Franklin D. Roosevelt considered himself an adopted son of Georgia -- a relationship proudly acknowledged by most Georgians. He visited Warm Springs on forty-one occasions, and thought of this as his second home. On many of these visits, Roosevelt would travel around the countryside in his specially-adapted automobile that allowed him to drive. He would later acknowledge that some of his New Deal programs were conceived from his firsthand experiences with rural Georgia. Consequently, the focus of this web site is to document Roosevelt's visits to Georgia in the hope of better understanding the man and his presidency.

This undertaking initially began in 1998 as GeorgiaInfo research associate Charles Pou attempted to identify the dates of each of Roosevelt's visits to Warm Springs, Ga. for inclusion in the "This Day in Georgia History" series. Soon, it escalated into documenting what happened on each visit. Many months into the project, Ed Jackson became involved -- initially identifying and scanning photographs associated with FDR's visits to Georgia. Then, the compilations broadened to include the text of speeches made by Roosevelt in Georgia, newspaper accounts of his visits, and scholarly journal articles. Though the web site has grown far beyond its original purpose, its core remains the narrative of FDR's visits to Georgia as researched by Charles Pou.

As will be seen, some pages of the web site are complete -- but most are still under construction. However, because of the large amount of information that is accessible, we have decided to go ahead and annouce the site's address. In that way, historians and others interested in Roosevelt may be encouraged to share yet additional information about his ties to Georgia.

If you have photos, letters, documents, or other artifacts related to FDR's ties to Georgia, or should you have suggestions, contact Charles Pou or Ed Jackson. We look forward to hearing from you.
 
 

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