PBS this week is premiering “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History” by filmmaker Ken Burns, a 14-hour documentary that chronicles how Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt redefined the 20th century political and social landscape of the United States during war and peace.

All three Roosevelts left their mark on Allentown, PPL Electric Utilities’ hometown, during their public lives, including a 1942 visit to Muhlenberg College by then First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. According to the college’s website, her visit, just six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, inspired more than 2,000 Muhlenberg students and alumni to serve in World War II.

Presidential Book Project Eleanor Roosevelt Muhlenberg Eleanor Roosevelt Hanover Housing Authority

Among this collection of photos, courtesy of the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, is one showing Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, speaking from the balcony of Allentown’s former Allen Hotel in 1914.

T. Roosevelt Allentown PA Roosevelt

Did you know?

Allentown School District’s Roosevelt Elementary School, built in 1910, was named in honor of Theodore Roosevelt.

FDR PortraitAllentown’s Grand Staircase along Martin Luther King Boulevard was built in 1936 as part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration, which provided jobs to millions of Americans left unemployed by the Great Depression.

Find out more at http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/films/the-roosevelts.