Call to Action: Raising Awareness of Theodore Roosevelt Island

当西奥多·罗斯福于1919年去世时，纪念团体起草了几项纪念活动的计划。最具争议的是位于华盛顿特区S潮汐盆地的国家纪念碑。这个神圣的空间占据了国家广场上最后一个空置的基点，完成了最初为华盛顿设计的十字形图案。城市规划者和国会花了数年时间商议，才决定应该在那里建什么。人们对罗斯福纪念碑的期望很高，但在1926年，立法者否决了这一提议。与其他没有神殿的美国偶像相比，罗斯福的宣福礼似乎有些草率。相反，国会投票决定建造今天占据潮汐盆地的托马斯·杰斐逊纪念碑。西奥多·罗斯福岛的故事从这里开始，国家广场上没有纪念碑促使人们寻找替代方案。西奥多·罗斯福纪念协会(TRA)于1931年购买了阿纳洛斯坦岛作为国家纪念馆的选址。林肯纪念堂以西的小岛横跨波托马克河。TRA将该岛捐赠给中央政府，并将其重新命名为西奥多·罗斯福岛。著名景观设计师弗雷德里克·劳·奥姆斯特德将该岛设计为原始森林，以纪念罗斯福作为自然保护者和鸟类学家的遗产，但二战后，首都的工程师通过修建一条横跨该岛的四车道高速公路缓解了城市交通。这条路摧毁了奥姆斯特德建立自然保护区的愿景，迫使TRA重新定义罗斯福的遗产。他们成功地游说国会建造了罗斯福的纪念广场和17英尺高的雕像，1967年，林登·约翰逊总统为这座纪念碑举行了落成仪式，强调罗斯福是进步的，他“在美国生活中留下了一个印记，只要美国为自己感到自豪，并为自己的目标感到自豪，这种印记就会持续下去。”今天，大多数人在过桥时都会坐在车里观察这个岛。尽管岛上靠近国家购物中心，但纪念广场吸引的游客寥寥无几。很少有人知道这个岛在华盛顿历史上的位置，也不知道它对罗斯福公众记忆的影响。该项目将制作一部关于该岛历史的纪录片，作为对罗斯福的纪念，以激励公众参与。这部纪录片将从检查TRA在潮汐盆地遗址建立纪念碑的计划开始，以及他们最终未能做到这一点。它将包括1931年TRA收购之前西奥多·罗斯福岛的简短历史，然后探索弗雷德里克·劳·奥姆斯特德为环保主义纪念碑和1967年纪念碑的建筑所做的景观设计。它将以NPS在岛上的振兴计划和即将到来的罗斯福逝世100周年纪念和纪念馆献身50周年为结束。迈克尔·帕特里克·库利南博士将与克莱·詹金森博士(狄金森州立大学TR中心)和雷霆射击工作室(华盛顿特区)合作制作剧本。这部电影将包括杰出的学者、TRA的现任成员、罗斯福家族成员、国家公园护林员以及当地的活动家或居民。这部纪录片的核心是库利南博士对罗斯福公众记忆的研究。该项目将以创新的方式积极传播AHRC资助的研究，并得到独立确定有必要重振公众对纪念岛兴趣的非学术合作伙伴的支持。这部电影将以DVD形式发行，并在多个电视市场播出。

When Theodore Roosevelt died in 1919, memorial communities drafted plans for several monumental tributes. The most controversial was the national memorial at Washington D.C.'s tidal basin. This sacred space occupied the last vacant cardinal point on the national mall and completed the cross-shaped pattern originally designed for Washington. It took city planners and Congress years of deliberation to determine what should be erected there. Expectations ran high for a Roosevelt memorial, but in 1926 legislators rejected the proposal. Compared with other American icons with no shrine of their own, Roosevelt's beatification seemed hasty. Congress instead voted to construct the Thomas Jefferson memorial which occupies the tidal basin today. The story of Theodore Roosevelt Island begins here, where the absence of a memorial on the national mall prompted the search for alternatives.The Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Association (TRA) purchased Analostan Island in 1931 as the location for a national memorial. West of the Lincoln Memorial the island straddles the Potomac River. The TRA donated the island to the national government and renamed it Theodore Roosevelt Island. Renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed the island as primeval forest to celebrate Roosevelt's legacy as a conservationist and ornithologist, but after World War II the capital's engineers alleviated city traffic by building a four-lane highway across the island. The road destroyed Olmsted's vision of a nature reserve and forced the TRA to re-conceptualize Roosevelt's legacy. They successfully lobbied Congress to construct a memorial plaza and 17-foot statue of Roosevelt, and in 1967 President Lyndon Johnson dedicated the monument, emphasizing Roosevelt as progressive who left "a mark upon American life that will endure as long as America has pride in itself, and pride in its purpose." Today, most people observe the island from their car as they cross the bridge. The memorial plaza attracts few visitors, despite the island's proximity to the national mall. Few people know the island's place in Washington's history or the way it has influenced Roosevelt's public memory. This project will produce a documentary on the history of the island as a memorial to Roosevelt to invigorate public engagement. The documentary will begin with an examination of the TRA's plan to erect a memorial at the tidal basin site and their ultimate failure to do so. It will include a short history of Theodore Roosevelt Island prior to the TRA's purchase in 1931 before exploring Frederick Law Olmsted's landscape design for a conservationist memorial and the construction of the 1967 monument. It will conclude with the NPS plans for revitalization on the island and the forthcoming centenary of Roosevelt's death and 50th anniversary of the memorial's dedication. Dr. Michael Patrick Cullinane will craft the script in collaboration with Dr. Clay Jenkinson (TR Center at Dickinson State University) and ThunderShot Studios (Washington, D.C.). The film will feature distinguished academics, current members of the TRA, Roosevelt family members, National Park rangers, and local activists or residents. At the heart of the documentary is Dr. Cullinane's research on Roosevelt's public memory. This project will actively disseminate AHRC funded research in innovative ways and has the support of non-academic partners who independently identified a need to revivify public interest in the memorial island. The film will be released as a DVD and broadcast in multiple television markets.