The Roosevelt family has been intertwined with Hockaday for almost 80 years.

It’s no secret that the political power couple, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, left a last­ing impact on America; how­ever, the lesser known fact is that Eleanor spread her influence to The Hockaday School in 1937.

Upon the recent release of the PBS documentary, “The Roo­sevelts: An Intimate History” by Ken Burns, which chronicles the lives of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Hockaday has uncovered its 50 year relationship with the family.

The documentary interweaves the stories of the three Roosevelts as they became the most influen­tial political family in America. Be­ginning with the birth of Theodore Roosevelt in 1858, and ending with the death of Eleanor Roosevelt in 1962, the documentary follows a century of American politics.

Chandler Roosevelt Lindsley, a class of ‘52 Hockaday alumna and granddaughter of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, credited the documentary by Ken Burns as “absolutely fantastic, a beauti­ful job. It really is a great gift to our country.”

Great-granddaughters of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Ruthie Lindsley, Hockaday class of ‘75, and Chandler Lindsley, class of ‘82, attended the fam­ily sneak peak preview at a fam­ily reunion in Warm Springs, Ga. last November and watched the full 14-hour program.

“It was amazingly put together, no one had brought factions of the family together in a historical sense before,” Chandler ‘82 said.

According to Liz Kelly, another great-granddaughter of Elea­nor and Franklin Roosevelt and cousin of Ruthie ‘75 and Chandler ‘82, Burns revealed the histori­cal side of the Roosevelts, and did not spend much of his time in­terviewing family members. The documentary revealed pieces of information that even the rela­tives of Eleanor and Franklin had not heard before.

“I learned a great deal about all three of the Roosevelts and the times in which they lived. That time period is so important to our American history and I think that Ken Burn’s documentary gave us all a gift and great educational tool. I imagine that segments of his documentary will be used in classrooms for years to come,” Kelly said.

The documentary reveals parts of the relationship between Franklin and Eleanor and how they kept it private, including the time when Franklin dressed up as a girl because they couldn’t be seen together out in public.

“I loved the picture of Franklin wearing the hat [girls costume] when they were out yachting before they announced their en­gagement,” Ruthie said.

Hockaday eighth grader Swiler Boyd, the great-great-granddaugh­ter of Franklin Roosevelt, learned about her great-grandfather after watching the documentary.

“I learned the most about The­odore, because I didn’t know a lot about him besides what we learn at school,” Boyd said.

Ken Burns has produced over 20 documentaries and has ex­posed countless parts of Ameri­can History. “He never stopped exposing people’s weaknesses, which was successful in this documentary because he showed them [Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor] as they truly were,” Chandler ‘52 said.

As the documentary covers 100 years of the Roosevelt family, Hock­aday has been a part of the Roos­evelt family for over half of that century. In 1937, Eleanor Roosevelt was invited by the Dallas Business and Professional Women’s Club to give two speeches on March 21. One of the speeches, on the topic of “Problems of Youth”, was held at The Hockaday Junior College.

Roosevelt and Ela Hockaday dined at her cottage on the old Hockaday Greenville campus, where Roosevelt signed the offi­cial Hockaday Guestbook in 1937.

Twelve years later, Chandler’ 52 became part of the Hockaday boarding department in 1949, because there were no private schools where she lived in Ft. Worth, Texas.

“Its interesting because on my husband’s side, Ruth Bower Lind­sley was one of the people who brought Miss Hockaday to Dal­las. Little did I know that my hus­band was involved with Hocka­day before I was,” Chandler ‘52 said.

Eleanor Roosevelt attended and spoke at her granddaughter’s Hockaday Commencement in 1952, where she stressed her ideas of women being involved in the community.

“She would always come when she could for a special occasion for her grandchildren,” Chandler ‘52 said.

Chandler had a close relation­ship with her grandmother, go­ing on countless trips to the Roo­sevelt’s estate in Hyde Park, NY to dine with Eleanor. “She was a great entertainer. One of my last­ing memories was never sitting down at a meal without guests, even at lunch,” Chandler ‘52 said.

From spending time with Roo­sevelts, Chandler ‘52 observed that “[Eleanor Roosevelt] was very conscientious about answer­ing letters, she got around 300 a day. The only thing she asked for after Franklin died was to be able to mail her letters without stamps, so that she could answer as many as she could.”

Claire Fletcher

Upon the recent release of the PBS documentary, “The Roo­sevelts: An Intimate History” by Ken Burns, which chronicles the lives of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Hockaday has uncovered its 50 year relationship with the family.

The documentary interweaves the stories of the three Roosevelts as they became the most influen­tial political family in America. Be­ginning with the birth of Theodore Roosevelt in 1858, and ending with the death of Eleanor Roosevelt in 1962, the documentary follows a century of American politics.

Chandler Roosevelt Lindsley, a class of ‘52 Hockaday alumna and granddaughter of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, credited the documentary by Ken Burns as “absolutely fantastic, a beauti­ful job. It really is a great gift to our country.”

Great-granddaughters of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Ruthie Lindsley, Hockaday class of ‘75, and Chandler Lindsley, class of ‘82, attended the fam­ily sneak peak preview at a fam­ily reunion in Warm Springs, Ga. last November and watched the full 14-hour program.

“It was amazingly put together, no one had brought factions of the family together in a historical sense before,” Chandler ‘82 said.

According to Liz Kelly, another great-granddaughter of Elea­nor and Franklin Roosevelt and cousin of Ruthie ‘75 and Chandler ‘82, Burns revealed the histori­cal side of the Roosevelts, and did not spend much of his time in­terviewing family members. The documentary revealed pieces of information that even the rela­tives of Eleanor and Franklin had not heard before.

“I learned a great deal about all three of the Roosevelts and the times in which they lived. That time period is so important to our American history and I think that Ken Burn’s documentary gave us all a gift and great educational tool. I imagine that segments of his documentary will be used in classrooms for years to come,” Kelly said.

The documentary reveals parts of the relationship between Franklin and Eleanor and how they kept it private, including the time when Franklin dressed up as a girl because they couldn’t be seen together out in public.

“I loved the picture of Franklin wearing the hat [girls costume] when they were out yachting before they announced their en­gagement,” Ruthie said.

Hockaday eighth grader Swiler Boyd, the great-great-granddaugh­ter of Franklin Roosevelt, learned about her great-grandfather after watching the documentary.

“I learned the most about The­odore, because I didn’t know a lot about him besides what we learn at school,” Boyd said.

Ken Burns has produced over 20 documentaries and has ex­posed countless parts of Ameri­can History. “He never stopped exposing people’s weaknesses, which was successful in this documentary because he showed them [Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor] as they truly were,” Chandler ‘52 said.

As the documentary covers 100 years of the Roosevelt family, Hock­aday has been a part of the Roos­evelt family for over half of that century. In 1937, Eleanor Roosevelt was invited by the Dallas Business and Professional Women’s Club to give two speeches on March 21. One of the speeches, on the topic of “Problems of Youth”, was held at The Hockaday Junior College.

Roosevelt and Ela Hockaday dined at her cottage on the old Hockaday Greenville campus, where Roosevelt signed the offi­cial Hockaday Guestbook in 1937.

Twelve years later, Chandler’ 52 became part of the Hockaday boarding department in 1949, because there were no private schools where she lived in Ft. Worth, Texas.

“Its interesting because on my husband’s side, Ruth Bower Lind­sley was one of the people who brought Miss Hockaday to Dal­las. Little did I know that my hus­band was involved with Hocka­day before I was,” Chandler ‘52 said.

Eleanor Roosevelt attended and spoke at her granddaughter’s Hockaday Commencement in 1952, where she stressed her ideas of women being involved in the community.

“She would always come when she could for a special occasion for her grandchildren,” Chandler ‘52 said.

Chandler had a close relation­ship with her grandmother, go­ing on countless trips to the Roo­sevelt’s estate in Hyde Park, NY to dine with Eleanor. “She was a great entertainer. One of my last­ing memories was never sitting down at a meal without guests, even at lunch,” Chandler ‘52 said.

From spending time with Roo­sevelts, Chandler ‘52 observed that “[Eleanor Roosevelt] was very conscientious about answer­ing letters, she got around 300 a day. The only thing she asked for after Franklin died was to be able to mail her letters without stamps, so that she could answer as many as she could.”

– Claire Fletcher