The Roosevelt Institute for American Studies (RIAS) is a research institute, graduate school, conference center, and library for the study of US history and transatlantic relations in the modern era located in Zeeuws Archief, in Middelburg, the Netherlands. Up to 2017, it was known as the Roosevelt Study Center. The Institute is named after three famous Americans, whose ancestors emigrated from

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

, the Netherlands, to the United States in the seventeenth century: President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

(1858–1919), President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

(1882–1945), and

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

(1884–1962).

History and activities

The roots of the Institute date back to 1982, when Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., noted American historian, and William J. vanden Heuvel, president of the Roosevelt Institute in Hyde Park, New York, launched the initiative to establish a European research facility specialized in twentieth-century American history in Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland. Their initiative, discussed with the Provincial Government of Zeeland in the years 1982–1984, resulted in the opening of the Roosevelt Study Center in 1986. In 2016, 30 years after its founding, the Center entered into a partnership with the University of Leiden. Consequently, the Center was renamed to the Roosevelt Institute for American Studies, and acquired a new set of activities, including the establishment of a graduate school for US history. The RIAS is subsidized by the Provincial Government of Zeeland and the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science. Private corporations and institutions sponsor particular programs of the RIAS. The RIAS cooperates with Dutch universities in research projects, as well as with the Theodore Roosevelt Association and the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in various ways. The center, for instance, annually awards the best Master Thesis on American History with the Theodore Roosevelt American History Award (TRAHA), which grants the winner a trip to the key sites of interest of the Roosevelts. The RIAS regularly organizes and hosts conferences and lectures on U.S. history and culture and on European-U.S. relations. It also publishes an annual newsletter in December, The Roosevelt.

Collections and research

The RIAS has an extensive library collection on American and transatlantic history, including both secondary and primary sources. While the extensive book collection, with more than 9500 entries, can be searched by use of an online catalogue, the institute also owns more than a hundred microfilm collections and digital resources. These include, among others, copies of the papers of President Theodore Roosevelt; the presidential Office Files of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy; the papers of W.E.B. Du Bois; and Dutch-American diplomatic correspondence (dating back to 1784). The RIAS library is freely accessible to any interested researchers in American history, culture, or Dutch-American relations. It also offers two kinds of grants for stimulating research in Middelburg: the Roosevelt Visiting Professorship and research grants provided by the institute itself. The former is meant for American scholars, while latter enables European scholars and students to research various topics related to U.S. history at the Roosevelt Institute for American studies without crossing the Atlantic.

Four Freedoms Awards

Since 1982, the year that commemorated the centennial of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's birth and the bicentennial of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Netherlands, The Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Medals are awarded in even-numbered years in Middelburg's Abbey and in odd-numbered years in Hyde Park, New York. These prestigious medals are awarded to men and women who have demonstrated an enduring commitment to the four principle freedoms as expressed by President Franklin Roosevelt in his State of the Union Message of January 6, 1941: Freedom of Speech and Expression, Freedom of Worship,

Freedom from want The right to an adequate standard of living is listed as part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was accepted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948.United Nations''Universal Declaration of Human Right ...

, and

Freedom from fear Freedom from fear is listed as a fundamental human right according to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948. On January 6, 1941, United States President of the United States, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called it one of t ...

. The laureates of the Four Freedoms Awards in Middelburg include: * Princess Juliana of the Netherlands * The Dalai Lama *

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

* Desmond Tutu *

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

* Mohammed ElBaradei

External links

Website Roosevelt Institute for American StudiesWebsite Four Freedom Awards
{{Authority control Middelburg, Zeeland Education in Zeeland