| September, 1938 FDR visit to Annapolis and Government House
THEME: One of the strongest Democratic Presidents coming to solicit the help of the Republican Governor of Maryland
"Roosevelt Dines with Nice," The Afro American, September 19, 1938
"President Was Greeted Here Enroute Home from Denton," The Evening Capital, September 6, 1938
Text from If These Walls Could Speak draft:
A highlight of the Nice administration was certainly the visit of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Government House on September 5, 1938. At the request of Annapolis mayor Louis N. Phipps, the president stopped in Annapolis for a brief visit on his home from a political trip to the Eastern Shore. The president spent the day touring the Eastern Shore, including Salisbury and Denton, where he had gone to support the candidacy of Congressman David J. Lewis for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Millard E.Tydings. While in Maryland, Roosevelt criticized Tydings sharply as a "betrayer" of the administration for his opposition to some of the president's New Deal legislation. Press accounts vary as to whether the President stayed for only a brief visit of one hour or if he stayed for several hours and a meal. Roosevelt began his visit to the city with a stop at the War Memorial on St. John's College campus where he made a short speech to the crowd of 1,000 who had gathered to see him. The president drew an analogy between the colonial buildings in Annapolis and the government, saying that the buildings were only useful because they had been modernized and that "We have the same form of government we have always had, but it needs to be constantly modernized." In order to accommodate the President who was in a wheelchair, a special ramp was built. Such handicapped access was not made permanent until the administration of William Donald Schaefer. After Roosevelt and his party were greeted by Governor and Mrs. Nice, the president and Nice retired to a private meeting which was reported to have been very friendly, with the two men calling each other "Harry" and "Frank." Roosevelt was accompanied on his visit to Annpolis by his friends Postmater General James A. Farley and Curley Byrd, president of the University of Maryland. (The Captial 9/6/38 and the Afro American 9/10/38).
Within months of this prestigious visit by the popular president of the United States, Governor Nice had been defeated in his bid for re-election and Governor Herbert O'Conor took office
on January 11, 1939 for what would be two terms in office. |
