Georgia Negro Weeps Open-Eyed at the Death of President Roosevelt

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Sat Apr 13, 2024, 09:21 AM - Edit history (3)

It used to be that I posted this every year on April 12, the anniversary of the day in 1945 that Roosevelt died. The event depicted, though, happened on the following morning, Friday, April 13, 1945. This year, I've split up my posts to show the timeline of events.

Roosevelt died on the afternoon of April 12, 1945. The medical examiner had to come in and pronounce the death. A death certificate was filled out, and Roosevelt's body was prepared for the trip north. On the morning of April 13, 1945, a hearse took Roosevelt's body to the Southern Railway station at Warm Springs, Georgia. The body was put on a train and taken to Atlanta. From there, another train carried the body and several dignitaries on an overnight trip up the Southern Railway mainline to Washington, D.C. That train arrived in Washington on the morning of Saturday, April 14, 1945.

We'll get to coverage of that day's events tomorrow. Anyway, back to the annual post.

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I just love this picture. I have made this post every year for a long time.

This picture of Graham Jackson is the image of that event that I always think of. As the caption notes, it was taken on April 13, 1945, as Roosevelt's body was being taken away to Atlanta that morning.



The caption of the original photograph starts out:

On the afternoon of the day he died President Roosevelt was scheduled to attend a barbecue at Warm Springs. That afternoon he would have heard Chief Petty Officer Graham Jackson, a Georgia Negro, play his accordion. The President had enjoyed Jackson's songs many times in the past. The next day when the President's body was borne slowly past the main dormitory at Warm Springs, where often he used to wave at the patients convalescing in the sun's rays, Jackson stepped out of the watching circle, sadly fingered the strains of Going Home. As he played, C.P.O Jackson wept open-eyed to the mournful phrases of his own lament.

Graham Jackson, from the wonderful Atlanta Time Machine

60 White House Drive SW

Many more links on Graham Jackson

Please go to Google Books to see the coverage in the April 23, 1945 issue of Life magazine. You will be amazed. (I can't make the link directly.)

Roosevelt's Death:

http://books.google.com/books?id=wEkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA19&dq=Roosevelt+funeral&hl=en&ei=TirDS4iHOIT7lwfx96jaBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Roosevelt%20funeral&f=true

Goin Home from Eleanor and Franklin
6,462 views Jun 11, 2019

Taps Bugler
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Goin Home from Eleanor and Franklin

FDR's Final Journey Home
2,329 views Jan 17, 2021

NPS Hyde Park
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What happened the day FDR died and his journey back to his home on the Hudson in Hyde Park. NY.

Wed Apr 12, 2023: Georgia Negro Weeps Open-Eyed at the Death of President Roosevelt

Tue Apr 12, 2022: Georgia Negro Weeps Open-Eyed at the Death of President Roosevelt

Mon Apr 12, 2021: Georgia Negro Weeps Open-Eyed at the Death of President Roosevelt

Sun Apr 12, 2020: Georgia Negro Weeps Open-Eyed at the Death of President Roosevelt

Fri Apr 12, 2019: Georgia Negro Weeps Open-Eyed at the Death of President Roosevelt

Thu Apr 12, 2018: Georgia Negro Weeps Open-Eyed at the Death of President Roosevelt

Tue Apr 12, 2016: Georgia Negro Weeps Open-Eyed at the Death of President Roosevelt

Fri Apr 12, 2013: Georgia Negro Weeps Open-Eyed at the Death of President Roosevelt

Thu Apr 12, 2012: Georgia Negro Weeps Open-Eyed at the Death of President Roosevelt

Tue Apr-12-11: Georgia Negro Weeps Open-Eyed at the Death of President Roosevelt

Mon Apr-12-10: Georgia Negro Weeps Open-Eyed at the Death of President Roosevelt

Wed Apr-12-06: Today is the day in 1945 that Roosevelt died