From Hyde Park to Oyster Bay: Helen Roosevelt Robinson

Abstract

Born upstate into the Hyde Park clan, Helen Roosevelt Robinson married into the Oyster Bay set, straddling the two wings of the family. As a consequence of her proximity to both sides, she has a unique perspective on the family. She tells of life at Sagamore Hill and Springwood, the birthplace of Franklin Roosevelt. Perhaps most importantly, she fills in blind spots of those lesser known, but equally significant Roosevelt family members like her father “Rosy” Roosevelt, her brother “Tadd,” and the maternal line of Theodore Roosevelt, the Bullochs. Like so many other chapters, this one relates the centrality of the Roosevelt women to the family’s history.