Part II of Curtis Roosevelt’s address at the 3rd Annual FDR Memorial Lecture and Gala Dinner.
Curtis Roosevelt at Adams House, Harvard College, Part II from Michael Weishan on Vimeo.
Curtis Roosevelt at Adams House, Part I
For those of you who were unable to attend the 3rd Annual FDR Memorial Lecture and Gala Dinner, here’s part one of Curtis’ address. You’ll need a high speed connection to view this 30 minute clip.
Curtis Roosevelt Address – FDR Lecture 2010: Part I from Michael Weishan on Vimeo.
Pictures from the Third Annual FDR Memorial Lecture and Dinner
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- The battle begins: two hours, and 250 chairs and 27 tables to move and assemble, labor provided through the good offices of the FDR Institute’s Matthew Young and his hale and hardy band of volunteers.
- Brooms at the ready
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- Getting there. The spectacular floral creations of Teresa Kiritsy’s Creative Themes arrive
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- Just in time, the show begins: a dazzling array of well attired lecture attendees in the front row, with the Foundation’s Father George and Adams House co-master Sean Palfrey at the far right
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- Curtis Roosevelt answering questions after his presentation
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- Sharing a qick chat with Curtis after his talk.
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- Guests feasting on the raw bar in the Lower Common Room during the Reception
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- The door to the Coolidge Room beckoning visitors. The student lead tours to both the FDR Suite and the Coolidge Room proved extremely popular.
- Adam’s House own Erik Fredner pointing out notable aspects of William Penfield’s Harvard murals in the Coolidge Room
- Tour leader Steven J. Ekman ’12 waiting to depart from the Gold Room
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- Meanwhile, back in the Lower Common Room, The FDR Institute’s Matthew Young ’12 and Kara Kubarych ’13 pretend to be discussing politics while waiting for more shrimp to arrive.
- The Dining Hall set for 85 dinner guests
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- A table closeup. Gracious dining at its best.
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- One last tour: Jennifer Childs Roshak ’86 and family, in front of the hearth in the FDR Suite. Son Justin, (Harvard ’15?) on right is our youngest student researcher.
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- Tutor Matt Corriel and Iris Odstrcil, ’10 trip the light fantastic after dinner to the tunes of FDR’s Whitehouse
Curtis Roosevelt on PBS
We at the Foundation are happy to relate that Mr. Curtis Roosevelt has landed in Boston, via an 18 hour trip from Western MA through 1.5 feet of snow!
No matter. The Roosevelt stamina lives on. Here’s Mr. C. R, 1/2 hour off the gate, and thrust into a studio at WGBH’s Greater Boston.
Talk about game! Well done!
See you all Saturday at 4:30, at Adams House
Curtis Roosevelt Topic Announced, and an Update
Curtis Roosevelt, eldest grandson of FDR and our guest speaker for the Third Annual FDR Memorial Lecture and Dinner has announced that he will be discussing Past as Prologue: FDR, Obama, and the Perils of First Year Politics. This looks to be a fascinating topic, and we are absolutely thrilled to have Mr. Roosevelt come all the way from France to address our gathering this year.
In terms of updates, tickets are now on sale online. Click HERE to order. Tickets to the Roosevelt table can only be obtained by calling the HBO at 617.496.2222. Announcement to the general alumni population, and to the population at large, will begin next week, so remember all tickets are first-come, first-served, and only 180 are available for the dinner.
Also, both the Charles Hotel and the Mandarin will close our their special rates the 27th of January, so anyone looking to make a night or weekend of it, please book now by clicking HERE
Finally, for those of you who know of, or perhaps even remember, how bad the food was at the FDR White House, and have expressed some concern on this matter, rest assured we’re cooking up a fantastic 5 course menu of Nouvelle American Cuisine, themed to State Dinners, past and present. This will be the one and only part of FDR’s past we’ll let sleep, and if the food is anywhere near as good as the fantastic meal last year, you won’t ‘be disappointed.
On a personal note, I’ll be heading off on a lecture tour next week until early February (yes, I do have a day job, lol) so things may be a little quiet here for a bit, and your correspondence may take longer to answer. But rest assured, preparations are well in hand, everyone at the Restoration is working away, and we are totally excited to welcome you all to Cambridge in February.
Advance Tickets for the 3rd Annual FDR Memorial Lecture Now Available
Curtis Roosevelt and FDR at Mt. Hood, September 1937
Good news! Advance tickets for the February 27th event will be available starting tomorrow 1/7/10 at noon EST at the Harvard Box Office. While online sales won’t open to the general public until the end of this week, you may order tickets by phone by calling the HBO charge-by-phone number (617.496.2222). I’ll post the web link when available. Keep in mind that seating is limited to 180 for the dinner, and thanks to the good folks at the Harvard Alumni Association, who are helping us publicize the event this year to the general alumni body, we hope to sell out fairly quickly, so please take advantage of this advance notice to you, our members and blog readers. (Those of you entitled to discounts must contact me directly for tickets: weishan at fas dot harvard dot edu.)
Also, just in time for April 15th: the IRS has officially granted the Foundation’s status as a public tax free 501(c)3 charity, so any contributions made in 2009 (and going forward, ahem! we still need your help!) are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. We owe a HUGE round of thanks to Christopher Leich, Sara Schaffer Raux, and the entire team at Ropes & Gray LLC for their pro bono help on what turned out to be a fairly epic quest to incorporate the Foundation and set up the tax free status for our restoration and educational programs.
And finally, on the subject of donations, we’re currently soliciting contributions for our live auction during the FDR event. Non-tangible, transferable items such as vacation stays, donation of services, gift certificates, behind the scenes tours, celebrity meet and greets, club memberships, etc are ideal, so if you, or any or your acquaintances, are so generously inclined, we would be happy to receive your help. Plus it’s a great way to publicize your enterprise, and receive a tax credit to boot.
That’s all from a snowy and frigid Cambridge. More soon.