Presidential Libraries
presented by
Jeri Diehl Cusack Our National Archives
For the first 150 or so years, each U. S. government agency kept its own records – sometimes without much special care or organization – until the establishment of the National Archives.
The National Archives & the position of National Archivist were created by Congressional statute in 1934…
during FDR’s first term in office.
National Archives & Records Administration (or “NARA”)
Best known for housing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution & the Bill of Rights in its building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the National Archives is now “our nation’s official record keeper.”
NARA includes a nationwide network of regional archives & records facilities. NARA has an Office of Presidential Libraries: http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/
NARA Presidential Library Holdings
400 million pages
10 million photos
15 million feet of motion picture film
100,000 hours of audio/video tapes/discs
500,000+ museum objects History of Presidential Libraries
In December of 1938, during his second term of office, FDR announced a plan to build a library to preserve his public papers.
Some previous presidents had not taken such action; their papers had been lost, sold, scattered, damaged or even destroyed.
FDR raised funds from private donors to fund building his project near his home in Hyde Park NY; later he donated the library to the U.S. Government via the National Archives. FDR’s Sketch of Proposed Library, drawn April 12, 1937 http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/library/archchron.html
Dedication Ceremony 6.30.1941 http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/library/onedefinitelocality.html
FDR, the great collector
Originally, the museum was essentially a showcase for FDR’s various collections: a gallery devoted to his model ships and a room full of “oddities,” gifts given to the Roosevelts during FDR’s years in office.
The main gallery held an exhibit of artwork created through the WPA Art program, while the basement held a display of stagecoaches, on loan for the exhibit, & an iceboat similar to one used by FDR as a child.
A research room opened in the library in 1946.
A major renovation was completed in 2013.
http://www.fdrlibraryvirtualtour.org/index.asp
The Next Presidential Library
“This library will belong to the people of the United States. My papers will be the property of the people and be accessible to them. And this is as it should be. The papers of the Presidents are among the most valuable sources of material for history. They ought to be preserved, and they ought to be used.”
-- Harry S. Truman, New York City, May 8, 1954 Presidential Libraries Act
In 1955, during the Eisenhower years, Congress formalized the policy of a former president placing his papers in a public repository to be administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
The act was amended in 1986 to help cover the cost of maintaining the libraries, “requiring private endowments linked to the size of the facility.” #2 – Harry S. Truman
Dedicated July 6, 1957 in Independence, Missouri, Truman’s library was the first to be built under the 1955 Presidential Libraries Act.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the opening address.
Artist Thomas Hart Benton created a mural titled “Independence and the Opening of the West” for the Truman Library.
Truman used a “working office” there as long as his health allowed him to do so, occasionally even offering guided tours to library visitors. http://www.trumanlibrary.org/ Truman Library Facts
President Richard Nixon stopped by to play the Missouri Waltz for the Trumans on a piano in March of 1969.
After his death on December 26, 1972, Harry Truman was buried in the courtyard, outside the Library.
Later his wife, Bess, and their daughter, Margaret Truman Daniel (as well as her husband Clifton Daniel), were also laid to rest there.
#3 – Dwight D. Eisenhower Eisenhower Library Facts
Located in Abilene, Kansas, Ike’s boyhood home Dedicated October 31, 1959
Website http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/
Special exhibits include DDE’s collection of memorabilia & papers from his long military career, plus his WWII staff car. The Eisenhowers are buried in the chapel or “Place of Meditation” on the grounds of the library.
#4 – Herbert Hoover
On August 10, 1962, Hoover’s 88th birthday, the dedication of the 4th NARA Library was held in West Branch, Iowa.
Former President Harry Truman attended the ceremony.
Herbert Hoover died October 20, 1964 & was buried 5 days later near his birthplace on the grounds of the Hoover historic site.
Hoover Library Features
The Library is located within the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site which also includes the cottage where Hoover was born, a blacksmith shop, a Quaker meetinghouse, his schoolhouse & the gravesites of Herbert and Lou Hoover.
There’s a featured exhibit titled “Hollywood Cowboys” – plus the papers of “Little House on the Prairie” author Laura Ingalls Wilder & her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, are also housed at the Hoover Library. http://www.hoover.archives.gov/ #5 – Lyndon B. Johnson LBJ Library Facts
Located in Austin, Texas
Dedicated May 22, 1971
Special exhibit: the original sketches & manuscript of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Website: http://www.lbjlibrary.org/
Note: When LBJ died on January 22, 1973, he was buried in the family plot on his ranch near Johnson City, Texas, not at his library. Signs of the Times: Life in the Swingin’ Sixties
“Sixty from the '60s” features iconic photos, historic objects, books, clothing, posters, and artwork related to sixty Americans whose work continues to be relevant today. #6 – John F. Kennedy JFK Library Facts
Located in Boston, Massachusetts, the I. M. Pei-designed building is situated on Columbia Point with views of the Atlantic Ocean
Ground broken 1977 Dedicated October 20, 1979 Rededication October 29, 1993
Website http://www.jfklibrary.org/
Special exhibits feature Robert F. Kennedy & Jackie; plus Ernest Hemmingway’s collection of personal papers, manuscripts & memorabilia
Note: JFK is not buried there.
Lines from the 1979 address by President Carter
This library may be dedicated with the words of a poet from Tennessee, a contemporary of the President whose name the library will bear:
"To those who in all times have sought the truth and have told it in their art or in their living, who died in honor . . .
"To those who died in the high and humble knowledge of God . . .
"(T)o those who died in sorrow, and in kindness, and in bravery; to those who died in violence suddenly . . .
"(T)o those who died in the time of the joy of their strength .... "
[Excerpts from James Agee's dedication to his book of poems, "Permit Me Voyage."] New, next door… Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate
Opened March 30, 2015
Features “dynamic, interactive experience in democracy,” with visitors’ “Today’s vote”
Full scale reproduction of the US Senate Chamber
Media display of all former & current members of the United States Senate
Real time data streams with updated content
Reproduction of EMK’s Senate office
#7 – Gerald R. Ford
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is located on the campus of his alma mater in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
However, the Ford Presidential Museum is located in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Ford Library & Museum Facts
Library opened April 27, 1981
Museum dedicated September 18, 1981
Website http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/
Special exhibits include “The American Century,” a display of actual tools used in the 1972 Watergate break in & currently, “Taking the Seas”
Note: President & Mrs. Ford are buried next to the Museum in Grand Rapids. #8 – Jimmy Carter Carter Library
Located in Atlanta, Georgia, about 2 miles from downtown on the grounds of the Carter Center
Dedicated October 1, 1986, President Carter’s 62nd birthday, with remarks by President Ronald Reagan
Website http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/
Special exhibit The Crown of Saint Stephen
Note: President & Mrs. Carter plan to be buried in their home town of Plains, Georgia.
#9 – Ronald Reagan Reagan Library
Located in Simi Valley, California
Dedicated November 4, 1991
Website http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/
Special exhibits include Air Force One, “Spies: Secrets from the CIA, KGB & Hollywood”, plus the gravesite of President Reagan who died June 5, 2004
#10 – George H. W. Bush Bush (41) Library
Located in College Station, Texas, on the campus of Texas A & M University
Dedicated November 6, 1997
Website http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/
Special exhibits: “Offshore Drilling” & a recent special event Note: George and Barbara Bush plan to be buried on the Library grounds.
#11 – Bill Clinton Clinton Library Facts
Located in Little Rock, Arkansas, where Clinton lived for 14 years while serving as Attorney General (2 years) and, later, Governor (12 years)
Dedicated November 8, 2004
Website http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/
Special exhibits “Presidential Limousine” & Chihuly glass
Quote: “There’s an inescapable bond that binds together all who have lived in the White House. Though we hail from different backgrounds and ideologies, we are singularly unique, even eternally bound, by our common devotion and service to this wonderful country.” George H. W. Bush
#12 – Richard M. Nixon Nixon Library Facts
Located in Yorba Linda, California, Nixon’s birthplace
Originally opened as a private institution on July 19, 1990, with speeches from President G. H. W. Bush as well as former Presidents Ford & Reagan in attendance Rededicated as a NARA Library, July 11, 2007 Website http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/index.php
Special exhibit: “Presidents and Baseball” & the Nixons grave site where he was buried in 1994
#13 – George W. Bush Bush (43) Library Facts
Located Dallas, Texas, on the campus of Southern Methodist University
Dedicated April 25, 2012
Website http://www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu/
Special feature – known for being “green”, the Library invites you to print your own brochure & to use one of their devices during your visit; 360 degree artifact gallery including the Ground Zero bullhorn Location of the Obama Library
Would it be in Hawaii – or Chicago? http://www.npr.org/2014/ 02/07/273056702/bidding -starts-early-for-site-of- obamas-future-library Yes, on the South Side, as announced on April 30, 2015!
Other Presidential Libraries (Private or public, but not administered by NARA)
Geo. Washington – http://www.mountvernon.org/library/ Abraham Lincoln – http://www.alplm.com/ U. S. Grant – www.usgrantlibrary.org Rutherford B. Hayes – http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/ James Garfield – www.nps.gov/jaga/ William McKinley – http://www.mckinleymuseum.org/ Theodore Roosevelt – www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/
Woodrow Wilson – http://www.woodrowwilson.org/library-archives Calvin Coolidge – www.forbeslibrary.org/coolidge/coolidge.shtml
Wilson Birthplace, Museum & Library Staunton VA
Dedicated as a "shrine to freedom" by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in May of 1941. FDR had served as Wilson’s Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1913 to 1920. The Coolidge Collection at the Forbes Library, Northampton MA
While the originals are in the Library of Congress, there are copies of all of Coolidge’s official papers here.
This is the only public library in the United States to hold a presidential collection.
James Garfield’s Memorial Library at his home, Lawnfield, in Mentor OH
Four years after the President's death, the Memorial Library wing was added by Mrs. Garfield and her family - setting the precedent for presidential libraries.
One of the prized possessions kept there is a wreath sent by Queen Victoria upon James Garfield’s death in 1881. It was treated with wax & remains on display to this day in the library’s vault.
*Beauvoir, Presidential Library of Jefferson Davis, C.S.A., in Biloxi MS
http://www.beauvoir.org/index.html
FDR Library Rededication Ceremony
http://www.totalwebcasting.com/view/?id=fdr
And finally, a few words about the Presidential Libraries stamp…
A 37 cent stamp was issued in 2005 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Presidential Libraries Act with a ceremony at the Clinton Library.
President Clinton commented, "These Libraries are priceless repositories of American history..." and they are “the best way to look at the history of America."
Electronic Resources
http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/ (NARA libraries home page)
http://blogs.archives.gov/prologue/?p=12084 (blog on Presidential Library dedications)
https://www.emkinstitute.org/
Any questions or comments?
Thanks for your attention!
Jeri
SAVE THE DATE
I will be speaking about Eleanor Roosevelt & her home, Val-Kill Cottage, on Saturday, October 18th in Arthurdale WV for Arthurdale Heritage, Inc. For more details, feel free to contact me: [email protected] or 614.581.5348. Please take a business card!