Saturday, February 19, 2011

Neglected and rusting deep below Grand Central station, the armoured train that helped heroic Roosevelt keep his polio secret – UK’s Mail Online

My aunt's husband was a clerk (or "clark" as you say) in FDR's law office before all the politics. I had an uncle with polio who worked in the Hall of Records (today's beaux-arts Surrogate Court on Chambers St.) with my grandfather, a real estate reporter, who sometimes kept his family of eleven children going knowing where the new coal contracts might be. My uncle in a wheelchair unfortunately perished there in an elevator (or "lift" as you say) accident during WWII, his five other brothers served in it. Was told FDR was instrumental in getting the famous lawyer for the handicapped, Basil O'Connor, on his behalf and awarded $5000, a lot of money in those days for his death.

The other-side of my family come from Grand Manan Island not far from Campobello, where its thought FDR contracted polio. Well I thought I'd report, as reported the other day, it was to a Boy Scout camp at Hessian Lake, in today's Bear Mountain State Park, nearby NYC that he was sick from, no worries.

Excellent coverage and photos here.

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