August 17, 1967
Page 23043
QUEEN MOTHER ELIZABETH'S VISIT TO THE ROOSEVELT CAMPOBELLO INTERNATIONAL PARK ON JULY 13, 1967
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, on July 13 it was my privilege, as vice chairman of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park, to help to welcome England's Queen Mother Elizabeth to the park. She had graciously come to officially open the park's new Visitors' Center, for which President Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Pearson laid the cornerstone in August last year.
The opportunity to greet the Queen Mother was one of the most memorable and delightful experiences of my career. She is a gracious lady. She also is a warm and endearing human being, a mother and grandmother, who, during a quiet meal or an official ceremony has the marvelous quality of making all those around her feel comfortable and at ease. Her charm is disarming, her personality engaging, and her spirit contagious. As she had done during her visit to the United States 28 years ago, she won the hearts of all of us at Campobello Island. We learned again how this woman helped to rally her own nation during the crises of World War II, and how she helped to solidify and strengthen the ties among Britain and America and our other Allies during that era of great trial.
The significance to all Americans of the Queen Mother's visit to Campobello was described in a letter to her from President Johnson.
The enchantment of her visit was evident in the welcoming remarks s by the Honorable Alan A. Macnaughton, Canadian Senator from Montreal and chairman of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission, and, I hope, my own.
Her own response reflects her graciousness and cordiality.
Newspaper accounts of the occasion in the New York Times; the St. John, New Brunswick, Telegraph-Journal; and the Portland Press Herald and Bangor Daily News of Maine tell the story.
Mr. President, the Queen Mother's visit to Campobello was an important event in relations between Canada, England and the United States. I ask unanimous consent that President Johnson's letter to her, the welcoming remarks by Senator Macnaughton and myself, the Queen Mother's response, and the newspaper stories heretofore mentioned be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the items were ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
THE WHITE HOUSE,
July 22,1967.
Her Majesty, QUEEN ELIZABETH.
The Queen Mother.
Your MAJESTY My fellow citizens join me in welcoming you once again to the American Continent. Your visit recalls a memorable courage and renews a meaningful commitment.
It reminds us all of the dark days of World War II when you and your family were an inspiration and a symbol of sustaining strength to the entire free world. It reawakens fond thoughts of the gratitude and admiration we all felt when you visited our nation in 1939.
As you open the Information Center at the Franklin Roosevelt Campobello International Park, Americans everywhere relive the proud history of a time-honored friendship. And together we enrich a common commitment to the peace and progress in which that friendship thrives.
Your participation in this joint venture between Canada and the United States is a fitting tribute to a great American leader and to the enduring strength of the transatlantic union for which he lived and worked.
Sincerely,
LYNDON B. JOHNSON.
REMARKS BY SENATOR ALAN A. MACNAUGHTON
On behalf of the Prime Minister of Canada, and as Chairman of this Commission, it is my signal honour today to welcome Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother to the Roosevelt Campobello International Park.
In 1963 the late President John Kennedy, whose death soon thereafter was so grievous a tragedy, met with Prime Minister Lester Pearson at Hyannisport and, thanks to a generous and most public-spirited bequest by the Hammer family who were then the owners of the Roosevelt properties at Campobello, reached agreement for the establishment of an International Park, which would be a perpetual memorial to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
In the following January, President Johnson and Prime Minister Pearson formally signed the agreement, legislation was passed in both countries, and that summer of 1964 Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Pearson together declared the Park open. As is known to Your Majesty, such an international association, such a shared venture between two Nations is unique, a vital and growing symbol of friendship between the peoples of Canada and the United States of America.
Since then, the Commission, composed equally of Americans and Canadians, and with funds equally provided, has worked to restore the Roosevelt summer cottage and grounds to their pristine state. We have also purchased surrounding lands which we plan to develop as a quiet recreation area for the public.
Last year the President and the Prime Minister together laid the cornerstone of this Reception Centre, a simple modern building in which we take pride. But more than that, it gives us great pleasure, on this unforgettable occasion, that Your Majesty has agreed to declare the Reception Centre open, and will then be the first visitor to enter.
I now invite Your Majesty so to proceed. (Notes for short address by the Honourable Senator Alan A. Macnaughton, P.C., Q.C., on the occasion of the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, on July 13th, 1967.)
REMARKS BY SENATOR EDMUND S. MUSKIE AT THE ROOSEVELT CAMPOBELLO INTERNATIONAL PARK ON THE OCCASION OF QUEEN MOTHER ELIZABETH'S VISIT FOR THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NEW VISITORS' CENTER, JULY 13, 1967
In 1939, as a young man, I fell in love with the Queen of England. That was not an uncommon experience among Americans of all ages upon the occasion of your visit with the King to our country.
The warm friendship which you so graciously expressed in your person and in your response to our American exuberance immeasurably strengthened and humanized the ties which bind our two countries, and endeared you to us all.
They were a fitting and timely prelude and preparation for the trials which we were to share in the years that followed.
It is equally fitting and timely that you should share with us this ceremony on this island at this place at another time of testing and trial. We are grateful that you find it possible to do so.
You have expressed the symbolism of this park in words which are eloquent in their simplicity and which establish the common theme of your earlier visit and this one.
More than that, they identify the values which, above all others, will permit us to surmount the challenges that perplex and frustrate us and to move on to a higher plateau of understanding and justice among all peoples.
Here in this park we hope to develop a demonstration of cooperation among nations and create also an international meeting place.
Here we hope to build a place where the people of two nations, and others from abroad may visit, mingle with each other, and contemplate the high ideals and natural beauties which influenced the life of Franklin Roosevelt.
Your presence today adds a distinctive grace and a cherished memory to the traditions which are unfolding on Roosevelt's beloved Campobello.
REMARKS BY QUEEN MOTHER ELIZABETH AT THE OPENING OF THE RECEPTION CENTER AT CAMPOBELLO, JULY 13, .1967
In 1939, that beautiful summer overshadowed by the thought of war, the King and I spent a brief and happy time with President and Mrs. Roosevelt at Hyde Park.
Today, 28 years later, as Britannia made the passage across Passamaquoddy Bay, through the narrow waters between New Brunswick and Maine and to this fair Island of Campobello, I have been remembering our meeting.
For each of us memories are personal things, of places and people, of strength and weakness, of joy and sorrow.
There are few human beings whose service to mankind has been so noble that a whole world -- a world indeed of strangers, remembers them in a personal sense. Such a man was Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
We know that he spent the summers of his youth at Campobello, and that here he was struck by crippling illness. And it is most fitting that the memory of so gallant and illustrious an American should also be honoured on the Canadian Island which he loved.
Here in this corner of the North American Continent there has been established this joint domain -- the Roosevelt Campobello International Park -- a symbol of the firm and enduring friendship of our nations.
We live again in times of strife and passion, and people perhaps tend to forget the simple truth, that we are all brothers one of another, here to serve the world but not to master it. If we can see through the fog of our differences to that truth, then we may indeed make a better world.
I am glad to see with us, this afternoon, members of the family of Franklin Roosevelt, and of his wife, Eleanor,in her own right a beloved ambassador of the United States of America
Through this building will pass many people from many lands. They will, I pray, draw inspiration from this place of friendship.
And now it is my great pleasure to declare the Reception Centre open.
[From the St. John (N.B.) Telegraph-Journal, July 14, 19671
FOG, MIST DIDN'T DAMPEN WELCOME GIVEN QUEEN MOTHER
(By Ann Hellmuth)
WELSH POOL, N.B. Queen Mother Elizabeth Thursday received a message of welcome to North America from President Johnson of the United States.
Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine delivered the message when the Queen Mother arrived at the Roosevelt International Park near this tiny Campobello Island community.
President Johnson praised the Queen Mother for her "memorable courage and example" she and her family set for the people of the free world during the Second World War.
The President's message recalled the Queen Mother's visit to the United States in 1939, when she and her husband, King George VI, met and spent some time with President Roosevelt.
The Queen Mother described the late American President as an "illustrious American" and his wife, the late Eleanor Roosevelt, as a "beloved ambassador of the United States."
Thick fog and mist clouded the island as the Queen Mother arrived on the royal barge. A crowd of about 2,000, mostly women and children, greeted her.
Gov. Kenneth M. Curtis of Maine and his wife were late arriving due to the fog. And Premier Robichaud arrived only moments before the Queen Mother left here. The premier, who had intended to fly in, reached the island in a fishing boat and barely had time to greet the Queen Mother before she left.
The Queen Mother, wearing a pale green silk coat and dress with matching hat, spent several minutes touring the red-shingled, 34-room Roosevelt cottage, summer home of the late President.
She was escorted through the cottage. by members of the Roosevelt family, including grandson Christopher Roosevelt and a 14-year-old granddaughter Joan Roosevelt.
The cottage is located in the park officially opened in 1964 by Mrs. Lyndon Johnson, wife of the U.S. President, and Mrs. Lester Pearson, wife of the Prime Minister. The cottage was donated to the U.S. and Canadian governments by the Hammer family, who bought it after President Roosevelt died.
After spending less than two hours on the island, the Queen Mother was scheduled to return to the royal barge, which would take her back to the Royal Yacht Britannia, anchored in Passamaquoddy Bay.
The yacht was scheduled to sail Thursday night for Halifax where the Queen Mother will visit today.
[From the Portland Press Herald, July 14, 1967]
MUSKIE DELIVERS JOHNSON MESSAGE TO QUEEN MOTHER
WELSHPOOL, N.B. – Sen. Edmund S. Muskie, D-Maine, delivered a greeting from President Johnson to Queen Mother Elizabeth Thursday after she arrived at Roosevelt International Park on Campobello Island.
The President's message praised the Queen Mother for the "memorable courage and example" she and her family set during World War II.
It recalled the Queen Mother's visit to the United States in 1939, when she and her husband, King George VI, visited President Franklin D, Roosevelt.
The Queen Mother came to Campobello Island, where Roosevelt had a vacation home, on a tour of Canada's Atlantic provinces. The Canadian Island is opposite Eastport. Maine.
Apparently moved by Johnson's message, the Queen Mother said the "beautiful summer of 1939" had many memories for her
Thick fog clouded the island as the Queen Mother, wearing a pale green silk coat and dress with matching hat, arrived on a royal barge. About 2,000 persons were there to greet her. Maine Gov. Kenneth M. Curtis and his wife were late arriving because of the fog and Premier Louis Robichaud of New Brunswick did not arrive at all. He had intended to fly in but was trying to reach the island by boat.
The queen Mother spent several minutes touring Roosevelt's old red-shingled, 34-room summer home.
She was escorted through the house by members of the late president's family, including grandson Christopher Roosevelt and granddaughter Joan Roosevelt, 14.
The house is in the park opened in 1964 by Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Lester B. Pearson, wife of Canada's prime minister.
The royal barge was to take the Queen Mother back to the royal yacht Britannia, anchored in Passamaquoddy Bay. The yacht was to sail Thursday night for Halifax, N.S.
[From the Bangor Daily News, July 14, 1967]
QUEEN MOTHER DEDICATES CENTER AT CAMPOBELLO
(By Ken Buckley)
CAMPOBELLO. N.B. – “There are few human beings whose service to mankind has been such, that a whole world, a world indeed of strangers, remembers them in a personal sense. Such a man was Franklin D. Roosevelt."
And so, with tribute paid, Queen Mother Elizabeth of Great Britain quietly drew back a brown curtain covering a memorial plaque to the late President and declared the reception center at Roosevelt Campobello International Park as officially open Thursday.
FOGGY DAY
It was a foggy day with H. M. Yacht Britannia shrouded in mist as it lay at anchor in Welshpool Harbor. But the day sparkled with the flashing gold of flags, scarlet tunics of Mounties, as the air was interlaced with the swirl of pipes and warmed by tributes of speakers:
Resplendent in a light green silk coat and matching hat laced with purple strands, the Queen stepped ashore at Welshpool from the royal barge to the flag emblazoned dock of this tiny island fishing community.
ESCORT QUEEN
An honor guard of veterans, park attendants and Royal Canadian Mounted Police escorted the Queen to a black limousine for a short drive to the Roosevelt Campobello International Park where she was officially welcomed by Sen. Alan A. Macnaughton of Montreal, chairman of the park commission, and Sen. Edmund S. Muskie of Maine, who is vice-chairman.
The Queen was greeted by a standing ovation from about 2,000 persons in front of the new reception center as she trod a scarlet red carpet to the center's piazza while pipers of Saint John, N.B., cut the foggy afternoon with their piercing wail.
ARTICULATE SPEAKER
In a smooth, articulate voice, the Queen recalled the time when in 1939 with her husband, the late King George VI, she had visited Franklin D. Roosevelt in whose memory the park is dedicated, at his second favorite retreat -- Hyde Park, N.Y.
“. . For each of us, memories are personal of places and people, of strength and weakness and of joy and sorrow . . . " And she recalled her initial visit "... overshadowed by the threat of war ... : ' and her present visit when ". . . we live again in times of stress
She called the park a symbol of a fine and enduring friendship.
Sen. Muskie read greetings from President Lyndon B. Johnson to the Queen,praising her for her courage and example set during World War II. And the senator nostalgically recalled, how when as a young man ". . . Your Majesty, I fell in love with the Queen of England . . .
AN INTERNATIONAL PLACE
The senator, in paying tribute to Roosevelt, said the hopes of the park were to develop an international meeting place where people may visit and contemplate the natural beauty that inspired FDR.
The small high ceilinged reception center sits at the left of Roosevelt's summer residence as visitors cross the international Roosevelt bridge. In it, tourists and visitors can relax while browsing through mementos of the late president.
Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson and Mrs. Lester B. Pearson opened the park Aug. 20, 1964. President Johnson, and Premier Lester B. Pearson laid the cornerstone of the center two years and a day later in 1966.
After officially declaring the center open the queen, clutching a bouquet of roses presented to her by Tammy Lord, eight-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Lord of Welshpool, toured the center.
After the tour of the new facility, the Queen in the company of Christopher Roosevelt, FDR's grandson, left the building and greeted other members of the Roosevelt family on the steps of the summer retreat.
The Queen shook hands with Mrs. Christopher Roosevelt, Mrs. Fred Adams, first cousin of FDR, Mrs. Clark Roosevelt, Joan Roosevelt, granddaughter, and Mrs. George Roach, niece of the late Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt.
Sticking to a tight schedule, the Queen briefly surveyed the house before joining guests on the rear lawn facing Eastport, where she exchanged greetings with hundreds.
Because of foggy conditions, Gov. Curtis' plane landed at Princeton, but he received a State Police escort to the reception on the lawn. It was reported that New Brunswick Premier Louis Robichaud was taken to the island by boat from Eastport, because of poor traveling conditions.
Throngs standing behind ropes along the narrow artery pointed movie and still cameras as the Queen drove back to Welshpool. Along the entire route, Mounties stood guard, as others circled the buildings in the park. With the tour concluded, the Queen descended a white gangplank to board the royal barge, a sleek 40-footer sparkling with white ropes and snappy salty sailors, who with deft maneuvering swung the barge between fishing boats and cheering families and headed out to the Britannia.
Wednesday evening the Queen reportedly reviewed the Canadian Black Watch regiments at Camp Gagetown. Friday, she is expected at Halifax, N.S.
[From the New York Times, July 14, 1967]
QUEEN MOTHER RETURNS TO CAMPOBELLO
(By John Penton)
CAMPOBELLO, N.B., July 13.-- Queen Mother Elizabeth of Great Britain crossed the fog shrouded Bay of Fundy today to become the first official tourist to enter the reception center of the Roosevelt Campobello Park.
After a speech recalling a visit she and King George VI made to President and Mrs. Roosevelt at Hyde Park, N.Y., in 1939, the Queen Mother unveiled a plaque at the entrance to the center.
The mother of Queen Elizabeth II was introduced by Senator Edmund S. Muskie, Democrat of Maine, who brought the greetings of President Johnson. A crowd of 1,500 was present.
Senator Muskie and Senator Alan Macnaughton of New Brunswick, chairman of the international joint commission that administers the park, were the only other ranking officials who were able to get to this island off the Maine coast on time despite the bad weather:
Gov. Kenneth M. Curtis of Maine arrived during a reception at the Roosevelt summer cottage, and Premier Louis Robichaud of New Brunswick made the scene in time to bid the Queen Mother farewell at Welshpool Pier before she boarded the royal barge for the Britannia, the royal yacht, offshore.
Asserting that her trip across the Bay recalled her 1939 visit to the President, the Queen Mother said: "It is most fitting that the memory of so illustrious an American should be so honored on a Canadian island he loved."
President Roosevelt's family spent many summers in the rambling building, known as The Cottage, which is the center of the park.
Recalling that war overshadowed "that beautiful summer" of 1939, the Queen Mother said,
"We live again in times of strife and passion, and people, perhaps, tend to forget the truth that we are all brothers, one of another, here to serve the world and not to master it.
"If we can see through the fog of our differences to that truth, then we may, indeed, make a better world.”
Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson and Mrs. Lester B. Pearson, wife of the Prime Minister of Canada, officially dedicated the park Aug. 20, 1964.
Last year, President Johnson and Prime Minister Pearson jointly laid the cornerstone of the reception center. The plaque that was unveiled today marked the dates of the three ceremonies.
Campobello, once accessible only by sea, was joined to the mainland at Lubec, Me., in August of 1962 by a bridge.