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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Illustration for Franklin Roosevelt at Hyde Park: "Top Cottage" During One of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's Visits
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Illustration for Franklin Roosevelt at Hyde Park: "Top Cottage" During One of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's Visits

Object numberMO 1956.179
Name Drawing
Artist (American painter and printmaker, 1904-1981)
Date1949
Mediumpaper (illustration paper, cardboard, matboard), ink, paint (gouache), pencil
Dimensionsmat H 18 in x W 22 in (45.7 cm x 55.9 cm )
 sheet H 11 in x W 15 3/4 in (27.9 cm x 40 cm )
DescriptionAn original pen and ink and ink wash drawing with gouache highlights showing FDR's Top Cottage in Hyde Park, New York during an August 1943 visit of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The scene takes place on Top Cottage's covered porch. In the forefront, Harry Hopkins and Grace Tully are seated at a small table and playing cards. In the background Churchill is reading a newspaper and FDR chats with Mrs. Averell Harriman while others are seated nearby. The drawing is signed by the artist in ink in the lower left below the image: Olin Dows © 1949.

On the reverse of the drawing is a handwritten note in ink describing the image: Top Cottage during one of W.S. Churchill's visits to Hyde Park. Harry Hopkins and Miss Grace Tully are playing cards in the foreground. Prime Minister Churchill is reading in the center. F.D.R. on the sofa is talking with Miss Averell Harriman. The others would be Averell Harriman and ... any of the gatherings of the President on a picknick [sic] or for the day at Top Cottage - might be any officials or advisors he consented to talk with - Sherwood, McLeish, Bullitt with Churchill Mrs. C, his daughter Sarah, Brendan Bracken. There might have been the Prime Minister of Norway or any of the Roosevelt family or friends.

The drawing is mounted to a piece of cardboard and comes with a window mat on which the title is written in pencil: "Top Cottage" during one of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's Visits.
Label TextThis drawing is one in a series of original ink wash drawings created by Olin Dows for his book, "Franklin Roosevelt at Hyde Park," published in 1949 by American Artists Group, Inc. Olin Dows spent two years writing the text and drawing the book's 174 illustrations. This illustration appears on page 176 of the book.

The Dows family had been lifelong friends and neighbors of the Roosevelts and were frequent guests at events at Hyde Park, NY and in Washington, DC, both before and during the presidency. In 1939, Olin Dows received a commission to design and paint the murals in the Rhinebeck, NY Post Office. In 1941, at the suggestion of President Roosevelt, Dows was commissioned to design and paint the murals in the Hyde Park Post Office as well, and worked closely with FDR in the conception and design of the murals.
Additional Details
Custodial History NoteDonated to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum by Olin Dows in 1955.
Credit LineGift of Olin Dows
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesHudson River Valley Materials (National Archives Identifier 778818)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
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