Atlanta/Warm Springs

Thursday 1 May 2008

Today I decided to sleep in and skip the breakfast that is served between 6.00am and 8.00am. After all, with so much food being consumed lately, I felt my body could do with both the physical and dietary rest. I planned to go to “The Little Whitehouse” and the historic pools in the morning and meet up with Mike Shadix to discuss his historical library collection in the afternoon. Jill was desperate
for a horse ride and rang the place she had visited the previous day to see if something could be arranged. SUCCESS! They would take her out at 1.00pm. I made my way to visit “The Little Whitehouse” myself while Jill used the computer to do a few more ‘jottings’. Eventually, we’ll be able to upload them onto the website – but I have been hogging the computer. I promised to be back in time for Jill to drive the car to the stables.

Greg had asked his PA, Denise, to see if free admission to “The Little Whitehouse” could be arranged for me (how thoughtful), and I was duly warned there was a battalion of school children visiting. However, I did manage to find space between the waves of guided tours and found an idyllic property to wander through. The museum at the entrance was very interesting, showing (among other things) the original hand controlled car used by FDR, and an astonishing array of walking sticks that were sent to him from all over the USA. I’m not sure they were all practical, but many were real works of art. I then walked along a pathway of flags representing all the states of America flying above a specimen of their state stone, many of them cut into the shape of their respective states. All were distinctly different and some were quite beautiful. Finally, “The Little Whitehouse” came in to view and it really was – “little”, that is. With the trend for huge, impressive buildings these days, it was interesting to see just how modestly a President could live. The last stop was a room containing FDR’s famous “Unfinished Portrait”. Painter, Elizabeth Shoumatoff, had commenced this portrait when FDR suffered a fatal stroke on April 12, 1945. She went on to produce a finished version of the portrait but the “Unfinished Portrait” is the most poignant.

With time marching on and Jill champing at the bit, I moved on to the historic hydrotherapy pools, where FDR first went for rehabilitation. These pools sit on top of the warm springs after which the town gets its name. The flow is up to 914 gallons per minute and the water averages 88 degrees (Fahrenheit) throughout the year. This water also supplies all the needs of “The Little Whitehouse” and the Warm Springs Rehabilitation complex.

According to the Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites brochure, “When FDR found swimming in the warm buoyant waters helped his paralyzed legs, he bought the once prosperous resort area and converted it into a health spa for treating other polio patients. In 1927, the facility was incorporated as the Warm Springs Foundation.” “Once the new indoor pool was built on the Institute grounds in 1942, the outdoor pool was seldom used for therapy and over the years fell into disrepair. In the1990’2, utilizing both public and private funds the Georgia Department of Natural Resources restored the facility.” This site was also used in the making of the movie “Warm Springs”. Unfortunately, these days, the pools are only filled on special occasions as the spring underneath is severely undermining the integrity of the structure. As well as that, the warm water produces an algae bloom that would require daily cleaning, and the cost of resourcing this type of operation is clearly prohibitive.

Oh, no! Is that the time? Jill was just about to drive her motorized scooter all the way to the stables (some 8 miles away) as I came screeching into the car park. Suffice to say, she was much happier when she returned after a couple of hours on her beloved beast of choice.

I spent the afternoon with Mike as we swapped historical photos and watched a couple of incredible educational videos that he is keen to get digitized before the images are lost to antiquity. I recorded him talking about the history of the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation, which is clearly his passion after 17 years of diligent archiving. He presented me with 3 books, 2 were bound papers presented at consecutive “Research Symposiums on the Late Effects of Poliomyelitis” held at Warm Springs, and the other was “The Squire of Warm Springs: FDR in Georgia, 1924-1945” by Theo Lippman, Jr. Although I’m keen to read them, I’m going to have to send post them back to Australia to make sure I keep my weight load down (it’s a shame I can’t do much about my body weight though . . . ).

Tomorrow we say farewell to Warm Springs and the wonderful hospitality, serenity and inspiration it has provided. We’ll jump into the ole’ convertible and drive back to Atlanta for a quick look around before flying on to Washington first thing Saturday morning. The “Roosevelt Way” has certainly worked for me.