Exploring The Civil Rights Movement Through a Presidential Perspective

The FDR Library and Museum is home to a new civil rights exhibit that opens eyes and minds through the perspective of presidential history. Photo by Ciara Malloy 26’.

Engaging with the stories of familiar historical figures is a way to gain closer connections to a complicated past. This is the case at “Black Americans, Civil Rights and the Roosevelts, 1932-1962,” a new exhibit at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, on display until December 2024.

The exhibit includes insightful, thought-provoking and vital insights on how President Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt became intertwined with civil rights while recognizing their shortcomings in the movement. Panels display information on the discrimination, segregation and injustice that was rampant at the time.

The exhibit does not shy away from the fact that both Roosevelts turned a blind eye to the ever-present racial tensions and held passive attitudes toward the social issues at hand. Because of this, they are not glorified as infallible historical figures.

“That first room focusing on their privileged backgrounds makes clear that they were entirely oblivious,” said Steven Garabedian, associate professor of history at Marist College. “They weren’t openly hostile, but they were completely oblivious and indifferent.” 

Further into the exhibit, pioneering civil rights leaders like Mary McLeod Bethune and A. Phillip Randolph and the unofficial Black Cabinet under the FDR administration are all highlighted alongside the Roosevelts. As the years passed, the Roosevelts advocated for racial reform, and Black Americans began occupying more spots within the U.S. government.

“As a person who’s in a position of power as a key decision maker and policy maker, Franklin Roosevelt, of course, is going to be at the center of the story,” said Garabedian. “But we saw African American individuals [put in] the spotlight, and it was sustained over time, so they weren’t just kind of included in a token reference.”

For Connor Tandy ‘26, the exhibit was a breath of fresh air compared to more traditional models of learning about history.

“It showed the struggles that African Americans faced, and it changed the way I view that time period,” said Tandy. “Textbooks in high school never really focus on this issue, so it was interesting to view this period from a different perspective.”

According to Lorah Murphy ‘24, an exhibit like this is a welcome addition to the historical context needed to understand an issue of such monumental importance.

“Since there is so much erasure of Black history today, I think it is of the utmost importance that people understand their presidents’ [role] in civil rights, even if those Presidents didn’t do active work to help the Black community,” said Murphy.

All Marist students can easily benefit from the exhibit’s unique perspective. The FDR Library and Museum is located just up the road from the College in Hyde Park. And viewing U.S. history through the lens of a local figure, while simultaneously discussing and scrutinizing it, adds a depth that cannot be found anywhere else. 

“It’s an important asset and resource for the Hudson River Valley, where we see in such a concrete way the global and the local coming together,” said Garabedian. “This is presidential history. This is U.S. national history with this very localized dimension.”