Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Analysis

In its entirety, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial effectively embodies the political juggernaut to whom the site is dedicated. Considering the historical and cultural context and impact of the memorial, visitors can better comprehend the dynamic American era that lasted four presidential terms and included World War Two and the Great Depression. On a more recent level, the FDR Memorial can be connected to today’s popular culture, as it has been depicted in a fictional Washington by Netflix’s House of Cards. Due to its inclusivity and lasting relevance, the FDR Memorial can be considered as one of the most appropriately comprehensive depictions of American history. Before the seven and a half acre memorial opened in 1997 as the official …show more content…
Within Room Two that represents the fallout of the Great Depression, “The Rural Couple” sculpture by George Segal depicts a poor, old married couple dressed in plain clothes standing in front of a barren doorway of a wooden shack (Rosenberg). Halprin displays Segal’s statue to emphasize that the sufferers of the Great Depression included the poor, the elderly, the retired, and farming countrymen. By incorporating Segal’s statue, Halprin shines a light on the target demographic of FDR’s New Deal reforms. Whether it is the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority which provided electricity to the rural South, or the Civilian Conservation Corps which employed millions of young men to conserve vital natural resources, “The Rural Couple” invokes the struggling population who demanded and deserved such sweeping reforms. By depicting “The Rural Couple” in gray stone and metal, Segal sets a solemn tone for an audience in the 21st century that is so temporally detached from the hardships of the Great Depression in order to demonstrate the dire need for an economic overhaul at the