John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston
Image by GO Educational Tours from Pixabay
On Monday, February 15, 2021, the United States will celebrate President’s Day, a day set aside to honor the office of the presidency. Although the name President’s Day has slipped into common usage, officially the holiday is still known by its original name: Washington’s Birthday. Since 1879, the nation has observed Washington’s birthday, February 22, as a federally recognized holiday. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Pub. L. 90-363, which transferred the celebration of Washington’s birthday to the third Monday in February but did not alter the name by which the holiday was known.
The focus of today’s post, however, is not the holiday itself, but on the repositories that house resources by and about our nation’s leaders, the Presidential Libraries. There are currently 15 Presidential Libraries administered by the Office of Presidential Libraries, which is part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). (See our blog post, Our “Nation’s Recordkeeper,” from January 21, 2021.) Although the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is the oldest of the presidential libraries under NARA, the presidential library system did not formally begin until 1938, when “President Franklin Roosevelt donated his personal and Presidential papers to the Federal Government.” Prior to that time, the papers of Presidents generally found their way to historical societies, libraries, or private collections. For example, the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington houses Washington’s books and manuscripts as well as primary and secondary sources about George and Martha Washington. Recognizing the importance of preserving Presidential materials, Congress passed the Presidential Libraries Act of 1955. The Act permitted the Administrator of General Services to accept “land, buildings, and equipment” as gifts for the creation of a Presidential archival depository. The Act was amended in 1986 to provide for a reduction in costs associated with the maintenance of Presidential libraries by requiring private endowments based upon the size of the library. In addition, the Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978 established that all presidential records, as defined in the PRA, are owned and administered by the United States and that upon completion of the President’s term in office, the Archivist of the United States shall assume custody and control of the documents. However, under the PRA, there may be some restrictions placed on public access to the records. See 44 U.S.C. § 2204.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
Image: Courtesy of Library of Congress
While the Presidential Libraries are closed to the public because of the coronavirus public health emergency, interested parties can still visit the Libraries online. Many of the Libraries feature online exhibits, events, and virtual tours, plus interesting facts that provide context for the Library’s collections. The Libraries are located across the country. We, here in Texas, are fortunate to have three Presidential Libraries: Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum, George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, and George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. For those interested in researching presidential materials, NARA provides some useful guides, including a Presidential Documents Guide and Online Finding Aids for each individual library. Users can also search for information on any of the Libraries’ websites through the search box provided on the NARA website.
Some Presidential Libraries are home to special collections. For instance, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum houses significant Holocaust materials that are part of the Morgenthau Project. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum includes the papers of Rose Wilder Lane, and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is home to the Ernest Hemingway Collection.
Presidential Libraries are not just about the men who served in this esteemed office. In these “classrooms of democracy,” the history of our nation is placed at our fingertips.