New York Governor-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt Provides Advice to a High School Student on What Career to Pursue

Franklin D. Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in forestry and conservation. As chair of the New York State Senate’s Forest, Fish and Game Committee he introduced eight bills addressing conservation, including the Roosevelt-Jones Bill to regulate timber harvests on private land. To garner support for his bill, FDR invited the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot, to address the New York State Assembly. As governor of New York, FDR cited the benefits of forests during a radio address on March 31, 1930. FDR supported the 1931 Hewitt Reforestation Amendment to the New York Constitution which resulted in planting tree seedlings on thousands of acres of abandoned farmland with depleted soils and significant erosion. In August 1931, FDR used the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration to put unemployed men to work on conservation projects. Over 10,000 men built fire roads, fought soil erosion, and planted seedlings on the marginal farmlands.

As President, on April 5, 1933, he created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). This act addressed two pressing needs, unemployment and the repair of environmental damage, with one of the most successful New Deal programs. Employing three million men over nine years, the CCC played a critical role in FDR’s strategy to conserve land and natural resources and raised public awareness of the outdoors and the importance of natural resource preservation. FDR expanded the National Park Service mission in 1933 to include not only parks and monuments but also national cemeteries, national memorials, and national military parks. He also added the parks in Washington, D.C. The reorganization paved the way for inclusion of historic sites such as the Vanderbilt Mansion and FDR’s own home, which he made part of the national park system in 1939 and 1943. With sweeping legislation, FDR was responsible for adding over one-quarter of the 411 areas in today’s National Park Service system.

Roosevelt saw chemistry as a door-opener for a young person seeking a career, as the knowledge of chemistry is useful in so many fields of endeavor. And FDR was always happy to provide advice to young people, being generous with his time and thoughts. So when a high school student wrote to ask what classes he should take and what career he should pursue, he received this response.

The 1928 election took place on November 6, and Roosevelt was elected Governor of New York. His fine performance in that post led to his receiving the Democratic Party nomination for president in 1932, and his election as President of the United States.

Typed letter signed, on Democratic National Committee letterhead, as Governor-elect, but sent from Warm Springs, Ga., November 16, 1928, to high school student Albert Wilkinson. “Your letter asking my advice as to a high school course has just come. Since you limit your choice to chemistry, forestry and reporting I am going to suggest chemistry first. Forestry is a profession, and if later on you decide to take this up you will find the knowledge of chemistry very helpful. Forestry has passed the ‘fad’ stage and I believe that in future years the preservations of our forests will employ a large number of men, – as a matter of fact we keep one busy here at Warm Springs several months of the year -, still chemistry is useful in any profession. You try this for a couple of years and then write me again.”

An interesting letter illustrating both Roosevelt’s willingness to take his time and write to a student, and his bent towards conservation.