World War II Unit: FDR Connection to Georgia Lesson
Essential Question: How was Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) connected personally to the state of Georgia
during World War II? (H9d)
Directions
The activity is based on a Jigsaw Model where students are grouped and then regrouped. Read ALL of the
preparation directions first before copying the activity
Preparation:
 Copy a classroom set (plus a few extra) of the Franklin D. Roosevelt in Georgia article.
 Copy the FDR in Georgia Text Analysis worksheet based on groups of 4 (you may need one group of 3).
Make enough copies where each student receives just one of the letter sections. For example, if you have
28 students in a class, you should make 7 copies of the FDR in Georgia Text Analysis worksheet for that
class period.
 Number the FDR in Georgia Text Analysis sections on the worksheet as 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D,
etc. based on the number needed for your classroom.
 During the implementation of the activity in class, students will be grouped by letter. Since the letter
groups will have 7-8 students each, you will need to divide the groups into smaller letter groups. Here are
a few suggestions:
o Once grouped, just divide each letter group into two smaller groups
o Copy the FDR in Georgia Text Analysis worksheets on two different colors
o Use highlighters to distinguish letter group papers
o Group even and odd (1A, 3A, 5A, 7A and 2A, 4A, 6A)
 Since the activity involves grouping and regrouping, you may want to identify your groups ahead of time
based on ability level for differentiation purposes.
Conducting the Activity:
 Each student will be given a copy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt in Georgia article from the New Georgia
Encyclopedia to read.
 Each student will be given an FDR in Georgia Text Analysis worksheet Letter section.
 Students should read the entire article and complete the questions on the FDR in Georgia Text Analysis
worksheet. Make sure students understand that they should write down the exact sentences from the text
that provide evidence for the questions.
 Give EACH student an FDR in Georgia Graphic Organizer.
 Group As, Bs, Cs, and Ds together. Divide the groups again based on the suggestions above or your own
method.
 In Letter groups, students should compare their answers for the FDR in Georgia Text Analysis worksheet.
 The groups should develop a summary of their topic (in their own words not exactly from the text) and
write it in the appropriate box on the FDR in Georgia Graphic Organizer. Each member can have the same
summary, but each student should write the summary on his/her graphic organizer.
 Students should go to their number group (1A, 1B, 1C, 1D) to share and record the remaining topics. By
the end, all sections of the graphic organizer should be complete for each student.
Optional Resource: Silent video showing Warm Springs during 1933
http://dlgmedia.galileo.usg.edu/warm/wmv/rwsfilm009.html
[ http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/meta/html/rwsi/warm/meta_rwsi_warm_rwsfilm009.html?Welcome ]
Summarizing Strategy: Give each student a Facebook Summarizing Sheet. Using the article and their graphic
organizer, each student should create 2 Status Updates as if they were FDR. For each Status Update, there
should also be 2 comments from friends. Students must use the Friends listed on the Facebook page and the
Updates and Comments must reflect the topics from the graphic organizer (Georgians’ Opinions of FDR;
Visits; Controversy; Legacy)
FDR in Georgia Text Analysis Worksheet
_____A. Read the article and answer the following questions using evidence from the text. Be sure to
write down the exact sentences from the article.
Where did FDR go when he came to Georgia? DOK 1 _______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
How often did he visit Georgia? DOK 1 ___________________________________________________
Why did he come to Georgia? DOK 1 ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____B. Read the article and answer the following question using evidence from the text. Be sure to
write down the exact sentences from the article.
How did most Georgians feel about FDR? DOK 2 ___________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____C. Read the article and answer the following question using evidence from the text. Be sure to
write down the exact sentences from the article.
Although most Georgians adored FDR, he did cause some controversy. Describe the reasons he may
have caused controversy. DOK 2
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____D. Read the article and answer the following question using evidence from the text. Be sure to
write down the exact sentences from the article.
What legacy has FDR left in Georgia? DOK 2 ______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Franklin D. Roosevelt in Georgia
Kaye Lanning Minchew,
Troup County Archives, 09/27/2004
Last edited by NGE Staff on 01/17/2014
Between 1924 and 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Warm Springs and Georgia
forty-one times. In the early years, he spent his days exercising at the pools at the
Warm Springs resort as he tried to rebuild his leg muscles from the debilitating
effects of polio. After being elected as the thirty-second president of the United
States in 1932, he used his new home at Warm Springs, "The Little White House,"
as a retreat from the rigors of leading a nation through the Great Depression. He
died there in 1945. To a generation of west Georgians, he was both the president
and a trusted friend who could be seen waving as he passed by in his convertible
or rode by in a train on his way to the nation's capital.
Roosevelt, a native New Yorker, first visited Georgia in 1913 on business for the U.S. Navy inBrunswick. In
August 1921 he contracted polio while on a family vacation at Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada.
He then sought to heal the damage caused by the disease. In October 1924 he learned of Warm Springs and its
beneficial waters. He quickly grew to love Georgia and its people, and they welcomed him as their adopted son.
The water at Warm Springs maintains an average temperature of about eighty-eight degrees and bubbles out of
nearby Pine Mountain, one of several quartzite ridges running through west central Georgia. According to
legend, sick and injured Creek Indians once came to the springs to recover from their ills, in much the same way
that Roosevelt used the healing waters. He generally visited in late March and April and again in the fall, when
he traditionally shared Thanksgiving dinner with other patients. He swam, sat in the sun, caught up on
correspondence, and went for drives in the countryside, which had been devastated by the boll weevil and
plummeting cotton prices.
In mid-September 1928 Roosevelt left New York for a visit to Warm Springs. Despite
being pressured to run for governor of New York, he felt the timing was wrong to
restart his political career and knew that his physical progress would be slowed by the
new demands on his time. On October 2, after being tracked down giving a speech in
nearby Manchester, Roosevelt reluctantly allowed his name to be submitted to the New
York state Democratic convention. He won election as governor of New York that
November, though the national Democratic ticket suffered defeat. After being reelected
governor two years later, he quickly became a leading contender for the 1932
presidential election. Georgians gave him enthusiastic and strong support from the
beginning.
Over the years Roosevelt used his time in Georgia to develop visual tricks, such as
leaning against cars or walking with his arm on the elbow of one of his sons, to appear
physically fit before the public. Photographs of him fishing, greeting golfers on the
golf course, horseback riding, and joining other hunters at possum hunts appeared in
national publications. The journalist William Winn described his impact on people of
the area a half-century after his death: "He is remembered fondly, even reverently, by
locals, to whom he was part friend, part father figure, and, because of the role he
played in pulling the South out of the depression, part savior as well."
Roosevelt made a number of significant political appearances throughout the state. During his first presidential
campaign in 1932, he gave the address at Oglethorpe University's commencement, Techwood Homes
Dedication held at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. In November 1935 he spoke at the opening ofTechwood
Homes in Atlanta, the nation's first slum clearance and public housing project.
The president drew criticism from local and national sources after speeches he made in Barnesville
and Gainesville in 1938, in which he criticized the low wages paid by the southern textile industry. He also used
those occasions to urge Georgia voters to oust Senator Walter F. George, part of a broader strategy to "purge"
the U.S. Senate of several conservative southern Democrats who had joined with Republicans to block New
Deal legislation. While Georgians continued to give Roosevelt a clear majority in his 1940 and 1944
reelections, they did so by a smaller margin than they had in 1932 and 1936.
With the coming of World War II (1941-45), the commander-in-chief had little time to spend in Georgia. He
visited soldiers at Fort Benning and the Women's Army Auxiliary Training Corps at Fort Oglethorpe but was
unable to enjoy the healing effects of Warm Springs. In March 1945, his health worsening, he arrived at the
Little White House for a scheduled two-week rest. There, on April 12, he died after suffering a stroke.
Being a friend to all—both famous political leaders and poor farmers—may have
prevented Roosevelt from having an even greater impact on Georgia and the South.
His wife, Eleanor, along with many black leaders of the day, wanted him to do more
about segregation and civil rights in general, but the president was unwilling to upset
the state's political leaders or the general white population. Federal court orders and
the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s would be needed to desegregate
Georgia schools and allow African Americans to participate more fully in political
and economic life in the South.
Perhaps Roosevelt's most lasting legacy lay in inspiring millions of people, most especially the disabled. He
accomplished much, despite struggling daily to overcome his paralysis. In 1927 he established the Georgia
Warm Springs Foundation. Known today as the Roosevelt Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center, the facility
serves patients suffering from the effects of polio. People suffering from strokes, spinal cord injuries, and other
disabilities are also treated there. The Little White House is operated by the Parks, Recreation, and Historic
Sites Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and welcomes thousands of visitors each year.
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/franklin-d-roosevelt-georgia
World War II Unit: FDR in Georgia
Name___________________________________ Date __________ Period ______
Georgians’
Opinions of
FDR
Visits
How was Franklin
Delano Roosevelt
connected personally
to the state of Georgia
during World War
II? (H9d)
Controversy
Legacy
World War II Unit: FDR in Georgia
Name___________________________________ Date __________ Period ______
Most of the information below is copied from the Teacher Notes not the article, but the information is basically in the article just worded differently.
He was well loved by most
Georgians due to his New Deal
program which provided aid to
many suffering from the effects of
the Depression.
He endeared himself to many
Georgians when they heard that
he became a friend to the locals in
the Warm Spring Area and hosted
a Thanksgiving dinner to all of
the patients at the spring.
Georgians overwhelming
supported Roosevelt in all four of
his presidential contests.
Many in the North, including his
wife Eleanor, did not think he did
enough to help end segregation
and the lack of civil rights in
Georgia and the rest of the South.
He also angered many Georgians
when he spoke against what he
considered to be unfair labor
practices in Georgia’s textile
industry, and urged for them to
remove conservative Democratic
senator Walter F. George from
office due to his efforts in
blocking New Deal legislation.
Georgians’
Opinions of
FDR
Visits
How was Franklin
Delano Roosevelt
connected personally
to the state of Georgia
during World War
II? (H9d)
Controversy
Legacy
Franklin Roosevelt visited
Georgia over 40 times.
Primarily he came to Georgia
and stayed at his home in Warm
Springs, which became known as
the “Little White House” during
his presidency.
Roosevelt exercised in the warm
water pools of the spring to help
ease the crippling effects of
polio.
He used the seclusion of Warm
Springs to take a break for the
strain of his four terms in office.
Inspired millions of people, most
especially the disabled. He
accomplished much, despite
struggling daily to overcome his
paralysis.
In 1927 he established the Georgia
Warm Springs Foundation.
Known today as the Roosevelt
Warm Springs Rehabilitation
Center, the facility serves patients
suffering from the effects of polio.
People suffering from strokes,
spinal cord injuries, and other
disabilities are also treated there.
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