New York - Day 31 - Poughkeepsie

Interlake RV Park
Thursday, 31 May 2018

Today was the day for Eleanor Roosevelt's house, Val-Kill.  My campground is only about 15 miles from there, so it was an easy drive.  I made it in time for the 1st tour of the day - just me and a couple about my age.

By the time she was 10, Eleanor had lost both her parents and one of her brothers, and she was raised by her very strict grandmother.  Luckily (for all of us) she was sent to school in England, where she was taught self-confidence and a social conscience.

Eleanor and Franklin spent their married life living with her mother-in-law, who apparently didn't think Eleanor was good enough for her son.  Not an uncommon attitude, but not so great to live with constantly.  When Eleanor discovered Franklin was having affairs, she was devastated and seriously contemplated divorce.  Over time they worked out what became an extremely productive partnership.  It was only a few years later that FDR contracted polio, and Eleanor helped make his subsequent political career possible.

Meanwhile, FDR helped design and acted as contractor for

Stone Cottage

building a stone cottage on land he bought adjacent to his mother's property.  The cottage was only 2 miles away, but for Eleanor it must have been far enough to help keep her sane.  They named the property Val-Kill, apparently after the Fall-Kill (Dutch for valley stream) which flowed through the property.  (I'm guessing "val" and "fall" are pronounced much the same in the accent she and FDR used.)  She had become friends with 2 other women she met on the Women's NY Democratic Committee; she and FDR invited them to live in the stone cottage, and Eleanor often stayed there.

Val-Kill (stream) in foreground, Stone Cottage behind, reeds full of red-winged blackbirds

The women built a 2nd building behind the stone cottage to house a factory that would employ local farmers who wanted to learn the skill of furniture-making.  Eventually, they also established a forge to make pewter, and employed women in weaving fabrics.  Eleanor was active in promoting the sale of these products.  During the Depression, the lessons learned at this shop were used in establishing New Deal programs.

Val-Kill Cottage

When the factory closed, Eleanor remodeled the building into a home of her own, and it was this building that was known as Val-Kill Cottage.   You can see the utilitarian nature of the building as it was originally created.  She apparently changed just the inside and added on the screened porches near the stream.

Both before and after FDR's death, Eleanor entertained many very powerful people here - JFK, Khrushchev, Churchill, and many others went in through the little door that is almost hidden in my photo here - it's at the top of the stairs next to the door you can see.  Eleanor called it her back front door, because it was at the back of the original factory.

She worked hard for equal rights for all, resulting in the Ku Klux Klan setting a $25,000 bounty on her in 1958.  They didn't like her speeches advocating for equal rights for African-Americans.  Despite this and other dangers, she continued traveling all over the country, most of the time without a bodyguard.

She was a remarkable woman.  The Park Service has posted one of her quotes near one of the exhibits:
   "Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier.  We do not have to become heroes overnight.  Just a step at a time meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down."

bridge over the stream

can you see the chipmunk on the bridge?

After I'd toured both the houses, the dogs and I toured some of the grounds - me holding tightly to the leashes because of the major chipmunk population.

Later we drove the few miles to Poughkeepsie.  Such an odd name that I wanted to see what it's like.  Of course I yet again got lost, but it's not a very big town so eventually I got found again.

The Poughkeepsie Post Office has murals upstairs that are supposed to be very interesting, but when I got there, I found the stairs had been blocked off.  One of the clerks at the counter said he'd get maintenance to help me, but then he got bombarded by actual PO customers, so I decided not to ask again.  I could partly see them from down below.


FDR laid the cornerstone for the building.  Apparently he and Eleanor regarded Poughkeepsie as "downtown" because it was so close to Hyde Park, where they lived - only about 3 miles down the road.  Eleanor was occasionally seen shopping in town.

today's route