The Roosevelt memorial that now stands in Grosvenor Square was a true people’s memorial to a great man. After the war, a Franklin Roosevelt Fund was opened. The only way to donate was to purchase a copy of a Roosevelt souvenir book at a price of five shillings. In six days, 160,000 British people raised enough money to pay for the memorial.
The proposal to raise the money in this way came from the Pilgrims Society in order that ‘the memorial shall represent the feelings of the British people as a whole and not merely of sections of it’. Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced the scheme in the House of Commons on 11 October 1946. At the same time he was able to tell the House that the Duke of Westminster had donated the land on which the statue was to stand.[1]
[1] HC Deb 11 October 1946 vol 427 cc487-94
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