Information About The Collection

The General Collection: 60,000 items.

This collection is divided into four main files: the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt Files, the General Subject File and the Album File. The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Files are arranged chronologically. The original prints in these two files have been retired for preservation and have been replaced with 5-by-8 index cards which contain appropriate descriptive information and 4-by-5 contact prints. Those original prints remaining in the active files are either of poor quality or show FDR from a poor angle or from a distance. Researchers should consult both the FDR and ER index cards and active files. Subject files for both the FDR and ER index cards are available to visiting researchers.

All of these files contain photos taken by family members (including FDR), other private individuals, professional photographers and other news services and government agencies. The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library provides prints from its files for reference purposes only. Permission to use photographs credited to commercial sources must be obtained from the copyright owner. No permission is needed to use those photographs in the public domain. The Library also has many photographs for which the rights owner is not known, although the staff has made an effort to determine the rights possessor. The responsibility for publication of these photos rests with the user. The Library would appreciate a courtesy line for the use of those photos in the public domain and those for which the copyright owner is unknown.

Researchers unable to visit the library for photo research may write or fax requests for photocopies or prints to the attention of the Audiovisual Archivist. Please provide as much information as possible about the individual and/or subject, date and/or event, location and type of pose (FDR alone, FDR signing a bill, etc.). The fax number is 845-486-1147. Reproduction costs are available on request from the Audiovisual Archives.

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