Overview
- Description
- At the Morgenthau family farm called The Homestead - Fishkill Farms, ca. 1926, Henry III, Robert and Joan play in a pool. They play with a puppy outside. Father Henry Morgenthau Jr. and his wife Elinor Fatman Morgenthau, hold hands with Henry III, Joan, and Robert while walking outside, then play baseball. 00:01:25 Joan talks to Henry Jr. as he films her sitting at the beach in Weekapoag, Rhode Island, probably in August in the mid-1920s when visiting the Weekapoag Inn where the family rented a cottage. The three children sing. Henry and Robert on a rented sailboat called the Mahogany. The children swim in the ocean. Cows and horses at a fairground at the Rhinebeck County Fair. Robert and Henry III were active in 4H, so they each raised and showed calves and competed on horseback. Sailing again. At the ocean in Rhode Island, Elinor comes out of the waves. Joan learning to row. 4-H fair. Climbing Mt. Marcy at the Ausable Club in Essex County. Joan at the new farm.
00:05:47 Joan and Henry Jr. eat watermelon next to a stream. The children play on the exercise equipment in the yard of their new farm, Mount Hornes. Joan plays with Richard Ince, a Columbia college student who tutored the children during the summer because Henry Jr. and Elinor thought the children needed a strong male role model [he later was partner at a Wall Street firm]. Diving into the pool and horseback riding. 00:07:04 Elinor, Robert and Joan ride in a horse drawn sleigh as Henry III drives the horse and sleigh. They are with a nurse, Maude Laning, who was also a nurse for George Haas's family. Schoolboys, including Henry III. The children collect firewood and a man uses a mechanized saw to cut down a tree on the farm. Henry III and Robert ride double on a bicycle, walk with Henry Jr., and play with a dog in a street outside their farm. Good CUs of the three children. 00:09:27 At a rodeo, possibly a dude ranch in Colorado owned by the Boyer family. EXT of the Morgenthau 2,000 acre farm. Henry III, Robert and Joan sled outside in the snow, skate, and play hockey on an artificial pond on the property. Joan and her pet sheep. 00:12:22 Glimpse of sleigh seen earlier. 00:12:24 During warmer weather, the children plant trees -- they planted thousands of Red Pine during their childhood. - Duration
- 00:12:48
- Date
-
Event:
late 1920s
- Locale
-
New York State,
United States
- Credit
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of Henry Morgenthau III
- Contributor
-
Camera Operator:
Henry Morgenthau Jr.
Henry Morgenthau Jr.
- Biography
-
Henry Morgenthau, Jr. was born on May 11, 1891 in New York, NY, and was raised in a secular German Jewish family. His father, Henry Morgenthau, Sr., was appointed Wilson’s ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, 1913-1916, and Henry Jr. visited his father in Istanbul. Though Henry attended Cornell University, he did not graduate but instead bought a large farm in Dutchess County, NY, near the home of Franklin Roosevelt. The two men became friends. In 1916, Henry met and married Elinor Fatman; the couple had three children: Henry III (b. 1917), Robert (b. 1919), and Joan (1922-2012). Henry intended to make a living as a farmer, and also published the American Agriculturalist magazine. When Roosevelt was elected governor, Henry was appointed to an agricultural advisory committee. In 1934, Morgenthau was appointed as U.S. Secretary of Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was largely responsible for the creation of the War Refugee Board in January 1944. After Morgenthau's resignation in July 1945, he became more heavily involved in Jewish affairs. He became General Chairman of the United Jewish Appeal and was a financial advisor to the newly-created state of Israel. “Tal Shahar,” an agricultural community near Jerusalem, was named in his honor. After Elinor’s death in 1949, Morgenthau married Marcelle Morgenthau in 1952. He passed away in 1967. Learn more about the Morgenthau family from the feature documentary "Morgenthau" (2014) at http://watch.thirteen.org/video/2365250608/.
Physical Details
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
- Copyright
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Conditions on Use
- The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum places no restrictions on use of this material. You do not require further permission from the Museum to reproduce or use this film footage.
- Copyright Holder
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Film Provenance
- The original 16mm films were found in Joan Morgenthau's home and donated to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in 2008. Copies of the original film boxes with handwritten notations are in Film and Video files. Henry Morgenthau III donated his family's collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015.
- Note
- Learn more about the Morgenthau family from the feature documentary "Morgenthau" (2014) at http://watch.thirteen.org/video/2365250608/.
- Copied From
- 16mm
- Film Source
- Henry Morgenthau III
- File Number
- Legacy Database File: 5815
- Special Collection
-
Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-21 08:05:38
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn1004843
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Also in Morgenthau Family Collection
The 16mm amateur films taken by Henry Morgenthau, Jr. capture the life of the Morgenthau family from the late 1920s to the 1970s. Vacationing and fun at the family home are re-occurring themes.
Morgenthau family vacations in Mexico, the Alps, and Israel and at leisure at their farm in New York
Film
Various exterior shots in color: boat on an ocean, apple orchard on the Morgenthau farm at springtime, the pump house, trees and rivers in a forest and the flowers in front of one of the Morgenthau homes. Elinor in a car. 00:48:39 Bullfight in Mexico, around 1946. Scenes in Mexico, where Henry Jr. brought Henry III on vacation following his release from the Army. Henry Jr. and Henry III ride horses. 00:49:44 In 1938, the family vacations at a seaside resort in Cap D'Antibes on the French Riviera, then in the Alps in southern France. Villa with paintings in Switzerland. 00:51:35 Henry Jr. socializes at a horse race in Mexico with the Mexican ambassador to United States (00:51:48, man with mustache). HAS, parade in Mexico, tourist sights, and fishing from a boat. Henry III catches a marlin. 00:56:41 Jenny, Robert Morgenthau's oldest daughter, swims in the same pool he used to as a child. Sailing and swimming. Sailboat race, possibly in Nantucket. Henry Jr. plays with the children on the beach, and then back at their pool on the farm. 01:00:42 Blurry, a man gets into a helicopter and flies away and then lands in the same field. 01:01:14 Elinor and Henry Jr. board a small airplane and visit Israel. The woman with sunglasses on the boat is Henry's secretary, Henrietta Klotz, man with the moustache is Henry Montor. Visiting more places in Israel. Parade of soldiers, raising the Israeli flag. Ben Gurion addresses the crowd. The soldiers parade, and young women run. A large group of local civilians greet the former secretary, Henry Morgenthau, Jr. He cuts a ribbon at the opening of Tal Shahar, a moshav (agricultural commune) in central Israel. The moshav is named for Morgenthau, which translates from German to 'morning dew.' Tal Shahar means 'dawn dew' in Hebrew. 01:04:18 Locals jump off a cart. Beautiful hotel, beach scenery. Glimpse of toddler. Horse show observed by Henry Morgenthau Jr. Marcelle Puthon Morgenthau (?), Henry Jr.'s second wife, walks toward camera and shops at an outdoor market, maybe in Taormina, on Sicily. Views of majestic snowy Alps and touring the countryside. 01:05:54 Six of Elinor and Henry Jr.'s grandchildren gather at the family farm for a portrait. 01:06:08 Quick shot of New York cityscape and Central Park. At the beach, Robert helps his daughter, Barbara, put her shoes on. Performers. Ruth Morgenthau walks around the garden in front of the Morgenthau home at Fishkill Farms. Canoeing on a river. Kramer Morgenthau sits at the edge of the river and speaks with the person filming. Henry Jr. and Marcelle amongst historical ruins, maybe in Taormina. Tourist shots. Guitarists entertain Henry Jr., Ruth, and Henry III on a balcony. Views of Sicily, gardens.
Morgenthau family visits a dude ranch; Lindbergh welcome home parade in NYC
Film
Quick shot of an ocean liner. Henry Jr., Henry III, Robert, and Joan Mogenthau sail model ships in their swimming pool at the farm. Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigning in a town, parade. The children and their father ice skate on a frozen pond. In a warmer season, the children drive a battery operated toy car (red bug) in the street in front of their house, and the boys let Joan drive. The family practices horseback riding while adults race horses, somewhere in the Rocky Mountains at a dude ranch. Scenes of the mountain range in Wyoming. The family visited Grand Teton Park before it was open to the public. 00:30:59 Good family portrait of the Morgenthaus on a mountain. More horseback riding. Henry Jr. and Elinor prepare food around a campfire. Brief shots of farming, houses, a lake, and desert formations or ruins. Back at the campsite, the family cooks. Cowboys load mules with heavy bags in the desert and travel through the Rockies. 00:33:40 The children play tennis and swim in the pool at their farm. Very quick shots of river and scenery. 00:34:10 New York City welcomes home Charles Lindbergh with a ticker-tape parade on June 13, 1927, filmed from the balcony or window of a city building.
British dignitaries visit DC; FDR and Churchill join the Morgenthaus at their farm to relax; Henry Morgenthau films a spot on war bonds
Film
The Morgenthau family vacations in Hawaii in 1937 - hiking, waterfall, horseback riding, the beach. 00:36:35 Eleanor Roosevelt, Henry Morgenthau, Jr. and his wife Elinor pose for photographs, perhaps upon their return from France aboard the SS Normandie. Horseback riding, back at the Morgenthau family farm. Scenic views of Hawaii from a ship; a speedboar. 00:38:11 In June 1939, King George and Queen Elizabeth arrive at Union Station, Washington, DC, and are formally greeted. The Queen and Mrs. Roosevelt enter an automobile for transit to the White House. President Roosevelt and his guests board the Potomac. FDR and the Queen converse. The press films the event, including Henry Morgenthau, Jr. as cameraman. Morgenthau was the only cabinet member invited to be present, which deeply upset Democratic National Committee Chairman James Farley. The King lays a wreath on Washington's tomb at Mount Vernon and visit the gardens. Indian entertainers performing songs and dances at Hyde Park. Includes title cards throughout (see notes). 00:41:43 The Morgenthau family rides horses. A celebration for Henry III graduating from Princeton in 1939. MS, Henry III with a woman in a suit, followed by a shot of Henry III and Henry Morgenthau Jr. 00:42:12 In June 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Elinor Morgenthau, Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Robert Morgenthau (in his Navy uniform) enjoy drinking mint juleps together and relaxing in a backyard of the Morgenthau family farm. Robert sits beside his wife, Martha Patridge Morgenthau, dressed in purple, and Joan wears a nurse's uniform. Churchill's daughter is in attendance. Henry Morgenthau Jr. poses next to a bust of himself while the artist Joe Davidson finishes the sculpture. Davidson had previously sculpted FDR's likeness. 00:46:00 FDR holds a press conference outside. 00:46:21 In 1941 in an office likely in Washington, DC, Secretary of Treasury, Henry Morgenthau Jr. reads through a script about war bonds (no sound, staged). He and Franklin D. Roosevelt talk to the camera (no sound), again with a war bonds poster behind them.
FDR campaigns for NY governor; Morgenthau family home movies
Film
Franklin D. Roosevelt swimming in the pool at the Morgenthau residence. Henry III holds up fish. The three children, Elinor, and another boy roast marshmallows outside. Women's luncheon (possibly a Vassar reunion organized by Elinor) outdoors at the farm, views of the property and a river. The Morgenthau children play on rings, swim in the pool, play ball, and sail toy ships in the swimming pool. Airplanes fly overhead. The children help build a dock in the summer at the farm; playing with the family dog, whose name was Puddles. A large group of people on the farm with a stable in the BG where the groom, Dick, lived. 00:16:01 Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt sit in a boat. Workers and political supporters at a dam. FDR and Mrs. Roosevelt, on his 1928 campaign for governor, shakes hands with people from a boat and car in the village of Herkimer. Henry Jr. is briefly visible on the boat with FDR, wearing a cap. They travel down the locks of the Erie Canal on the campaign trail, crowds, shaking hands. More stops on the campaign trail. 00:17:54 The children and Elinor Morgenthau ice skate at their farm, play hockey and ride in a horse-drawn sleigh (perhaps seen in RG-60.1565). In summer, the Morgenthau children practice diving in the pool at their farm, The Homestead - Fishkill Farm, while Elinor looks on. 00:18:45 FDR prepares to make a speech aboard a boat. Scenes of people, nature, and the river as the boat moves from town to town on the campaign in 1928. FDR shakes hands with citizens from a car and Mrs. Roosevelt sits next to him. Fishing traps, possibly in Nantucket. 00:20:40 The Morgenthau family, including Henry III, Robert and Joan, sail and relax on a beach in Rhode Island (Nantucket). Richard Inces is in the striped shirt. The man eating watermelon could be Dan Hanley, a tutor; Edith Haas (Elinor's cousin) may be walking out of the water. 00:21:15 The children ride horses in winter. 00:21:41 Franklin D. Roosevelt talks to people who have gathered to hear him speak and writes from the boat he is campaigning from; the young man sitting beside may be one of FDR's sons, either Franklin, Jr. or Henry. Campaigning by boat past waving spectators. A woman gives Eleanor Roosevelt a bouquet of flowers, shaking hands. FDR and one of his sons at a ceremony at West Point. People cheer from shore as the Roosevelts pass by in their boat, and stop to make speeches. Franklin D. Roosevelt sits in a chair in a garden outside while people congregate around him, or sit beside and talk. Portraits. Boat campaign. 00:24:17 Henry Morgenthau III and Robert enjoy a ride in Henry Jr.'s airplane. 00:25:17 When Henry Jr. was Conservation Commissioner of NY, the family would visit the Adirondacks. Here, Henry III, Robert and Joan go canoeing and hiking, probably in Keene Valley or Asable where there was a camp that banned Jews. More views of FDR, probably on the campaign trail. Onte Snyder, FDR's chauffeur who is visible here, had previously worked for the Morgenthaus. 00:26:08 FDR as Governor of New York, opens the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid in February. Henry Jr. was in attendance -- he had been asked to stay at the Lake Placid Club but declined knowing that Jews were not allowed.
