Franklin D. Roosevelt Commemorative – Southern Magnolia
President Roosevelt lays the cornerstone for the East Wing on November 5, 1942, months after the building was constructed. The President is seated during this ceremony as he relied on a wheelchair due to a polio diagnosis and did not want to be seen using a wheelchair in the public eye.
Courtesy Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum / NARA
Magnolia grandiflora
1942
In 1942 this southern magnolia tree was planted southeast of the entrance to the newly constructed East Wing. This planting replaced a southern magnolia tree planted by President Warren G. Harding in 1922. The new tree was designated as a commemorative tree for President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the mid-1950s.
