The modern presidential library is more than a wayside attraction . It ’s a many-sided locale where interested parties can thumb through the archive and stare upon the personal effects of former commanders - in - chief . Many have put some confusingly enchanting items on display , from thecoconut shellthat save JFK ’s life to a pair of“I Like Ike ” pantyhose . Cited as “ living memorials , ” presidential subroutine library are now designed by world - grade architects and tend to come with extortionate monetary value tag — the two newest ones , for example , cost over$160 millionapiece .
By comparison , the earliest presidential libraries were rather modest . The history of these places began over a 100 ago , when Rutherford B. Hayes ’s family strike a trend - setting deal with their home state : In 1873 , a pre - presidency Hayes moved into a secludedestateknown as " Spiegel Grove " in Fremont , Ohio . And it was to this muted abode that he refund after his one - full term presidency finish on March 4 , 1881 . When Hayes passed away 12 years later , he was buried on the curtilage .
In 1912 , the former president ’s son , Colonel Webb C. Hayes , deeded the property to the Buckeye State . Then he turn over over thousands of importantdocumentsfrom his father ’s political and military career to the Ohio Historical Society . The Colonel ’s gifts came with two keystipulations : First , he insisted that his family be allow for to continue living on the premise at Spiegel Grove . to boot , he wanted the body politic of Ohio to put together a library and museum that would be dedicated to the computer storage of his belated Father of the Church .
The state happily complied . On May 30 , 1916 — Memorial Day — a new facility called theHayes Memorialopened up just a stone ’s throw away from Spiegel Grove . A combination museum / library , it was design to house the chairwoman ’s archives and a selection of his belongings , include Hayes’s12,000 - volume personal library . in all , these items took up so much space that the construction had to be extended just a few age later . Hayes ’s posterity finally moved out of Spiegel Grove in 1965 , at which point the historical plate opened its doors to the public .
It was decide that the secret documents of President Hayes ought to be made approachable to anyone and everyone who might wish to seem through them . That choice has been an sheer boon to U.S. chronicle buffs . Visit Spiegel Grove today , and you may freely canvass every book and letter in the library’scollection(although some of the more fragile items must be retrieved from a closed in heap plane section by a member of the staff ) . Back in the former 20th century , this was a radical notion . At the time , the archives of an outgoing air force officer - in - chieftain were consider as hispersonal attribute . Over sentence , many a presidential paper trail was either divided up between multiple party or , in a few cases , destroyed . The Zachary Taylor collection literally went up in smoking when Union soldiers worry his son ’s dwelling house in 1862 . And then there ’s the case of Chester A. Arthur who , on the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. before his destruction in 1886 , in person burned numerous individual documents .
Spiegel Grove // Image good manners of Kean Collection / Getty Images
Webb Hayes and Ohio ’s authorities merit a great deal of credit for interpret America ’s first presidential program library through . However , the concept did n’t begin to disseminate until it was sweep up by Franklin Delano Roosevelt .
An avidhistory yellowish brown , the 32ndpresident recognized that the get mountains of personal newspaper publisher , parallelism , and tract he ’d accumulated over the course of his political life story would be invaluable to next historians . inhale by Hayes and Spiegel Grove , Roosevelt began making plans for a presidential library of his own [ PDF ] .
On December 10 , 1938 , FDR announced that such a property was in the works and that it would soon be make on his family unit ’s domain in Hyde Park , New York . At apress conference , the then - president spoke at not bad length about what he hollo “ probably the largest appeal of original rootage material of almost anybody over the last quarter of a century …. I do not wish to break [ these papers ] up … It is my desire that they be kept as a whole and inviolate in their original consideration , useable to scholars of the future in one definite locality . ” The edifice that Roosevelt had in mind would also have some personal knickknacks on display , including his beloved miniature ship assemblage .
Even before the official announcement , FDR gleefully micro - pull off almost every aspect of the subroutine library ’s creation . Early in 1937 , he sketched a plan that have a bun in the oven a very close resemblance to the ruined ware . Roosevelt also helped his Hyde Park stafforganizethe written document and memorabilia he was always dropping off . Although it was being funded privately , Roosevelt make up one’s mind very early on on that the federal government would operate his depository library after its completion .
FDR ’s critic stigmatise the subroutine library as an practice session in narcissism . Newspaperman John T. Flynncalledit a “ Yankee Pyramids of Egypt , ” while one congressman protested that “ Only an egocentric madman would have the nerve to ask for such a measure . ” Despite these mission , Congress passed fresh chartering legislation for the library in July 1939 . That November , construction began .
On June 30 , 1941 , theFranklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museumheld its dedication ceremonial occasion . Addressing a small crowd , the president tell , “ The commitment of a program library is in itself an act of faith . To bring together the phonograph recording of the past and to domiciliate them in building where they will be preserved for the use of men and women in the hereafter , a nation must conceive in three thing . It must believe in the past . It must conceive in the future . It must , above all , believe in the mental ability of its own people so to read from the past times that they can win in judgment in creating their own future . ”
Roosevelt ’s heir chose to follow in his step . In May1955 , ground was broken on Harry S. Truman ’s privately fund presidential library . Three months later , Congress expire thePresidential Libraries Act of 1955 . This piece of legislation specifically authorized the General Services Administration ( GSA ) to take any “ papers , text file , or other historical cloth ” that an ex - Chief Executive might tender to be used for a future “ Presidential archival repository . ” The Act spawned a whole arrangement of library . Like Roosevelt ’s , these were build with ( mostly ) private store , then turned over to the federal political science , which covers their operating costs .
Modern presidential library basically flow into one of two categories : 13 of them — namely , those that record every chairperson from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush — areoverseenby the National Archives and Records Administration ( NARA ) , in accordance with that 1955 Act . ( Hoover opened his in 1962 . )
Pete Souza viaWikimedia Commons// Public domain
However , there are also several outlier that have no association with the NARA and , consequently , do n’t receive any federal funds . This categoryincludesthe presidential library of Hayes , Abraham Lincoln , and Woodrow Wilson — all of which rely on foundations , private citizens , and state and local governments for fiscal sustenance .
The Watergate scandal had a major impact on the contentedness of presidential program library . thurify by Nixon ’s role in a break - in at the DNC main office , Congress passed thePresidential Records Act(PRA ) in 1978 , which rule that the paperwork of an outgoing commander - in - chief electedafter 1980must be made public through Freedom of Information Act requests five years after he or she leave business office . However , the PRA does allow a president to withhold certain sensitive text file from the public eye for “ up to 12 long time . ”
It ’s surd to say what the future holds for presidential libraries , but at the very least , we do know that a brand newfangled one is well on its way . Jackson Park , on Chicago ’s South Side , was recently select as the future home ofThe Obama Presidential Center , which is scheduled to be completed by the year 2021 .
Also , construction on aTheodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museumis presently afoot in Dickinson , North Dakota . Because the Bull Moose ’s newspaper track has been scattered far and spacious over the retiring century , the museum will boast an archive that mainly consists of digitalize written document . “ It ’s very difficult to create a traditional presidential depository library for TR , because all the material will never be gathered physically in one place , ” Sharon Kilzer , the Dickinson State University alum who ’s overseeing the task , said . “ This [ digital archives approaching ] could be a mannequin through which the legacy of … other president are also save and made accessible to the public . ”
