April 14, 1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt's funeral procession on the streets of Washington, DC

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Tue Apr 14, 2020, 09:18 AM - Edit history (1)

Since we've had threads today about Lincoln's assassination, in 1865, and Black Sunday, in 1935, it's my turn. This is about today's events in Washington, DC, in 1945.

April 14, 1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt's funeral procession on the streets of Washington, DC

It's 4:3 format stretched to wide screen. I don't know how you can undo that.

This is the first time I've seen this footage. When the video was made from the film, some portions were flipped.

In a sequence starting at 2:20, the soldiers or Marines (the uniforms are OD), and some sailors too, are saluting with their left hands. I could verify that this part was flipped by knowing how a flag is supposed to be placed over a coffin.

I just looked that up. See: United States Flag Code

The flag in mourning

....
When used to cover a casket or coffin, the flag should be placed with the union at the head and over the left shoulder. It should not be lowered into the grave; it is also to be removed before the casket is set for cremation. It is considered a proper sign of courtesy to salute a casket covered with the American flag as the pall (in military and state funerals) at the proper time.

In the same footage where the military personnel are saluting with their left hands, the flag is on the coffin so that the union is over Roosevelt's right shoulder. Flag protocol would have been excruciatingly observed for such a service, so the footage is reversed in this portion.

In a sequence at 3:18, Admiral Ernest King salutes with his right hand, and the steering wheels of the automobiles are on the left hand side. That part is right.

How did we ever get along without computers?

Published on May 15, 2014

The funeral procession of President Franklin D. Roosevelt moves on the streets of Washington DC

Spectators line sidewalks in Washington,DC, to watch the funeral procession of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Police motorcycle escort surrounds flag-draped coffin of the President, resting on caisson pulled by team of horses. Color Guard and several closed black limousines are immediately behind. Two open cars, with Secret Service agents on their running boards, are seen next. The closest one carries the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn, and other officials. A contingent of Women Marines, in dress blues, marches ahead of the casket. Other military units march ahead of them in the distance. Change of scene with brief glimpse of sailors marching along Delaware Avenue, with Union Station in the background. Shift back to the President's casket continuing to move along. Grass and trees line the sides of the street, where spectators fill the sidewalks. Closeup of an open car carrying DC police chief, Edward J. Kelly and other police officials, followed by motorcycle policemen, and the team of horses pulling the caisson with the President's casket. Closeup of closed limousine carrying mourners. Open car carrying House Speaker Rayburn, and others. US Navy Fleet Admiral Ernest King and an officer salute. People in the background. Location: Washington DC. Date: April 14, 1945.

Here's a newsreel of Roosevelt's death:

On board the train, and in the procession in DC, the flag is shown correctly placed on the coffin. See 1:11, 3:18, 3:36, and 4:08.

One more. I find these fascinating.

Again, see 2:53 for the proper placement of the flag. That scene shows the procession coming up ... well, I don't know what that's called. Google says it's Union Station Drive NE, or maybe it's Columbus Circle NE. It's that street on the east side of Union Station that goes down and makes a right to become F Street NE. The SEC is there now, right at the bottom where the turn is. See https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8968247,-77.0046912,19z .

Roosevelt died on the 12th. I used to be able to find that week's issue of Life magazine at Google Books. An article in that issue covered the funeral train. FDR's body was moved to Atlanta on the 13th, and a train took it up the Southern Railway mainline to DC. It made the trip on the night of the 13th and morning of the 14th.

Here is the train at dawn in Charlottesville, Virginia:



Edited: no can do. The historical society has changed its name and its policy on linking to photographs. Here's an article from the Charlottesville Daily Progress with a lower-quality version of the photograph :

A crowd gathered on the West Main Street Bridge to see FDR's funeral train in 1945
The Daily Progress staff reports Apr 14, 2017

125 Years of Progress takes you inside The Daily Progress' archives every day in celebration of our 125 years serving Charlottesville and the rest of Central Virginia. Sponsored by Hanckel-Citizens Insurance Charlottesville



“The 11-car funeral train, drawn by two steam locomotives, slid quietly into the station at 6:20 a.m., as the armed guards, their officers and uniformed members of the Charlottesville Police Department saluted. Other stood silently with bowed heads.”

This was the scene at the Southern Railway Station on April 14, 1945, when the train carrying the body of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt paused briefly on its journey from Warm Springs, Ga. to Washington, D.C., and then on to his final resting place in Hyde Park, NY. A crowd numbering more than 1,000 lined the station platform and the West Main Street Bridge to catch a glimpse and pay their last respects.

“The President’s casket, covered by a large American flag and surrounded by floral decorations, was in the lighted rear portion of the last coach. A guard of honor, consisting of non-commissioned members of the various branches of the armed forces, stood motionless beside the coffin bearing their dead commander-in-chief. The crowd gazed silently.”

Shortly after noon that day, a non-denominational worship service was held in Cabell Hall. Dr. Henry Porter, pastor of First Baptist Church, offered a prayer noting that “Roosevelt’s courage and gallantry, despite physical afflictions, had ‘lifted up the hearts of the forgotten man. The grief at his death is shared by every freedom-loving person.’”

A day earlier, as the nation learned of the president’s death, The Daily Progress editorial noted: “The perspective is lacking today for an appraisal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s place in history, but it may be said with confidence that with the exception of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln, no man has played so decisive a role in the life of our country, and that no American has achieved a stature equal to his as a world figure.”

Send news tips to [e-mail], call [phone], tweet us @DailyProgress or send us a Facebook message here.

That's looking to the northeast. The large white building above the tracks, where Main Street goes over the tracks, is the old Queen Charlotte Hotel. It was torn down years ago. The train stopped so that railway officials could use the telephone. Southern Railway trainmaster (and mayor of Alexandria from 1940 to 1949) William T. Wilkins rode the train from Monroe, Virginia, (yes, the town mentioned in "Wreck of the Old 97") up to Alexandria or DC.

The picture was taken from an interlocking tower at the northeast corner of the crossing where the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway crossed the Southern Railway.

FDR Funeral Train {edited: bad link}

The President’s last visit to Charlottesville, however, would be the morning of April 15th 14th. Amid the early morning darkness, local residents made their way to the Southern Railway Station, lining the West Main Street overhead crossing.

At 6:20 AM the two-steam locomotive pulling the 11-car funeral train eased into the station. President Roosevelt’s body lay in a casket covered with an American flag in the illuminated final car filled with flowers and a guard of honor all standing at attention. After resting for three minutes, the train pulled away, eventually reaching Washington at 9:50 AM the next morning later that morning.

Here's a thread at a forum for the TV show The Waltons about Roosevelt's funeral train:

The Outrage Part II

Jan 2, 2018 at 2:58am

Post by sandra09 on Jan 2, 2018 at 2:58am

I have just watched my daily dose of The Waltons, the episode was 'The Outrage' part II and I have some questions.
Did Franklin D Roosevelt die in a place called Warm Springs and is this in Virginia? Was he carried by train on his last journey, travelling slowly through all the states with four members of your armed forces standing to attention at each corner of his coffin? And lastly, did members of the public line the route in various towns, to pay their respects as he travelled slowly through?
You are probably thinking that I could have looked all this up on the Internet, I know I could, but I would much rather ask you all.

The first reply at that forum has a link to this:

Kenan Research Center, Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, Funeral Procession

FDR's last train ride
GILBERT SANDLER
THE BALTIMORE EVENING SUN

August 20, 1991

BY 7 O'CLOCK on Saturday night, April 14, 1945, thousands of men, women and children were lined up, wherever they could find a perch, along the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks through Baltimore. They were waiting solemnly, some tearfully, to view the coffin of Franklin D. Roosevelt as his funeral train passed through the city on its way from Warm Springs, Ga., to Hyde Park, N.Y., where he would be buried. It was raining.
....

[chillfactor]

1. I was 4 years old when President Roosevelt died.....

I had tears in my eyes as I watched the videos in this post. The orange turd will never see such honor given him when he dies.

[Karadeniz]

2. This was SO moving! Can't thank you enough for your effort. How to know when your

Presidency is going in the right direction: when Wall Street stages a coup. Question: I know about having a riderless horse, but why in the team of greys is there a line of riders with a riderless horse beside each one? Is it just to insure that no horse in the team gets obstreperous , so they put one rider on each row? Thanks again. Loved going back in time!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. President Truman and daughter Margaret riding to FDR funeral at White House, April 14, 1945

President Truman and daughter Margaret riding to FDR funeral at White House, today 1945:
#McAvoy

Link to tweet

FDR’s dog Fala being taken to his funeral train:

Link to tweet