The Dedication of the FDR
Memorial
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PIC
Story and photographs by Linda Methvin Smith
A
jubilant crowd of over 200 gathered at the railroad crossing on Montgomery
Avenue in Sheffield, AL Thursday, May 22,2008 at 2 p.m. to witness the
dedication of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt monument containing 3 large
bronze plaques: one of FDR, one telling the Legend of his visit to
Sheffield, Alabama in 1933 and one plaque listing the names of
contributors to the monument's construction.
Sheffield
Mayor Billy Don Anderson welcomed guests and introduced Sheffield City
Historian Richard Sheridan who told of FDR's Sheffield visit by rail car
in 1933 following Congress' signing the declaration bill creating the
Tennessee Valley Authority.
I had the opportunity to visit with Laverne Mills who as
a young boy saw President-elect Roosevelt as he spoke of the creation of
TVA in 1933 in Sheffield. Mr. Mills, born in 1920, graduated from
Sheffield High School in 1938. He remembered well, this was the year
the high school burned down. (1938....the year most of our SHS class
of 1956, were born.) Mr. Mills served in World War II as a waist
gunner on a B-24 Liberator airplane on 35 missions. He retired from
Union Carbide and lives in Sheffield.
Another I visited with was Woody Stanley (named for President
Woodrow Wilson) now 93 years of age living in Muscle Shoals, AL. At
age 18, Woody hitchhiked from Spring Valley to Sheffield to see Mr.
Roosevelt in May 1933. He and his brother Mac owned, operated the
Woody Mac restaurants for many years.
This FDR monument unveiled today is the only monument erected
in FDR's memory on the Tennessee River. TVA's 75th birthday comes
full circle as this monument now displays for all to see, the vision of
this man FDR for the future of our Nation.
Captured
Moments:
Mayor Billy Don Anderson welcomes the crowd.
Part of the crowd
More of the crowd
Yet more!
City workers adding the plaques at the last moment
L to R
Jerry Reeves, Building Official;
Gary Scales (back turned) City Councilman, District 2;
David Osborn, Code Enforcer
City worker, Jerry Reaves, with the
"Contributors" plaque
Bryce Graham, Sr.,
Co-Chair of the FDR Memorial Committee, standing
in front of the newly-mounted Contributors Plaque. (Note his school
affinity displayed on his tie!)
Contributors List
Marvin Beckham, Florence monument contributor,
sporting a wonderful white Panama hat for the sunny occasion.
Woody Stanley with daughter Lou and her husband, Mac
Letson.
Our reporter, Linda Methvin
Smith, with the Honor
Guard Commander, Pat Johnson.
Carol Driskell, Administrative Assistant to the
Mayor, and Mildred Helsley, Chair of the FDR Memorial Committee
Officers of the FDR Memorial Committee:
Betsy Gardiner, Treasurer, Bryce Graham,
Sr., Co-Chair, Mildred Helsley,
Chair, and Mrs.
Betty Bulman,
wife of the late Bruce Bulman
who was the original chair of the FDR Memorial Committee in 2005.
SHS Class of '56 classmates, Jim Holland and
Linda
Methvin Smith.
Dutch Maxwell and
Linda (neighbors growing up in
Sheffield)
The monument veiled:
CREDITS:
The City of Sheffield generously donated the property on which the monument was built and provided work-in-kind.
The Sheffield Street Department poured the concrete foundation.
The Sheffield Housing Authority carpenters built plywood templates for the plaques.
The Sheffield Utilities installed lighting and they have located underground utilities to help with the layout for the wall.
Co-Chairs Helsley and Graham doing the honors as the shroud exits on the right
The Men's Garden Club of the Shoals landscaped the site.
The Woodmen of the World donated the 30 ft. flag pole, rope kit, and flag.
The Street Deptartment installed a sidewalk on the First Street side of the
site.
The stonework for the wall was executed by master stonemason, Terry Hutchinson.
More about this moment in history:
Speeches given at the FDR Memorial Dedication, May 22, 2008
Carole Driskell's first account of the work on the Memorial monument
Richard Sheridan's presentation at the Tennessee Valley Art Association