The Lathrop Family Needs Some Extra Funds to Put Their Two

A Cocky-Guided Tour of the FDR Suite

The Golden Coast near 1910: Claverly, Randolph, Former Russell and Westmorly Halls.

In January of 1900, FDR and his Groton chum Lathrop Brown travelled by train to Cambridge to search for rooms. At the time, Harvard provided for rooms for about 25% of its students, mostly rundown accomdations in the Old Yard that lacked running water, primal heat or electricity. However, if y'all had money, you could lodge along what chop-chop became known equally the Gold Declension, in the newly constructed individual dormitories forth Mt. Auburn Street.

As FDR wrote to Sara:

Then we went to the dissimilar agents & went all over the buildings, Randolph, Claverly, Russell and Westmorly. We saw many rooms, but the option was at Westmorly, 1st floor corner looking on the South-West, and guess the price? $400 without extras. The floor plan is roughly similar this [FDR draws suite floor plan]. We both thought it a chance and are certain of getting it every bit nosotros volition be given 1st pick on Mar. 1st. On the Due west. side of Westmorly is Russell, then Randolph, so Claverly so all four buildings are together. The sitting room is large enough for two desks & the bedrooms and bathroom are light and airy. The ceilings are very loftier.

The hire for the Suite in 1900 was $450; though it's difficult to compute values of money across time, real price of $450 today is $12,900.00; labor value of that amount is $57,300.00(using the unskilled wage); or $91,700.00(using production worker compensation); income value of $450 is $87,400.00. Some other comparison model would exist Harvard tuition. Lathrop and FDR paid $150/year. Electric current Harvard tuition is $43,000. By that standard of rise, the rent was $6450/month.

Then what did all that coin buy you? Quite a lot. The option of daily maid service for one (for an extra fee of course) porters at the door, a state-of-the-art hygienic bath, dual system lighting (both electric lights and gas; in 1900 the gas was far brighter and more reliable.) Across the hall, the largest pond pool at Harvard stood ready for your private use (complete with palm trees, a river god spouting hot h2o and working fireplaces to dry off by); there was even a solarium on the roof. In fact, most any service you lot might require, including breakfast in bed until xi:00 AM, was at your brook and telephone call. For the main meals, nearly students ate at Memorial Hall (now Annenburg) which was the site of the main undergraduate dining service. Notwithstanding, if you were wealthy like FDR, you could choose to dine elsewhere.

Until the creation of the House system in 1929, students were free to alive where they pleased in Cambridge; they routinely kept the same room all 4 years. You were not required to move out for the summer; you simply handed your keys to the porter, left a forwarding address, and all was taken care of for you.

Westmorly hall remained a individual dorm until the 1920s, when it was sold to the Higher as part of a state bandy. In 1931 Westmorly became part of Adams Firm.

Restoration Background

There are no pictures of what the FDR Suite looked like when FDR lived here, though there was extensive correspondence betwixt FDR and Sara over the decoration of the rooms (she helped and paid for the expense) also as a 1958 letter from Lathrop Chocolate-brown detailing the rooms' general layout and content. However, thanks to a fourth dimension capsule placed in the Harvard Archives known every bit the Chest of 1900[link to Harvard Archives], nosotros know quite a lot about what room interiors looked like in 1900. As part of an effort to certificate the University at the turn of the last century, the camera club photographed sixty odd student room interiors, both on the Gold Declension and in the Yard, including one in Westmorly B-22, the Vanderbilt Suite. This incredible resources (fabricated all the more than remarkable equally it is the only year in Harvard history to receive such coverage; there are nigh no photos from decades previous or later) allowed the restoration team to literally count objects in the photos to develop a list of common items to larn. We like to joke that "this is the room E-Bay built", simply it is largely true. The Suite contains some 2000 objects all of which either date from the period, or are re-created from originals. There is no style such a drove could have always been assembled earlier the advent of the Internet.

The restoration process was begun in 2008-09; the room was substantially a blank slate. It had been Professor Robert Coles' study for many years and had fortunately received no renovations during that time. It yet possesses, for case, the original bathtub, sink and toilet. The presidential seat is a very popular photo spot.

The Suite consists of ii bedrooms, bath and fire-placed study. (The fireplace works and is used often, though simply when officially sanctioned!) It contains approximately 650 sq ft.

The Study

Starting at the door, and working clockwise:

The wallpaper in the study is a re-cosmos of what we believe to have been the original. Several tiny fragments were plant behind the large radiator in the study on base plaster, and using these, designer Keri Pei and the team were able to determine the paper's repeat. The colors are a logical guess, based on tones popular in the era.

As y'all enter on the right, in that location is a collection of mementoes on the bookshelf. There is a period football, for instance, much smaller and rounder than the one currently in use. This is the size ball in use when FDR was a educatee – before the advent of the forward pass make the ovoid shape easier to throw. (Harvard advocated this rule change in office considering it had just built its stadium and was unwilling the widen the field – another proposal designed to decrease the density of players and prevent injuries.) There are diverse other football related pieces on top the bookshelf, including an original football mug, and a sports-themed water pitcher and mug. The photo of immature athletes is from the Stone School, which at the time was one of the feeding prep schools to the Higher. The young man at the far right is Chester Robinson '04, whose family donated this and many other pieces to the drove.

The FDR Suite Study

Over the mantelpiece hangs an impressionist still-life; it is not signed but it is very much in the style of Danish American artist Emil Carson. The large double-framed pictures on the walls are from a extravaganza book composed and illustrated by classmates of FDR. They characteristic famous Harvard personalities of the 24-hour interval; notable professors, the football game coach, the Dean etc. One of our favorites is "The Widow" who ran a famous cram schoolhouse on the corner of Plympton Street and Mt. Auburn.

(Upper-course students of Roosevelt's time, especially if they were 'clubmen,' were expected not to effort too difficult in class. That was showing off, or worse, showing off a love of study which branded one a "dig." A "gentleman'southward C' was the aspired to grade. FDR'southward average was roughly C, Lathrop's C minus; you lot tin can view their study cards hither.

The mantelpiece also shelters our collection of John the Orangeman memorabilia. John was Harvard's mascot. He was the only vendor immune in the yard, and he sold oranges (and probably booze) from the back of his donkey cart for over 40 years. He was so popular with the students that they combined forces to buy him a sleigh in the winter to make sure his deliveries would become through. John was a savvy and astute businessman, and peradventure the start person at Harvard to cover what is today known as branding. He copyrighted his image, and sold photos of himself, mugs, plaques, etc to the students and alumni, several of which now reside once more on the mantle.

The desk-bound to the right of the fireplace is "FDR's." This is an arbitrary assignation, simply nosotros know from LB's letter of the alphabet to Master Little in 1958 that at that place were two desks in the room. The single drawer roll superlative seems small by today'south standards, but remember information technology was used just for writing. This desk is almost the exact copy of one we saw in the Archive's photo drove. The desk-bound contains many things associated with FDR. Campaign buttons for "Cousin Ted"; a picture postcard of the business firm where Garfield was taken when shot and where TR became president; a loupe for examining stamps (a life-long FDR hobby); his Wing-Club pin; and many other pieces of Harvardiana. Above the desk on the wall is a collection of "cabinet cards" in a special holder we saw in many of the menses photos of the solar day, and somewhen tracked down. These cards were the Facebook of the day, and their proud display indicated the size of your acquaintance. To the right of the chiffonier cards is a collection of butterflies, which were mentioned in the correspondence betwixt FDR and Sara. This collection, which we put together, is typical of many of the objects in the Suite. Where we were unable to procure a menstruum object, we recreated them from period models. The Morris chairs in the room and the large futon were too custom built for us. The clustered arrangement of the article of furniture still is mod. The daybed (mentioned in the FDR correspondence) was almost certainly smaller and may take faced the windows. Many rooms of the menstruum have a primal round table under the chandelier to capture the light for reading, with chairs haphazardly arranged around the room.

Likewise on FDR's desks are pictures of Eleanor every bit she looked at the fourth dimension of FDR'southward proposal in 1903, too the girl that got away, Alice Sohier. FDR had pursued Alice ardently, but his decision to turn Democrat and his desire to take 5 children appalled her. She later told a friend "I had no desire to become a breeding cow."

The draperies on the large French windows are modeled afterward a pattern in the 1897 Paines furniture catalogue. We now from the correspondence that Sara ordered draperies from there in September 1900. She likewise supplied various pieces of the piece of furniture (though FDR notes proudly that he found the perfect pocket-sized table for between the windows.") The extent to which Sara decorated the Suite is unknown, but given her hands-on arroyo throughout her life (she would afterwards build FDR and Eleanor a town firm bordering hers in NYC) chances are many of the effectively touches in the room are hers.

Sara's picture hangs above FDR'south desk-bound to the left. It was most likely taken during i of the two winters Sara spent in Boston afterwards FDR's father died in the fall of his freshman year, and may have been shot by FDR himself, an ardent camera buff.

Just opposite is Lathrop Dark-brown'due south desk. This desk, besides, appeared in the archival photos, and was located in a befouled in New Hampshire. Information technology'southward a much simpler design than FDR's; is fabricated from walnut as compared to oak; and dates to a slightly earlier menstruation 1880, vs. 1900. It, too, was inspired by a desk seen in 1 of the archive photos. Lathrop Brown came from a very wealthy New York family of Scottish descent. The family unit arrived in New York in the early 1700's and began to acquire real manor. Lathrop'due south father's house, Brown Harris Stevens, still exists and controls a vast real estate portfolio in NYC. Lathrop was one of four children; older brother Archie '02, younger brother Charles, '07, and a younger sis Lucy, who eventually became a well known artist. It is from the descendants of Lucy that nosotros possess the Chocolate-brown family photo archives Remarkably the family had preserved Lucy'south carefully labeled albums, and the Foundation advisedly scanned and reproduced many of the photos you see around the Suite. On the windowsill behind Lathrop's desk-bound sits picture of Lucy Barnes Brown, who in improver being considered one of the loveliest young ladies in New York Society, eventually became the beginning woman to win the American amateur golf title.

On Lathrop's desk too sits a double photo of a lovely immature lady and a very young girl. These photos, though seemingly similar, are in fact unrelated to each other, and to Lathrop. Although we discovered many photos of Lathrop in the family unit archives, there appeared none that might represent a love involvement, and so we "created" ane to beautify his desk. This is an instance of artistic historical narrative, and is i of the main historical threads of the Suite. While many of the objects in the Suite are of the menstruum, and could have existed in the Suite, none actually did, to our knowledge. FDR'south possessions are all held in his presidential library in Hyde Park; Lathrop's have been long since dispersed. Instead, we have created a plausible historical narrative to tell the tale of these two remarkable men: the date is May 17th, Sabbatum, 1904 and Lathrop and FDR are abroad, and kindly agreed to let you the use of their Suite for the weekend. The objects contained inside represent four years of Harvard aggregating, and are meant to reflect typical upper-form life at Harvard in the Edwardian menses. In short, the Suite is an evocation, and is not meant to exist an accurate recreation.

Beneath the glass of Lathrop'due south desk sits a remarkable collection of Harvard ephemera of the period; various bodily last exams, play bills, concert notices, term bills, even dance cards. These were all acquired as part of diverse scrapbooks collected by Harvard contemporaries. In one case common, these scrapbooks appear periodically on E-bay, though now information technology is often more than common for them to be cleaved upwards and their items sold separately. Fortunately the Foundation was able to learn a number of these intact and select items to reproduce here.

Over the modular stained-drinking glass bookcases sits a model of the Atlantic , built in 1903. The Atlantic would go into win the 1905 Kaiser's Cup for the fastest transatlantic passage by a monohull, a record that would stand for 100 years. FDR was an gorging collector of nautical pieces, whose drove somewhen number dozens of models and thousands of other items.

On the wall is a remarkable print of Bloody Monday, a happily forgotten Harvard hazing custom.

On the small marble table side by side to the daybed, stands a globe from 1886, three years after FDR was born. Africa is especially interesting, every bit the representation predates the partition of the continent by Colonial powers.

The minor table to the right of the door to FDR'due south sleeping room contains various smoking and personal implements, including his "dog tobacco jar", an ingenious flim-flam pen, a cigar shaped flask, and an Egyptian Deities cigarette box, a brand of Turkish cigarettes extremely popular in FDR's day.

On the wall backside is view of Harvard chiliad in 1896; likewise as a poster for the 1904 Hasting Pudding Bear witness Boodles and Co, which FDR attended twice. (He was a member of the Pudding.) On his bedroom door, is a poster of the 1903 show HIKIYA.

Just beyond is the 1904 form flick. Nosotros've located Lathrop, just FDR is still to exist found.

On the north wall stands the piano. FDR and Lathrop were both in the freshman Glee Club, and felt the need for a pianoforte; information technology was rented for "$45 per year, which is 5 dollars off the normal price" reported FDR to Sara in 1900. This Ivers and Pond upright dates from 1898. It was located in Western MA and was completed restored for us by the Harvard Piano Service in 2009. In 2013, the piano was sent out to be converted into an electronic thespian; it now as a repertoire of nearly a thousand songs, which are added to periodically. It as well records performances, and is beingness used to produce a playlist of our period canvas music and Harvard University Songs.

On top of the piano, one of the famous Gibson girls gazes seductively out of an oval frame; Johnny the Bobcat and Eli the Quail are gripped in a permanent decease thrall; a remarkable set of The World and Its Peoples chronicles the globe as FDR first knew information technology.

FDR'due south Bedroom.

The stake green walls of this sleeping room, are, like Lathrop's, covered in silk. This blazon of paper, called Japan-cloth, is attested from the 1898 Vanderbilt Suite. The décor of this room reflects the passions of FDR: sailing, ornithology and travel. Past the age of 17, FDR had spent almost 7 years of his life away, generally because his father, in failing wellness, had sought diverse European cures. Equally a event, FDR had a working cognition of German and French, and was intimately familiar with Europe, its politics and problems — knowledge that would come up in very handy in the decades to come, first every bit Assistant Secretarial assistant of the Navy under Wilson, then as President. The pictures in this room are all of FDR and his family; the firm at Hyde Park is also shown, before major reconstruction transformed it in 1915.

The bed prepare in FDR's room is in a catamenia style chosen Eastlake. The bed is nearly certainly bigger than the one that would have been here — an accommodation to the fact that the Suite oft houses VIP guests overnight.

On the mirrored dresser you will find various de rigueur dressing items, including a collar box, hat brush, pocket watch and diverse tie-pins and clips. In FDR's day, in that location was a rigid dress code for virtually activities, and it would not accept been uncommon for him to change outfits 3 or four times a day.

The Bathroom

As mentioned earlier, the fixtures, floor and woodwork in this room are entirely original, and reflected what all the bathrooms in Westmorly looked like in 1900. (It was gutted and entirely restored in 2010.) These hygienic baths were a major innovation, and represented the latest in technology. On the walls you volition find various "stolen" signs; it was common practice among undergraduates to steal whatsoever sign, placard or posting that wasn't firmly nailed down and hang the captured tributes on the walls of their rooms. If you wish to see an case of how dim the menstruation lighting was, locate the switch exterior the bath and turn off the mod recessed lighting. You can and then easily come across why the custom of the time was to perform as much of one's personal toilette at dressing tables in the better-lit bedrooms.

Lathrop Brown'due south Bedroom

As y'all enter the back bedroom, you are introduced to several of Lathrop's passions. Sporting memorabilia, particularly football and equestrian activities, are visible on several of the walls. Lathrop managed the freshman football team, and returned the autumn of his senior year to manage the Varsity. (Both he and FDR had technically completed their studies in 1903, but stayed the actress year to participate in various social activities; FDR for example, was President of the Crimson, while in improver to his football game responsibilities, Lathrop was president of the Fly Club.) The pictures on the walls are all of Lathrop and his family; his mother, begetter, maternal grandmother, sister Lucy and brothers Charles Jr. and Archie are all represented. Through several unlikely coincidences we were able to located Lathrop's descendants, who had miraculously preserved their photo athenaeum. In 2010, they graciously allowed the states to digitalize the entire collection of some 600 images.

On the walls higher up the bed, are pictures of Lathrop with the freshman football squad (await for a handsome beau wearing a beanie) the first ever game in the Harvard stadium confronting Dartmouth (elevation) and a bit further downwards, the first ever Harvard Yale game in the stadium, Nov 1903. Interestingly, Lathrop, Eleanor (chaperoned by her aunt) and FDR are all in the crowd somewhere. Eleanor had come up up to come across FDR and visit her blood brother Hall at Groton, where FDR would suggest the next day.

On the wall nearest the bath, is an 1899 photo of the Groton football game team, next to the polo mallets. Lathrop is at the center peak, the modest young homo once again wearing the beanie, while a rather despondent FDR, sans able-bodied letter, looks sadly down at the lower left.

Lathrop would keep to marry one of the wealthiest women in America in 1910, Helen Hooper, the heiress to the Ames tool fortune. He served one term in Congress equally a Democrat from Long Isle, worked as Assistant to the Secretary of Commerce under Wilson, served briefly in WWI, and so settled downward to a life of luxurious living. He died in 1959, having remained shut friends with FDR until the latter's death in 1945.

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Primary Sources – Lathrop Brown Letter

The following letter of the alphabet, written by FDR's Harvard roommate Lathrop Brown, was discovered in the Adams Business firm Archives, and is the effect of a somewhat frantic search by then Adams House Master Reuben Brower to discover the precise location of FDR's student rooms ahead of Eleanor Roosevelt's planned arrival to dedicate a plaque to mark the suite. After Harvard acquired the privately owned Westmorly Court in the 1920's, the rooms were renumbered, resulting in defoliation 30 years later as to which had been Suite 27, the number noted in FDR's correspondence. Fortunately Lathrop Brown remembered precisely, as this letter shows, though why the ground floor suite was originally labeled 27 is notwithstanding a mystery.

20-years gone but not the least forgotten: the Class of 1881 chose to feature John on its 20th Reunion Medal. The medal will hangs on John's motion-picture show in the Suite.

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Source: https://fdrfoundation.org/the-fdr-suite/self-tour/

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