Commemoration Of FDR’s Visit To Boise In 1937

The North and East End Neighborhood Associations received a $15,000 neighborhood reinvestment grant to create a display commemoration the visit of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Boise in 1937.

Their project, set for completion in 2017, will commemorate the 80th anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s visit to Boise in 1937. The plan is to create one or more markers or displays in Downtown Boise or in the neighborhoods FDR toured on that notable day.

They currently have three iconic photos, but finding more photos from the visit has been challenging. Organizers are turning to the public for help. They’re hoping that someone has photos from the visit tucked into their family photo albums and collections that they would be willing to have them copied for the project.

On this historic day, Senator William Borah introduced the president before his speech from the back seat of his roadster at 7th and Bannock Streets. Accompanied by his wife Eleanor, he spent the morning taking in Boise’s neighborhoods, its trees, its streets, and the estimated 15,000 residents who crowded the motorcade route to see him.