John W. Barry, Poughkeepsie Journal
It was Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, and three hours had passed since President Franklin D. Roosevelt had learned that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
The calm of a Washington, D.C. weekend had been shattered by the urgency and immediacy commanded by the attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet thousands of miles away.
Inside the White House, Roosevelt at about 4:15 p.m. wrapped up a meeting with his military and diplomatic advisers.
Shortly after, the Hyde Park native and 32nd president of the United States asked his personal secretary, Grace Tully, to join him in his White House study, which was adjacent to his bedroom and often served as his office.
FDR leaned back in his chair.
He took a long drag from his cigarette.
And he began dictating a speech that the FDR Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park calls, “one of the most famous speeches in American history.”
FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech, which he delivered a day after the attack, is just one of numerous items on display in a new exhibit at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.
The exhibit, “Day of Infamy: 24 Hours That Changed History,” opens Thursdayin conjunction with the library’s 75th anniversary celebration. This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. The exhibit will remain open through Dec. 31.
Speaking about the attack during a preview held for the media Wednesday, library director Paul Sparrow said, “It is our position that it was the day on which America went from being an isolationist country to being a global superpower and probably the most important single day in American history.”
The dazzling exhibit focuses on the 24 hours that followed the attack, from the moment FDR receives word to the delivery of his “Day of Infamy” speech to Congress on Dec. 8, 1941.
“What we thought we could do here ... is give you a unique perspective of the president and his advisers and his family through that 24 hours,” Herman Eberhardt, supervisory museum curator, said during the preview.
The collection offers understanding with depth of the barrage of information received by the White House and the manner in which FDR processed it and reacted.
The FDR Library turns 75: A rich history, a cutting-edge future
A chronicle of the historic tragedy unfolds with time-stamped details of movement within the White House, Roosevelt’s public and private reactions and an outline of what happened at Pearl Harbor.
Also included in the exhibit are documents seen, dictated or written by FDR and key military and civilian advisers. These include updates from the U.S. Army and Navy, diary entries by Cabinet members, security memos, drafts of press releases and personal letters.
Interactive touch-screens engage visitors. Audio stations feature first-person recollections from oral histories, diary entries and memoirs.
Oversized pictures provide a sense of haunting grandeur. Films — including a digitized version of a film that captures FDR delivering the six-and-half-minute “Day of Infamy” speech — bring it all to life.
Two pieces of the exhibit capture emotional angles of this historic day.
At the entrance to the exhibit, a metal fragment from the U.S.S. Arizona offers visitors a solemn greeting. According to the library, “Half of the deaths resulting from the Pearl Harbor attack occurred aboard the U.S.S. Arizona.”
The battleship sank in less than nine minutes “after a 1,760 pound armor piercing shell slammed through her deck, igniting her forward ammunition magazine. The attack claimed the lives of 1,177 crew members,” according to the library.
Inside the exhibit, FDR’s hand-amended, first draft of the “Day of Infamy” speech is on rare display. Visitors can see where FDR changed the phrase “a date which will live in world history” to “a date that will live in infamy.”
Eberhardt said the exhibit is opening in conjunction with Thursday’s anniversary celebration because of the worldwide, enduring impact of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“Dec. 7, 1941, is such a pivotal moment, not just in American history, but in global history...,” he said.
John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo
More online
To view videos, photo galleries and stories about the 75th anniversary of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, visit www.poughkeepsiejournal.com and our theme page at www.pojonews.co/fdr
Coverage today
For live coverage of Thursday's 75th anniversary celebration, "Celebration of Franklin Roosevelt's Vision," as well as a panel discussion on the history of the Roosevelt Library, visit www.poughkeepsiejournal and like the Poughkeepsie Journal on Facebook and follow on Twitter @PokJournal for updates, video and photos throughout the day.
