Tag Archives: fdr

The Woman Who Told FDR No

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Charlotte Elizabeth Battles is a name you probably haven’t heard but she made history back in her day.

Born in 1864 to a family that owned the R.S. Battles Bank in Girard, Pennsylvania, she was educated, worldly and strong. Her father was Rush Battles, a farmer, lawyer and banker whose bank had been a local staple since 1859. When her father died, she was promoted to fill his shoes as bank president. The year was 1904 and she was one of the first women to serve as a bank president.

She ran this bank until it closed in 1946.

Let us pause here for a moment. Women didn’t get the vote until 1920. She successfully ran a bank for years before she could walk into a ballot booth.

But I digress. She gained fame in 1933 when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered American banks be closed as part of the Emergency Banking Act and she refused to comply.

As a privately owned institution, she believed they were not governed by the state or federal government. In a letter to Roosevelt, Battles said “We’re minding our business, you mind yours”.

They remained open as they always had, placing no restrictions on deposits or withdrawals, but they did serve only existing customers that week.

The Erie Times News published a story about the incident under the headline “Girard Bank Says ‘Pooh’ To State And U.S. Edict.” The funny thing was that it wasn’t even big news back then. The story ran on page 11.

If you visit the Hagen History Center in Erie, PA, you will find a room dedicated to this pioneering business woman who thumbed her nose at the feds.

The exhibit tells the story of her life as a banker but also that of an artist, a world traveler, a gardener and what appeared to be a woman who embraced life fully.

She died in 1952 and her home in Girard is now owned by the Hagan History Center. That’s less than 30 minutes from the Hagen Center in Erie.

This museum has some amazing exhibits including maritime history, Frank Lloyd Wright’s field office, art and stunning mansions to tour. Go visit!

Unity Through A Microphone

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The Smithsonian Institute is one of America’s greatest gifts to her citizens. My favorite is the American History museum where such treasures are kept as Dorothy’s ruby slippers, Old Glory, the gowns of the First Ladies and a centuries old ship.

There’s also a display of Presidential memorabilia including this treasure.

It’s the CBS broadcasting microphone that Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke into when he gave his Fireside Chats.

It was through this microphone that FDR communicated with Americans about the darkest days of the Great Depression and through the terrifying years of World II. It’s hard to imagine a world without internet, a 24 hour television news cycle or immediate access to information. It’s strange to think of a world when people gathered around their radios to take in a sitting President’s Fireside Chats.

Incidentally, this concept was innovative when FDR began addressing the country in this way. His chats were meant to inform and reassure American citizens. He spoke directly to the citizens about his programs and initiatives and about the war.

There was no room for interpretation and no analysis or opinion from commentators who could disguise their opinions as fact as we see so much today.

It was information straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

Are we really better off today with so many news outlets or businesses parading as media while they push their thinly veiled agendas? There was significantly less splintering of information back then and a greater sense of unity.

It’s funny but I long for simpler days that I never even knew in real life,

In case you’ve forgotten your American history, this is Pearl Harbor Day. It was 82 years ago today that a Japanese attack left 2,403 servicemen and civilians dead at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

In a Fireside Chat two days after the attack, Roosevelt said these words.

“We are now in this war. We are all in it—all the way. Every single man, woman, and child is a partner in the most tremendous undertaking of our American history. We must share together the bad news and the good news, the defeats and the victories—the changing fortunes of war.”


-Franklin Roosevelt, Fireside Chat, December 9, 1941

“We must share together.” This is a phrase we don’t hear much anymore. We tend to not share so much as sit in our separate corners and nurse our own agendas.

May we never again know a time of such sorrow and hardship as another Great War. However, if we do, let us hope we are led by an individual who can intentionally unite rather than purposefully divide.

And may all those who who lost their lives so horrifically and so unexpectedly 82 years ago today rest in peace.

You Never Know

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This image appeared in Life Magazine on this day in 1945. Photographer Ed Clark drove all night from his Nashville home to Warm Springs, Georgia where President Franklin D. Roosevelt had died. Clark wanted to be there when Roosevelt’s casket was escorted out of the home, bound for the railroad station and a long journey back to Washington.

Unfortunately, Clark found himself corralled behind barriers with scores of other reporters. Disappointed, he wondered how he would ever capture an image that would be different than everyone else’s.

And then he heard music. It was this man, Chief Petty Officer Graham Jackson, who often played for Presidential parties.

Clark took just one small 35 mm camera with him when he slipped away from the press pool, hoping for others not to notice the scene unfolding behind them. He took just a couple of quick shots, capturing this emotional scene and freezing in time a moment when a sailor mourned his President.

This is one of my favorite images. It’s also a gentle reminder to turn around and look at what’s behind you. If everyone has their camera trained in the same direction, they will all have the same shot. Aim in a different direction and capture the thing that no one else sees.

You never know what you might capture.