full time staff of 1,712 employees as of mid 2009. Henry Wallace, who was elected as Franklin D. Roosevelt's vice presidential running mate in 1940 was dropped from the Democratic Party ticket after one term and was replaced by Harry S Truman as the vice presidential candidate in 1944. Harry F. Byrd was re-elected in the 1940 campaign and continued to represent Virginia in the United States Senate until 1965.

   2009.19.4

   Record Type: Object

   
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt - Franklin D. Roosevelt visiting Roanoke area in the fall of 1934 for the dedication of the Veterans Hospital in Salem, Virginia. With him are security men and local dignitaries. The Marine band is in the background along with spectators on the hillside.

   1967.22.1

   Record Type: Photo

   
4. Mount Airy - A series of five black and white photographs taken at "Mount Airy", a large T-shaped mansion built by Benjamin Deyerle for Jeremiah K. Pitzer about 1845. Pitzer originally named the house "Edge Hill", but later renamed it "Mount Airy". It sat on the plateau overlooking Roanoke River and Masons Creek, and commanded a magnificent view of the river and mountains to the west. Following litigation, B. S. Webb acquired Pitzer's property in 1888. The property changed hands rapidly after that -- to J. Pringle Jones, to Sidney J. Tabor, to Roscoe J. Wright, to David W. Flickwir, and finally to John M. Parrott in 1921. In 1933, with the Great Depression in full swing, the Veterans Administration purchased the property from the Parrott Estate, and the VA hospital was constructed.

   2007.68.4

   Record Type: Photo

   
5. President Franklin Roosevelt in Roanoke, 1934 - A black and white photograph of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Roanoke on October 19, 1934 for the dedication of the Veterans Administration Hospital, now known as the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The photograph was taken at the intersection of the Norfolk & Western Railroad main line with Jefferson Street looking north along Jefferson Street with the general office buildings of the railroad in the background. At that time, Jefferson Street ran across the tracks with vehicular traffic controlled by crossing gates. Roosevelt had arrived by special train and is seen waving from the rear platform of his railroad car with crowds of people in the background and a motorcade forming in the foreground. Roosevelt rode in a parade in an open touring car accompanied by Governor George C. Peery and Congressman Clifton A. Woodrum. The dedication ceremony took place at the veterans facility which was located in Roanoke County at the time, but is now located in the City of Salem. Woodrum who had represented the Sixth District of Virginia since 1923 was primarily responsible for bringing this federal facility to the Roanoke area. See "Clifton A. Woodrum of Virginia, A Southern Progressive in Congress, 1923-1945" by James A . Sargent, Volume 89, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, page 350, and Raymond Barnes "History of the City of Roanoke", page 748.

   1990.69.975

   Record Type: Photo

   
6. President Franklin Roosevelt in Salem, 1934 - A black and white photograph of a parade through the streets of Salem, Virginia when President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the area for the groundbreaking of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Salem. That was October 19, 1934, when Franklin D. Roosevelt came to town to dedicate the new 445-acre veterans hospital complex. A reported 85,000 people turned out to see him along his route through the Roanoke Valley. The Roanoke Times and the Roanoke World-News devoted hundreds of column inches to the before-and-after of the dedication. Newspaper accounts recall that Roosevelt, who was then not yet halfway through the first of his four terms, arrived in town on a private seven-car train. The locomotive's engineer, to whom a full news brief was dedicated, boasted an accident-free 50-year career that included piloting trains for the seven previous presidents, going back to McKinley at the turn of the century. Roosevelt, from Jefferson Street, rode in a Packard Phaeton, part of his 20-car caravan, up Campbell Avenue and along a crowd-lined route to the hospital that included 13th Street, Grandin Road, Lee Highway, College Avenue and Roanoke Boulevard. "The wildest enthusiasm during the tour to the grounds was evident at Virginia Heights school, where children let out deafening yells, waving their flags in a symphony of color," one report read. U.S. Representative Clifton Woodrum, Virginia Governor George Peery and Brigadier General Frank Hines also traveled to Salem in the president's motorcade. National Guardsmen, Boy Scouts and students from Roanoke College and Virginia Tech were on hand to direct the traffic of the more than 20,000 cars that were expected. Another report said Roosevelt's microphone was custom-made of bullet-proof armor plating. The device is described as "of desk height and has a rack on which he may place his manuscript." At the time, it was still not publicly known that polio had robbed Roosevelt of his ability to walk. In his speech, the president praised the Virginia landscape around him and called the 16-building institution "a symbolic affirmance of our belief in the underlying patriotic willingness of our veterans to put first things first."

   1981.72.8

   Record Type: Photo

   
7. Presidential Menu - October 20, 1934

   A menu from a meal honoring the President of the United States of America and Party held at Williamsburg, Virginia on October 20, 1934, given by Norfolk and Western Railway and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. There is an illustration at the top of "AMERICA'S OLDEST ACADEMIC BUILDING" -- the Sir Christopher Wren Building at William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia. The college, founded in 1693, is the second oldest in America, and was the f...

   Record Type: Archive

   
8. President Roosevelt's visit in 1934 - President Franklin Delano Roosevelt standing on observation car platform at Norfolk & Western Railway crossing at Jefferson Street in Roanoke, Virginia, on his way to dedicate the Veterans Administration Hospital in Salem, Virginia, on October 19, 1934.

   1990.69.870

   Record Type: Photo

   
9. The President of the United States and Party- (Luncheon Menu for the dedication services for the New Veterans Administration Hospital) - October 19, 1934

   Luncheon Menu - The President Of The United States and Party - Washington D.C., to Roanoke, Virginia - October 19, 1934 - Norfolk and Western Railway...Southern Railway Cover Illustrations - The main building of the new Veterans Administration Hospital at Roanoke, Virginia, showing the speakers' stand and platform for the dedication services on October 19, 1934. Correction: Veterans Administration Hospital opened in 1934 is in Salem, Virginia o...

   Record Type: Archive

   
10. Three statesmen in a car, 1934 - Digital image of an autographed black and white photograph of, from left to right, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Virginia Governor George C. Peery, and Sixth District Congressman Clifton Alexander Woodrum sharing an open car. The occasion was the October 19, 1934, dedication of the new Veterans Administration Hospital in what was at that time Roanoke County. Roosevelt had traveled to Roanoke by special train and after disembarking at the intersection of Jefferson Street and the Norfolk & Western Railway tracks, participated in a parade and made a speech at the new medical facility. Woodrum's influence as chairman of the Independent Offices Subcommittee, which played a major role in annual VA appropriations, was in large part responsible for having the facility located in the Roanoke area. Later,in a Life Magazine poll, Woodrum was ranked as the 5th most able member of the House of Representatives. He served the Sixth District until his retirement from Congress in 1945. Reproduced from the original in the possession of Clifton A. Woodrum III, the Congressman's grandson. See The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 89, "Clifton A. Woodrum of Virginia, A Southern Progressive in Congress, 1923-1945",by James E. Sargent, at pages 349,350, and 356.

    2009.19.2

    Record Type: Photo