Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park

📚 Part 2 of Our Pop-Up Library Series @ FDR Four Freedoms State Park! 🌳
Continue the adventure with us this Saturday, 5/18 and next Saturday, 5/25, for another day of literary exploration! Dive into a curated collection of books showcasing NYC's history, art, and nature. Make sure to join us for special story time sessions featuring children’s authors reading their own books.
👉 All activities are free
🎨 More crafts, games, and fun
🌤️ Check the weather before you come

EVENT REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

Get ready to engage in an enlightening discussion on ‘Banned Books & the Four Freedoms’ at Four Freedoms Park! 📚🗽

📅 Date: May 16, 2024
📍 Location: FDR Four Freedoms State Park, Roosevelt Island

Secure your spot now to delve into the significance of free speech, the implications of book bans, and strategies for defending intellectual freedom. Don’t wait, register today at the link below and be part of this impactful event!

Thank you to the Natural Heritage Trust and NY State Parks & Historic Sites.

Beyond the Ban: Exploring the Landscape of Banned Books Join us for a lively discussion on controversial books that have been banned or challenged throughout history.

Join us and LUSH Cosmetics for a panel on Banned Books at FDR Four Freedoms State Park, exploring the vital role of free speech. 📚🗽

🗓️ May 16, 2024
📍 FDR Four Freedoms State Park, Roosevelt Island
Free event, registration required (link below)

Dive into discussions on book bans, the importance of free expression, and how to champion intellectual freedom. Don't miss this impactful event!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-ban-exploring-the-landscape-of-banned-books-tickets-880264233017?aff=oddtdtcreator

📚 Pop-Up Library Alert @ FDR Four Freedoms State Park! 🌳
Join us on Saturdays, 4/20 & 4/27, for a world of reading adventure! Enjoy special story time with children’s authors!
👉 Free & fun for all ages
🎨 Crafts & games on-site
🌤️ Weather-dependent
For more details & our spring schedule, check out the link below!

Upcoming Events | FDR Four Freedoms Park Conservancy Bring the whole family to our exciting Pop-Up Library at FDR Four Freedoms State Park! This free mobile library offers a treasure trove of books to browse, with selections covering fascinating topics like FDR’s legacy, New York City’s rich history, stunning art, and the wonders of nature. But wa...

Explore the legacy of hope and human rights with our self-guided audio tour at Four Freedoms Park. Dive into the historical context of FDR's Four Freedoms speech, uncover the symbolism in our park's design, and be inspired by the Roosevelts' dedication to justice. Link below!

FDR Four Freedoms State Park This audio tour offers an immersive journey through this architectural marvel, crafted by Louis Kahn, that masterfully weaves together monumental grandeur and intimate spaces for reflection. Here, in one of New York City's most remarkable landscapes, history, design, and nature converge, offering a....

🌳 I Love My Park Day - May 4th @ FDR Four Freedoms State Park 📚
Celebrate New York State Parks' Centennial with us! Help beautify our park and revamp our new Banned Book Library. Rain or shine! This is the biggest volunteer day in NY state, so make sure to sign up quick.
🌟 Free event, registration required
👥 Ages 13+ welcome
ℹ️ More info at the link below!

https://linktr.ee/4freedomspark?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=4dde6477-fb46-4d1c-be66-28203bb5a303

@4freedomspark | Linktree Presidential memorial and architectural treasure located in New York City.

🌒 Eclipse Watch @ Four Freedoms! 🌟 Catch the cosmic show at 3:25pm on Monday 4/8. Don’t forget your glasses & cameras. See you under the stars! 💫🕶️📸

Make your visits to FDR Four Freedoms State Park extra special this season by adopting an Adirondack chair. A unique way to enjoy and support the park! Link below for more info.
https://linktr.ee/4freedomspark

From our table to yours, Four Freedoms Park Conservancy wishes you a very Happy Thanksgiving. 🦃

In the spring of 1942, Norman Rockwell was working on a piece commissioned by the U.S. Army to encourage production for WWII. But Rockwell wanted to do more for the war effort. He decided he would illustrate Roosevelt’s four freedoms—that’s right, the four freedoms for which our park is named.

Rockwell had been moved by FDR’s 1941 speech, which imagined a postwar world founded on four basic human freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

The paintings were a phenomenal success, and in 1943, they were included in a traveling exhibition that encouraged the public to buy war bonds, and stamps featuring the paintings. Traveling to sixteen cities, the exhibition was visited by more than a million people who purchased 133 million dollars in war bonds and stamps.

In the wake of the 2018 midterm elections, conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas further elaborated on this idea in an exhibition titled “For Freedoms: Where Do We Go From Here?” For the series, Thomas enlisted photographer Emily Shur to help depict moments that reference Rockwell’s iconic style while bringing new, more inclusive representations of the country to life, extending and expanding the values FDR called for in his 1941 speech.

Here, you can see Hank Willis Thomas’s “Freedom from Want,” followed by Rockwell’s original.

"In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose...the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man." - Franklin D. Roosevelt, October 2, 1932

On the occasion of Election Day and the anniversary of Eleanor Roosevelt's death, we recall her words: "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighbourhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.” Don't forget to vote today!

Image: Eleanor Roosevelt voting in 1936, courtesy FDR Library. "

It's Daylight Savings time again! 🕰️ Did you know that FDR played a role in instituting Daylight Savings Time? 🍁

After it was first used in Germany in 1918 during World War I as a way for troops to conserve fuel and electricity, many countries followed suit, including the U.S. But after the war ended, we went back to using standard time.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt re-established daylight saving time nationwide on Feb. 9, 1942, during World War II. It lasted until the end of September 1945. The U.S. didn’t standardize daylight saving time until 1966, when it passed the Uniform Time Act.

Enjoy this extra bit of history—and the extra hour of sleep you’ll have tonight! 💤

We were tickled by this Eleanor Roosevelt tribute in the form of a carved pumpkin, but did you know that the former First Lady has a deeper connection to Halloween?

That's right, Eleanor Roosevelt played a part in organizing Trick or Treat for UNICEF, a program that encourages children to become global citizens by raising money for UNICEF as they gather candy on Halloween.

The idea was born when a Pennsylvania school teacher and her minister husband, Mary Emma and Clive Alison, had an idea to make the holiday about more than merely pranks and sweets. Through a chance encounter with a friend of Mrs. Roosevelt, the Alison's connected with the former First Lady, who helped bring the program to the masses.

To date, Trick or Treat for Halloween has raised nearly 200 million dollars for UNICEF, and continues today.

In the B & W photograph, Eleanor Roosevelt is pictured at the launch of the UNICEF Halloween “Trick or Treat” program at the United Nations with Captain Kangaroo.

You can learn more—and even create your own fundraiser—by visiting https://join.unicefusa.org/trick-or-treat.

Looking for something fun and enriching to do this weekend? Join us at the Park this Saturday and Sunday from 11am-4pm for a free mobile library with crafts and games. Browse our book collection, which ranges in topics from FDR, New York City, art, and nature.

And—save the date for another Pop-Up Library next weekend, November 4 & 5, too!

Address: 1 FDR Four Freedoms State Park, Roosevelt Island, NY 10044
Event: Pop-Up Library
Dates: Sat Oct 28, Sun Oct 29, Sat Nov 4, Sun Nov 5
Time: 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Programming is weather dependent.

in 2012, FDR Four Freedoms Park, which honors the life and work of Franklin D. Roosevelt, opened its doors to the public. Designed by architect Louis Kahn, the four-acre park includes a triangular-shaped lawn, flanked by more than 100 linden trees, that narrows as it approaches the island’s tip. The centerpiece of the memorial is a bronze bust of Roosevelt based on an earlier work by American sculptor Jo Davidson.

Pictured:
1. An original sketch of the park by Louis Kahn
2. The park today, in its glory.
3. Sculptor Jo Davidson in his studio, pictured alongside the bust of FDR he created.
4. The bust of FDR in the Park today.

Last chance to catch the Banned Book Library at the Park. This exhibition is part of Xochitl Gonzalez's programming marking , and it's running now through Sunday only. FREE, hours and directions: https://shorturl.at/RUW78

We partnered with to present this immersive public art installation which details the rise in book bans across the US and the scope of the crisis facing schools, educators and students.

Visitors gain access to 60+ banned books by BIPOC and LGBTQ+ authors—with a focus on Latinx authors for this iteration.

Alongside the books is a map of the states that have implemented +2500 book bans and legislation impacting educators in the last 18 months, providing the opportunity to learn more about the growing movement to push back on educational censorship.

Banned Book Library takes a truthful look at the past to equip students with the tools to make sense of and improve the world today. Lush aims to elevate the conversation around the banning of books to stand with the educators that are fighting back against the removal of essential stories.

While you are there, be sure to check out 's gorgeous mural celebrating four Latinx New Yorkers of note—who each represent one of the four freedoms—depicted alongside a fifth figure, an anonymous dreamer, also only on view through Sunday!

The Conservancy is saddened by the passing of Harriet Pattison. Pattison was instrumental in conceiving the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park which has welcomed more than 2 million visitors since 2012. Pattison's death is a loss to the world, but her legacy will live on at the FDR Four Freedoms State Park.

Harriet Pattison, 94, Dies; Landscape Architect With a Tie to Louis Kahn After having a son with the famous architect, she built a career, often collaborating with Mr. Kahn on projects, including a New York memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Meet Xochitl Gonzalez, the award-winning author, activist, and cultural critic behind our exciting festival occurring this Saturday, October 7 from 11am-4pm. RSVP required--> https://shorturl.at/aeMVX

"There is power in seizing the narrative," writes Gonzalez in an essay about her festival this weekend. "What I feel, as I write this, is a mass awakening of my people to our collective power. It is pulsing in our music, which is taking over the charts. It is in our literature and in our poetry—a refusal to perform the role of 'Latino,' to perform 'foreignness' in our words– and instead to write from the heart, for our panas. It is in our efforts to celebrate our cultural legacy..."

Gonzalez is the New York Times bestselling author of "Olga Dies Dreaming." Named a Best of 2022 by The New York Times, TIME, Kirkus, Washington Post, and NPR, "Olga Dies Dreaming" was the winner of the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize in Fiction and The New York City Book Awards. Her new novel, "Anita de Monte Laughs Last," is forthcoming in March 2024 with Flatiron Books. Gonzalez is a 2021 M.F.A. graduate from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. As a staff writer for The Atlantic, she was recognized as a 2023 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary. A native Brooklynite and proud public school graduate, Gonzalez holds a BA from Brown University and lives in her hometown of Brooklyn with her dog, Hectah Lavoe.

Read more of her essay (https://shorturl.at/gnLQR), and join us on Saturday, October 7th, for a family day at the park featuring food, live music, dancing, and more.

"Try a salsa lesson, taste some Latin cuisine, try your hand at a domino tournament, browse a banned book library, hear a poetry reading, and lots more." - Time Out New York

RSVP required--> https://shorturl.at/aeMVX

This FREE family day marking features children's story time, live music, dance classes, a domino tournament, food trucks, face painting, and more."

LatinXtravaganza | Things to do in New York Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at the LatinXtravaganza on Saturday, October 7 at Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park. Curated by Pulitzer Prize fi

This Saturday at the Park, 11 am - 4pm. Free! RSVP required: https://shorturl.at/aeMVX

Celebrating Latino Heritage: How to join Xochitl Gonzalez’s ‘LatinXtravaganza’ festival A vibrant celebration of Latino culture and history.

Please join us October 7 for “LatinXtravaganza.” RSVP required--> https://shorturl.at/aeMVX
This FREE family day marking features children's story time, live music, dance classes, a domino tournament, food trucks, face painting, and more.

LatinXtravaganza Four Freedoms Park Conservancy is hosting LatinXtravaganza, a family festival at FDR Four Freedoms State Park on 10/7 from 11:00am-4:00pm.

FDR Four Freedoms Park invites YOU to attend “LatinXtravaganza,” from 11am - 4pm on October 7. RSVP required: https://shorturl.at/aeMVX

This FREE family day marking Hispanic Heritage Month features children's story time, live music, dance classes, a domino tournament, food trucks, poetry, face painting— and more!

Crafted by the Park's first guest curator, bestselling author and cultural critic Xochitl Gonzalez, the day is sure to delight visitors of all ages. Our newly commissioned, large scale art installation by Mata Ruda will also be on view!

Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

FDR Four Freedoms Park, designed by the groundbreaking American modernist architect Louis Kahn, is among the most significant architectural masterpieces in New York City.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park
Mariachi Hidalgo NYC
Alma Moyo
Salsa Salsa Dance Studio
Alyssa Reynoso Morris
Ballet Hispánico