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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.
Desk Fountain Pens
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Desk Fountain Pens

Artifact IDMO 1947.93.131.1-2
Object Type Pen
Gifter
Maker (French-American, founded 1884)
Dateca. 1944
Mediumbakelite, brass (copper alloy), metal
Dimensionsoverall (each) H 7 7/8 in x Diam 1/2 in (20 cm x 1.3 cm )
Physical DescriptionTwo identical black Waterman desk fountain pens. The maker's mark is located on the metal tip and impressed on the side.

The pens were accompanied by a card that reads: F.D.R. I hope you'll be using these for many, many years. Doc Basil O'Connor 1/30/44.
Historical NoteFDR kept these Waterman desk fountain pens on his Oval Office desk. Basil O’Connor presented them to the President as a birthday gift in January 1944. Daniel Basil O'Connor (1892-1972) was a longtime friend and political adviser to FDR. He was Roosevelt's law partner from 1925 to 1933, and later served as president of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis-March of Dimes drive against poliomyelitis. President William Jefferson Clinton used one of these pens to sign the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 in a ceremony at the White House.

The pens are on display in the FDR’S OVAL OFFICE DESK exhibit in the Museum’s APRIL 12, 1945 gallery.
Additional Details
Custodial History NoteDonated to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum as a bequest of Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 20, 1947.
Credit LineEstate of Franklin D. Roosevelt
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesPersonal Possessions of the Roosevelt Family (National Archives Identifier 782689)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
In Collection(s)
On view
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