ROOSEVELT & RHONA

ROOSEVELT& RHONA

Their lives, remembered

From North Carolina and Saint John’s, Antigua to New York City. Two lives, one family.

Rhona in England

An audio recording made before she met Roosevelt.

00:00 03:32
Restored archival portrait of Roosevelt William Bryant.
ROOSEVELT
Restored archival portrait of Rhona.
RHONA

THEIR STORY

Two beginnings.
A life built together.

From North Carolina and Antigua, Roosevelt and Rhona made their home in Queens, New York. Their lives together held military service, work, study, and the raising of five children.

ROOSEVELT WILLIAM BRYANT

Service, study,
and family.

Roosevelt was born in Gastonia, North Carolina. He served in the United States Marine Corps as a Private First Class. His separation record lists his specialty as antitank assaultman, his last assignment with the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines at Camp Lejeune, an honorable character of service, and a recommendation for reenlistment.

He studied at Adelphi University, where he made the dean’s list as an undergraduate and went on to graduate study. The university has confirmed his records to the family.

In the service recordU.S. Marine Corps

Private First Class · Camp Lejeune

RHONA

Across the Atlantic.
A voice still familiar.

Rhona was born in Antigua, in the West Indies. Before meeting Roosevelt, she spent time in England. A recording from those years lets us hear her voice today.

She worked in dentistry. In Queens, she and Roosevelt made their home in Cambria Heights and raised their family.

In the family recordAntigua · England · New York

Origins, an early chapter, and home

Roosevelt and Rhona seated with three of their children in a family photograph.
Roosevelt & Rhona with their children

FROM THE PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM

A family moment.
Kept close.

Roosevelt and Rhona sit here with three of their five children. It is an ordinary family moment, and that is part of what makes it worth keeping.

This archive stays with the two people at its heart: Roosevelt and Rhona, their experiences, and the life they built together.

Family photograph · Restored from the preserved original
View photograph ↗

Roosevelt and Rhona together in a restored color studio portrait.
Roosevelt & Rhona
View photograph ↗
Roosevelt and Rhona looking down at their first-born baby in a restored family photograph.
Roosevelt & Rhona with their first-born baby
View photograph ↗

IN HER OWN VOICE

Rhona in England

The recording above comes from before Rhona met Roosevelt. Her pauses and inflections carry something no written account can: the sound of her being herself.

It also captures her curiosity about new technologies entering everyday life, and the excitement with which she looked toward what was coming next.

Listen to the original recording ↑

THE RECORD

What the records preserve.

Family photographs, an original recording, and surviving records give these memories a lasting home.

I

Military service

Roosevelt’s separation record documents his Marine Corps service, rank, specialty, and assignment at Camp Lejeune.

Source: family-held DD Form 214
II

Origins & working life

Family-held records and the university’s confirmation trace their lives beyond the photographs: Roosevelt’s study at Adelphi, Rhona’s work in dentistry, and their home in Cambria Heights.

Source: family-held civil records
III

Photographs & sound

Family photographs preserve how they looked together. Rhona’s recording preserves something rarer: how she sounded.

Source: the family collection

WITH LOVE & REMEMBRANCE

Two people.
Always part of our story.

Roosevelt and Rhona were parents to five children. This is a place to keep their photographs, Rhona’s voice, and the memory of the life they shared close, and to remember them as people, not only as names in a record.

Share a memory →

RESTING PLACE

The open cemetery grounds of Section 11 at Calverton National Cemetery, with flat grave markers crossing the grass toward a tree line.
Section 11
A stone memorial at Calverton National Cemetery honoring those who served in the Armed Forces of the United States, featuring a painted U.S. flag.
U.S. Armed Forces memorial

Roosevelt & Rhona

Calverton National Cemetery
Section 11 · Sites 5341–5342
Calverton, New York
View location