Most people remember the exact moment they heard about 9/11/01. Baby boomers generally remember where they were when  President Kennedy was shot. But the people classified by Tom Brokaw as the Greatest Generation often have lasting memories of the day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt  died.

He had returned from the Yalta conference and gone to his Georgia home for some well-earned rest. On April 12, 1945, he collapsed from a stroke while sitting for the famous “unfinished portrait,” being painted by Elizabeth Shoumatoff. The Little White House is now a state historic site, about an hour-and-a-half from Atlanta and 10 to 15 minutes from Callaway Gardens .

In 2004, the state completed a LEED-certified $5 million museum with touch-screen and interactive exhibits on site. The tension and fear of those years during the Great Depression and World War II are illustrated in heart-catching clarity. A 12-minute film narrated by Walter Cronkite adds to the impact. Elected to four terms as President, the man who came here to vacation had a lasting impact on our country and world history. Many of his personal items and gifts given to him during his presidency are on display, as well as the car he drove with only hand controls.

It was not generally known by the public that he was wheelchair bound – the press didn’t write about it and he was most often pictured sitting. Many did know that he used a cane for support (some pictures show him standing, balanced between a cane in his right hand and resting on the arm of someone on his left, usually his son.)  One wall is lined with the many canes sent to him as gifts, and another exhibit shows the braces that he painted flat black and wore under his pants for public appearances.

Roosevelt’s polio-stricken legs are what brought him to Warm Springs in 1924. It was then a resort, the mineral-rich warm waters believe to be therapeutic.  

“The water is famous for its silky feel,” explains Ashley Aultman, interpretive ranger. “Your skin gets so soft -- you just feel rejuvenated.” A number of minerals including silica, iron, sodium, sulphur, lime and magnesium are present in the water, so much so that it has extra buoyancy, enabling Roosevelt to stand unassisted in four feet of water. He could stretch and work out his muscles at Warm Springs like no where else. Little was known about the devastating disease at that time. There was a common belief that it spread in water. So when Roosevelt got in, many people fled. He bought the property in 1927. His home here was being built in 1932 when he was elected President.

The Little White House has only three bedrooms, furnished with items built by a company that Eleanor Roosevelt started in New York to put people to work, according to Aultman.  It’s a fascinating look at what was comfortable, if not luxurious, during that time, and a stark contrast to now. Small scratches on the glass beside the door are said to have been made by the First Dog, Fala. Outside in the woods are the three-walled telephone-booth-sized huts, used by the Marines and Secret Service, to protect the President.

Visitors can also tour the two-bedroom guest house and servants’ quarters, built above the garage. Daisy Bonner worked for a nearby family, but when the President visited  in April and November, she came to cook for him and his guests. You can still see the emotional note she wrote on the wall above the stove the day he died.  

Nine springs fed the three pools built for therapy nearby. The water came in at 914 gallons a minute, around 88 degrees. A display in the pool house explains the geology behind it. The pools are kept drained these days, although a fountain still bubbles with the spring water, and visitors can feel it on their hands.

“They’re basically antique swimming pools, and we have to treat them that way,” says Steve Layne, exhibit guide. 

But this Labor Day, you can swim where the President did, and feel the water for yourself. The state historic site will open the pools for three 90 minute sessions September 4, 5 and 6. Cost is $20 for adults and $12.50 for children, and reservations should be made in advance.

Photos courtesy Georgia State Parks . Used with permission.