Blog archives for December, 2009

When the streets of the city are whitened with snow
And windows coated with rime,
When the tree is awaiting its wonderful fruit,
And the bells are beginning to chime,
The children need listen no more in their beds
For the scampering runners of steel
And the reindeer of Santa Claus over the roof
For he comes in an automobile!
The poet no [...]

Long before I had ever heard of the FDR Suite, I’d visited an absolutely spectacular spot on California’s coast. Located along Highway 1, just south of Big Sur, the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park boasts some of the most beautiful scenery in the nation. Face westward, and thousand foot cliffs drop off into churning blue [...]

(This is the fifth and final installment in a continuing series taken from the unpublished notes of filmmaker Pare Lorentz. For the introduction to these articles, click HERE.)
The Lathrop Brown Interviews: Part V – Endgame
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1921 and Thereafter
After FDR was stricken with polio, LB visited him frequently. He says he was most impressed by [...]

(This is the fourth installment in a continuing series taken from the unpublished notes of filmmaker Pare Lorentz. For the introduction to these articles, click HERE.)
The Lathrop Brown Interviews: Part IV – 1905 -1920

On Eleanor
LB doesn’t know when ER first became important to FDR. Nor does he know what qualities in her first attracted FDR. [...]

In this the third in a series of articles on FDR’s longtime friend and Harvard roommate, Lathrop Brown, we take a break from the Pare Lorentz interviews to focus a bit on Brown’s own political career. While FDR battled his way into the New York State Assembly, LB also (coincidentally?) became interested in politics, as [...]

(This is the second installment in a continuing series taken from the unpublished notes of filmmaker Pare Lorentz. For the introduction to these articles, click HERE.)
The Lathrop Brown Interviews: Part II – The Harvard Years

Having a good time was of major importance in those days at Harvard. Customary procedure was to study for ten [...]

Below you’ll find the official press release for the FDR dinner in February, with details for ordering tickets and securing accommodation. Just one important note for those of you who have become members over the last year: you need to apply to me (Michael) at mweishan at fas dot harvard dot edu, not the Harvard [...]

Sometimes, in the glow of presidential personality, it’s easy to forget the fact that there were two residents of the FDR suite: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and his Groton chum, Lathrop “Jake” Brown. While almost every part of FDR’s life has been minutely documented, Brown’s story is much murkier, generally surfacing only in reference to his [...]