EXCITING VAL-KILL NEWS: June 2016

News June 2016

Eleanor's Ideals in Our Time

News from the Executive Director

It's almost summer at Val-Kill - the place Eleanor Roosevelt most loved to be in the world!

Your support means so much to us and allows us to bring Eleanor's story to new audiences and to continue our work to reanimate Val-Kill as a vehicle through which ER and her causes can be brought to life.

Val-Kill visits continue to surge with a 27% increase in 2015 on top of a 38% increase in 2014! The Partnership's work has had an incredible impact in drawing these crowds and has been integral to strengthening the visitor's experience. Thanks to projects such as the milestone permanent exhibit: Eleanor Roosevelt and Val-Kill: Emergence of a Political Leader with lead sponsors Lia and Bill Poorvu, and additional sponsorships by Claudine & Fred Bacher, the Muriel F. Siebert Foundation and Carol & Howard Hillman, visitors come away with a deeper understanding of Eleanor Roosevelt as a fierce organizer who took risks and built connections to achieve social justice for all peoples.

To date, the Partnership has raised more than $2 million in direct benefits to Val-Kill and is recognized by the National Park Foundation as one of the leading charitable partners to the National Park Service.

And there is more to come! Currently we have four new restoration projects underway! In addition, there are new collaborations and pilot programs that will reach millions of young people with Eleanor Roosevelt's inspiring story as a leader in the fight for universal human rights. The Partnership has just entered year two of an exciting new strategic vision developed with help from the New York Council on Nonprofits.

Your support is vital to our work and makes all the difference in our ability to develop programs and exhibits that tell the story of Eleanor Roosevelt's uncommon courage and relevance for new generations. Thanks to a one-to-one challenge grant from Claudine and Fred Bacher, between now and our fiscal year end June 30th all gift will be doubled! We rely on support to help bring these important projects forward. Please give generously.

There truly is no other place in the world like Val-Kill!

Warm wishes,

Uri Perrin

Executive Director

The Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Partnership

(845) 229--9115 x2037

uri@valkill.org

Eleanor's Sleeping Porch Complete!

Thanks to a a generous $30,000 grant from the Muriel F. Siebert Foundation restoration of Eleanor Roosevelt's beloved Sleeping Porch is now complete. The sleeping porch was an extension of Eleanor's bedroom. She was known to use it frequently in all seasons, and she reflects on it numerous times over the years in her "My Day" columns as a major source of inspiration and delight. Now recreated as it was in Eleanor's time, and as it inspired her, visitors can enjoy a unique window into the humility and experiences that shaped ER's character and vision.

Program Piloted with Sorensen Center for International Peace and Justice

This May we launched an exciting pilot program with the Sorensen Center for International Peace and Justice, an institute of the City University of NY (CUNY) dedicated to training social justice lawyers to work from the local to the global levels to protect rights of those affected by instability, conflict, and repression. The law students explored the creation of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights and shared their thought and ideas for how Eleanor Roosevelt's methods for social change and human rights remain relevant to the work they are doing worldwide. Our hope is to continue a collaboration with the Sorensen Center that can lend Eleanor's example to help equip and inspire these public interest lawyers to serve the underprivileged and disempowered and to make a difference in their communities along side the Center's mission .

Spring Facing History Workshop "A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt & the UDHR"

Facing History came to Val-Kill for a teacher training workshop on efforts to rebuild the world community after World War II and the Holocaust, focusing on Eleanor Roosevelt's pivotal role in the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This workshop was brought to the Roosevelt Vanderbilt National Historic Sites by Teaching the Hudson Valley with support from the Partnership and the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt Historical Association.


	Val-Kill Volunteers.

Dig In: Volunteer Val-Kill

Val-Kill is looking for volunteer gardeners to assist with the restoration and maintenance of Eleanor's beloved Val-Kill landscape. The Val-Kill lifestyle celebrated the outdoors and was a central part of the story of the Roosevelts' private and public life.

Join this wonderful group led by NPS Horticulturist Anna de Cordova at (845) 229-4218 or Anna_DeCordova@nps.gov. The volunteer gardening program takes place on Wednesdays from 9:00 am-12:00 pm. Gardening experience is not required.

DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT: CHALLENGE GRANT

We depend on support from individuals like you to help bring Eleanor Roosevelt's ideals in our time to the next generation. Thanks to a Challenge Grant from Claudine & Fred Bacher ALL GIFTS ARE DOUBLED between now and June 30th!

Val-Kill Swimming Pool Returns in 2016!

After four decades, the Swimming Pool returns as a central feature of Val-Kill's cultural and recreational landscape thanks to lead support from Cathy & Jim Stone and a prestigious NPS Centennial Matching grant award. Read more...

DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT

CHALLENGE GRANT

thanks to generous

support from

Claudine & Fred Bacher

UPCOMING

Sat, Sept 17th, 2016

Val-Kill Picnic & Square Dance

All Ages Welcome!

Experience Val-Kill in the the tradition of "Picnic Diplomacy". Reserve your tickets now for delicious local food, drinks, beer, period music and fun!

Partnership Hosts Civic Engagement Workshop with Bard College and the Department of State

on June 29th, 2016

Val-Kill welcomes foreign undergraduate students from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Palestinian Territories, and Tunisia participating in Bard College's Study of the U.S. Institute on Civic Engagement summer institute. Workshops on ER will be led by acclaimed historian Allida Black, Board Member Abigail Ruane of Peace Women and Board Chair Manuela Roosevelt.

Tennis Courts

"Set" To Be Restored

!

Often played on during picnics with the Wiltwyck School for Boys, restoration of the Val-Kill tennis court as a playable court is set to begin next year with lead support by a matching grant from Lia & William Poorvu.

Digital Eleanor Library with Discovery Education

The Partnership is working with Discovery Education on an ER Digital Library to bring the stories of her courageous leadership to the over 1 million educators and 35 million students who work with DE in over half of US schools.

Stone Cottage Seminar Room & Garden Forum Series

Thanks to a recent grant from the Muriel F. Siebert Foundation, the seminar room and adjacent garden loggia of Stone Cottage will be reburbished with era pieces, providing an authentic experience for public programs in the site's original cottage as well as a new forum series!

The Eleanor Roosevelt-Val-Kill Partnership is a 501(c)3 nonprofit in public private partnership with the National Park Service's Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site. Our mission is to promote and sustain Eleanor Roosevelt's ideals as one of the world's most courageous leaders for social justice so that future generations can be inspired through her example. We accomplish this mission by revitalizing her life and work through our support of interpretive projects at her beloved Val-Kill home with the National Park Service. We also build engagement, awareness and action for her leadership on social justice issues through collaborative partnerships and programming dedicated to her ideals in our time.

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