Presidential library
In the United States, the presidential library system is a nationwide network of 13 libraries administered by the Office of Presidential Libraries, which is part of the National Archives and Records Administration. These are repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, collections and other historical materials of every president of the United States from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush. In addition to the library services, museum exhibitions concerning the presidency are displayed.
Although recognized as having historical significance, before the mid-20th century, presidential papers and effects were generally understood to be the private property of the president. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president, proposed to leave his papers to the public in a building donated by him on his Hyde Park estate. Since then a series of laws have established the public keeping of documents and the presidential library system.
While not officially sanctioned and maintained by the NARA, libraries have also been organized for several presidents who preceded Hoover and the official start of the Presidential Library Office. The library planned for Barack Obama will partner with the NARA in a "new model", digitizing and making available documents, but without NARA running a new separate facility.
Overview
For every president since Herbert Hoover, presidential libraries have been established in each president's home state in which documents, artifacts, gifts of state and museum exhibits are maintained that relate to the former president's life and career both political and professional. Each library also provides an active series of public programs. When a president leaves office, the National Archives and Records Administration establishes a presidential materials project to house and index the documents until a new presidential library is built and transferred to the federal government.The first presidential library is the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, dedicated on June 30, 1941. The George W. Bush Presidential Center became the thirteenth on May 1, 2013.
Presidential libraries outside NARA
The presidential library system is made up of thirteen presidential libraries operated by the NARA. Libraries and museums have been established for earlier presidents, but they are not part of the NARA presidential library system, and are operated by private foundations, historical societies, or state governments, including the James K. Polk, William McKinley, Rutherford Hayes, Calvin Coolidge, Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson libraries. For example, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is owned and operated by the state of Illinois.The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace was not originally part of the presidential library system. While the Nixon Presidential Materials Staff, which administers the Nixon presidential materials under the terms of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act, is part of NARA, a private foundation operated the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace. In January 2004, Congress passed legislation that provided for the establishment of a federally operated Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda. In March 2005, the Archivist of the United States and John Taylor, the director of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation, exchanged letters on the requirements to allow the Nixon Library to become the twelfth federally funded presidential library operated by the NARA by 2007. On October 16, 2006, Dr. Timothy Naftali began his tenure as the first federal director of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace, and in the winter of 2006 NARA began to transfer the 30,000 presidential gifts from the Nixon Presidential Materials Staff in College Park, Maryland to the facility. On July 11, 2007, the Nixon Foundation deeded the Library and Birthplace to the government of the United States. On the same day, the newly renamed federal Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum officially opened.
In May 2012, on the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Ulysses S. Grant Foundation, it selected Mississippi State University as the permanent location for Ulysses S. Grant's presidential library. Historian John Simon edited Grant's letters into a 32-volume scholarly edition published by Southern Illinois University Press.
On April 30, 2013, both chambers of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly passed a bill appropriating $12 million to Dickinson State University to award a grant to the Theodore Roosevelt Center for construction of a building to be named the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. To access these funds, the Theodore Roosevelt Center must first raise $3 million from non-state sources. Dickinson State University is also home to the Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library which has formed partnerships with the Library of Congress and Harvard University, among other institutions. They currently have over 25,000 items online.
On April 12, 2016, Harding 2020, a collaboration between the Harding Home, Ohio History Connection, and Marion Technical College, detailed plans to spend $7.3 million to establish the Warren G. Harding Presidential Center. Plans include restoring the Harding Home, Warren G. Harding's historic home in Marion, Ohio, and its grounds to its 1920 appearance. A 15,000-square-foot presidential center and museum will also be built adjacent to the house. Harding's presidential papers will then be moved from its current location at the Ohio History Connection's headquarters in Columbus, Ohio to the new center. The culmination of the work, scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2020, is to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Harding's election to the presidency.
In May 2017, it was announced that the Barack Obama Presidential Center, the planned location of the presidential library of Barack Obama, would not be part of the NARA system, making Obama the first president since Calvin Coolidge not to have a federally funded facility. Instead, in a "new model" the nonprofit Obama Foundation will partner with the NARA on digitization and making documents available. The Chicago Park District began related construction in August and suspended it in September 2018. It was announced that the city of Chicago would own the Center.
History
Historically, all presidential papers were considered the personal property of the president. Some took them at the end of their terms, others destroyed them, and many papers were scattered. Though many pre-Hoover collections now reside in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, others are split among other libraries, historical societies, and private collections. However, many materials have been lost or deliberately destroyed.Lucretia Rudolph Garfield, the wife of James A. Garfield added a Memorial Library wing to their family home in Mentor, Ohio, four years after his assassination. The James A. Garfield National Historic Site is operated by the National Park Service and the Western Reserve Historical Society.
National Archives
In 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt donated his personal and presidential papers to the federal government. At the same time, Roosevelt pledged part of his estate at Hyde Park, New York to the United States, and friends of the president formed a non-profit corporation to raise funds for the construction of the library and museum building. Roosevelt's decision stemmed from his belief that presidential papers were an important part of the national heritage and should be accessible to the public. He asked the National Archives to take custody of his papers and other historical materials and to administer his library. On June 30, 2013, new interactive and multimedia exhibits developed by the National Archives and Records Administration opened to the public as part of the first renovation of this library since its opening.In 1950, Harry S. Truman decided that he, too, would build a library to house his presidential papers and helped to galvanize congressional action.
Presidential Libraries Act of 1955
In 1955, Congress passed the , establishing a system of privately erected and federally maintained libraries. The Act encouraged other presidents to donate their historical materials to the government and ensured the preservation of presidential papers and their availability to the people of the United States. Under this and subsequent acts, nine more libraries have been established. In each case, funds from private and non-federal public sources provided the funds to build the library. Once completed, the private organization turned over the libraries to the National Archives and Records Administration to operate and maintain.Until 1978, presidents, scholars, and legal professionals held the view dating back to George Washington that the records created by the president or his staff while in office remained the personal property of the president and were his to take with him when he left office. The first presidential libraries were built on this concept. NARA successfully persuaded presidents to donate their historical materials to the federal government for housing in a presidential library managed by NARA.
Presidential Records Act of 1978
The established that the presidential records that document the constitutional, statutory, and ceremonial duties of the president are the property of the United States Government. After the president leaves office, the Archivist of the United States assumes custody of the records. The Act allowed for the continuation of presidential libraries as the repository for presidential records.Presidential Libraries Act of 1986
The made additional changes to presidential libraries, requiring private endowments linked to the size of the facility. NARA uses these endowments to offset a portion of the maintenance costs for the library.Presidential Historical Records Preservation Act of 2008
The amended to authorize grants for Presidential Centers of Historical Excellence.Holdings
The thirteen presidential libraries maintain over 400 million pages of textual materials; nearly ten million photographs; over 15 million feet of motion picture film; nearly 100,000 hours of disc, audiotape, and videotape recordings; and approximately half a million museum objects. These varied holdings make each library a valuable source of information and a center for research on the Presidency.The most important textual materials in each library are those created by the president and his staff in the course of performing the official duties. Libraries also house numerous objects including family heirlooms, items collected by the president and his family, campaign memorabilia, awards, and the many gifts given to the president by American citizens and foreign dignitaries. These gifts range in type from homemade items to valuable works of art. Curators in presidential libraries and in other museums throughout the country draw upon these collections for historical exhibits.
Other significant holdings include the personal papers and historical materials donated by individuals associated with the president. These individuals may include Cabinet officials, envoys to foreign governments, political party associates, and the president's family and personal friends. Several libraries have undertaken oral history programs that have produced tape-recorded memoirs. A third body of materials comprises the papers accumulated by the president prior to, and following, his Presidency. Such collections include documents relating to Theodore Roosevelt's tenure as Governor of New York and Dwight D. Eisenhower's long military career.
With the exception of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, and upon his own death, Jimmy Carter, every American president since Hoover is or has chosen to be buried at his presidential library. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery; Johnson is buried at his ranch in the hill country of Texas, west of Austin; Carter plans to be buried near his home in Plains, Georgia. Bill Clinton will be buried at the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. George W. Bush will be buried at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. The future burial sites of former president Barack Obama and incumbent president Donald Trump are still unknown.
Unlike all other presidents whose libraries are part of the NARA system, Ford's library and museum are geographically separate buildings, located in different parts of Michigan; Ford is buried at his museum in Grand Rapids, while the library is in Ann Arbor.
List of presidential libraries
This is a list of the presidential libraries.| No. | President | Library name | Location | Operated By | Image | Logo/Website |
| 1 | George Washington | Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon Opened to public September 27, 2013 | Mount Vernon, Virginia | Mount Vernon Ladies' Association | ||
| 2 | John Adams | Stone Library at Adams National Historical Park Opened to public 1870 | Quincy, Massachusetts | National Park Service | ||
| 3 | Thomas Jefferson | Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello Opened to public 1994 | Charlottesville, Virginia | Thomas Jefferson Foundation | ||
| 4 | James Madison | The Papers of James Madison at Alderman Library Opened in 1937, the Papers of James Madison went digital, 28 April 2010. | Charlottesville, Virginia | University of Virginia | ||
| 4 | James Madison | Montpelier Opened to public 1984 | Montpelier Station, Virginia | National Trust for Historic Preservation | ||
| 4 | James Madison | James Madison Museum Opened to public 2013 | Orange, Virginia | James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation | ||
| 5 | James Monroe | James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library Opened to public 1966 | Fredericksburg, Virginia | University of Mary Washington | ||
| 5 | James Monroe | Highland Opened to public 1931 | Simeon, Virginia | College of William and Mary | ||
| 6 | John Quincy Adams | Stone Library at Adams National Historical Park Opened to public 1870 | Quincy, Massachusetts | NPS | ||
| 7 | Andrew Jackson | The Papers of Andrew Jackson at Hoskins Library Opened to public 1987 | Knoxville, Tennessee | University of Tennessee at Knoxville | ||
| 7 | Andrew Jackson | The Hermitage Opened to public 1894 | Nashville, Tennessee | Andrew Jackson Foundation | ||
| 8 | Martin Van Buren | Martin Van Buren National Historic Site Opened to public October 26, 1974 | Kinderhook, New York | NPS | ||
| 9 | William Henry Harrison | Berkeley Plantation Opened to public 1940s | Charles City, Virginia | Berkeley Plantation | ||
| 10 | John Tyler | Sherwood Forest Plantation Opened to public 1970s | Charles City, Virginia | Sherwood Forest Plantation Foundation | ||
| 11 | James K. Polk | President James K. Polk Home & Museum Opened to public 1929 | Columbia, Tennessee | James K. Polk Memorial Association | ||
| 12 | Zachary Taylor | Zachary Taylor National Cemetery Opened to public 1928 | Louisville, Kentucky | National Cemetery Administration | ||
| 13 | Millard Fillmore | Millard Fillmore House Opened to public 1975 | East Aurora, New York | Aurora Historical Society | ||
| 14 | Franklin Pierce | Franklin Pierce Homestead Opened to public 1920s | Hillsborough, New Hampshire | State of New Hampshire | ||
| 15 | James Buchanan | James Buchanan papers at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania Gift of the Buchanan family; transferred to the Historical Society, circa 1895-1897 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Historical Society of Pennsylvania | ||
| 15 | James Buchanan | Wheatland Opened to public 1930s | Lancaster, Pennsylvania | James Buchanan Foundation | ||
| 16 | Abraham Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Opened to public in 2004 | Springfield, Illinois | State of Illinois | ||
| 17 | Andrew Johnson | President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library Opened to public 1993 | Tusculum, Tennessee | Tusculum College | ||
| 17 | Andrew Johnson | Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Opened to public 1993 | Greeneville, Tennessee | NPS | ||
| 18 | Ulysses S. Grant | Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library Opened to public October 15, 1966 | Starkville, Mississippi | Mississippi State University Library and Ulysses S. Grant Association | ||
| 18 | Ulysses S. Grant | Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site Opened to public 1989 | Grantwood Village, Missouri | NPS | ||
| 19 | Rutherford B. Hayes | Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center Opened to public 1916 | Fremont, Ohio | Ohio Historical Society and Hayes Presidential Center, Inc. | ||
| 20 | James A. Garfield | James A. Garfield National Historic Site Opened to public 1998 | Mentor, Ohio | NPS and Western Reserve Historical Society | ||
| 21 | Chester A. Arthur | Chester Alan Arthur State Historic Site Opened to public 1950s | Fairfield, Vermont | State of Vermont Historic Sites Section | ||
| 22 and 24 | Grover Cleveland | Grover Cleveland Birthplace Opened to public March 18, 1913 | Caldwell, New Jersey | NPS and Grover Cleveland Birthplace Memorial Association | ||
| 22 and 24 | Grover Cleveland | Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library Opened to public October 16, 1976 | Princeton, New Jersey | Princeton University | ||
| 23 | Benjamin Harrison | Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site Opened to public 1970s | Indianapolis, Indiana | Arthur Jordan Foundation | ||
| 25 | William McKinley | William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum Memorial/Gravesite opened to the public September 1907 | Canton, Ohio | Stark County Historical Society | ||
| 26 | Theodore Roosevelt | Houghton Library Collection donated in 1943 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Harvard University | ||
| 26 | Theodore Roosevelt | The Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University Launched in 2009 | Dickinson, ND | Dickinson State University | ||
| 26 | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site Opened to public 1923 | Manhattan, New York City, New York | NPS | ||
| 27 | William Howard Taft | William Howard Taft National Historic Site Opened to public 1970s | Cincinnati, Ohio | NPS | ||
| 28 | Woodrow Wilson | Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Opened to the public in 1990 | Staunton, Virginia | Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Foundation | ||
| 28 | Woodrow Wilson | Woodrow Wilson Center Chartered by Congress in 1968 | Washington, DC | Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Foundation | ||
| 28 | Woodrow Wilson | Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library Opened to public October 16, 1976 | Princeton, New Jersey | Princeton University | ||
| 29 | Warren G. Harding | Warren G. Harding Home & Memorial Opened to the public in February 1926 | Marion, Ohio | Ohio History Connection | ||
| 29 | Warren G. Harding | Warren G. Harding Presidential Center Scheduled to open in 2020 | Marion, Ohio | Ohio History Connection | ||
| 30 | Calvin Coolidge | Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum Opened to the public in 1956 | Northampton, Massachusetts | Forbes Library | ||
| 30 | Calvin Coolidge | President Calvin Coolidge State Historical Site Opened to the public in 1957 | Plymouth Notch, Vermont | State of Vermont | ||
| 31 | Herbert Hoover | Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum Dedication August 10, 1962 Rededicated August 8, 1992 | West Branch, Iowa | National Archives and Records Administration | ||
| 32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum Dedicated June 30, 1941 Rededicated June 30, 2013 | Hyde Park, New York | NARA | ||
| 33 | Harry S. Truman | Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum Dedicated on July 6, 1957 Rededicated December 9, 2001 | Independence, Missouri | NARA | ||
| 34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home Dedicated on May 1, 1962 | Abilene, Kansas | NARA | ||
| 35 | John F. Kennedy | John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Dedicated on October 20, 1979 Rededicated October 29, 1993 | Boston, Massachusetts | NARA | ||
| 36 | Lyndon B. Johnson | Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum Dedicated on May 22, 1971 | Austin, Texas | NARA and The University of Texas at Austin | ||
| 37 | Richard Nixon | Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum Dedicated on July 19, 1990 Rededicated October 14, 2016 | Yorba Linda, California | NARA and Richard Nixon Foundation | ||
| 38 | Gerald Ford | Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum Dedicated on September 18, 1981 Rededicated April 17, 1997 | Grand Rapids, Michigan | NARA | | |
| 38 | Gerald Ford | Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library Dedicated on April 27, 1981 | Ann Arbor, Michigan | NARA | | |
| 39 | Jimmy Carter | Jimmy Carter Library and Museum Dedicated on October 1, 1986 | Atlanta, Georgia | NARA | ||
| 40 | Ronald Reagan | Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Dedicated on November 4, 1991 | Simi Valley, California | NARA | ||
| 41 | George H. W. Bush | George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum Dedicated on November 6, 1997 | College Station, Texas | NARA and Texas A&M University | ||
| 42 | Bill Clinton | William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park Dedicated on November 18, 2004 | Little Rock, Arkansas | NARA | ||
| 43 | George W. Bush | George W. Bush Presidential Center Dedicated on April 25, 2013 | Dallas, Texas | NARA and Southern Methodist University | ||
| 44 | Barack Obama | Barack Obama Presidential Center Scheduled to open in the early 2020s | Chicago, Illinois | Obama Foundation and the University of Chicago |
Locations of other presidents' papers
and Woodrow Wilson left their papers to Princeton University where they may be found at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library. After the Theodore Roosevelt Association failed to get enough funds to start what would be the second presidential library after Rutherford Hayes', they donated his papers to Harvard University in 1943. These reside at its .James Buchanan left his papers to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where they may still be found. In the 1960s, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville endeavored to collect all of Andrew Jackson's papers on microfilm and the results are now available . A similar project is underway on behalf of James Madison by the Universities of Virginia and Chicago.
For many presidents, especially before the development of the NARA system, substantial collections may be found in multiple private and public collections. Until the Obama Administration's library is ready for service, its papers are being held in a facility in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are not available to the public as they are classified.