ANS signed “FDR” in the lower wide blank margin of first page of a typed document headed “Georgia Warm Springs Foundation, Inc., Budget,” May 1, 1929, two pages, 8.5 x 11, attached at top to a blue legal cover. Roosevelt writes, in full: “O.K. Except–eliminate Fund for study of Restorative Treatment $250,000–and add proviso that $100,000 may be taken from Patients Aid Fund or Maintenance Fund to add to building.” The document outlines the total budget requirements, including “build and equip Infirmary…replace present furniture and equipment…build and furnish 5 new cottages…build 11 new small cottages…build and furnish units for patients.” In very good condition with filing folds passing through a portion of his handwriting, and some toning and chipping to the edges (heavier to the blue cover).
In 1921, FDR received the dreaded diagnosis of polio—a simply unacceptable condition that potentially spelled disaster for the up and coming politician. He refused to believe that his paralysis was permanent, and it was not until a friend recommended the natural springs of Warm Springs, Georgia, that he found hope for the future. The mineral springs’ buoyancy allowed him to walk its waters without the benefit of braces and made him feel whole. So taken was Roosevelt with Warm Springs that he bought the spa and founded the Green Warm Springs Foundation, a hydrotherapy center for polio victims with virtually no working capital and no real financial plan.
In 1928, when he was elected Governor of New York, he turned over the reins of the struggling foundation to his law partner Basil O'Connor who immediately began to put Warm Springs' financial house in order. In this document, Roosevelt approved the $1.5 million dollar budget which included the purchase of the property, new equipment and accommodations for patients, a Patient's Aid Fund, a fund for study of restorative treatment, and a maintenance fund. Before he signed the budget, he struck off $250,000 for the Restorative Treatment fund and added a proviso that permitted $100,000 from either the Patients Aid Fund or the Maintenance Fund for building construction.
O'Connor, the foundation's director, became its biggest champion and fund-raiser. Green Warm Springs Foundation eventually became the March of Dimes and funded Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine. Ironically, with today's science and forensics, it's now widely believed that FDR never had polio, but another neurological disease, Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disorder. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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