Presidents and Their Libraries

By DPLA, May 26, 2015.
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“To bring together the records of the past and to house them in buildings where they will be preserved for the use of men and women in the future, a Nation must believe in three things.

It must believe in the past.

It must believe in the future.

It must, above all, believe in the capacity of its own people so to learn from the past that they can gain in judgement in creating their own future.”

– Franklin Roosevelt at the dedication of his library on June 30, 1941

Earlier this month it was announced the President Barack Obama’s Presidential Library will be built on the south side of Chicago. It will be our 14th Presidential Library.

The idea originated with FDR who in his second term “on the advice of noted historians and scholars, established a public repository to preserve the evidence of the Presidency for future generations”

Then in 1955, Congress passed the Presidential Libraries Act, establishing a system of privately erected and federally maintained libraries.

Here’s a sampling  of images from the Digital Public Library of America related to our presidents and their libraries. Enjoy!

JFK Library and Museum in Boston. Courtesy University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

JFK Library and Museum in Boston. Courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University Library.

FDR laying the cornerstone of his presidential library,

FDR laying the cornerstone of his presidential library. Courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum via the Empire State Digital Network.

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, West Branch, Iowa. Courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University Library.

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, West Branch, Iowa. Courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University Library.

Jimmy Carter Library and Museum. Courtesy of the Jimmy Carter Library via the Digital Library of Georgia

Jimmy Carter Library and Museum. Courtesy of the Jimmy Carter Library via the Digital Library of Georgia

Presidential Room at The Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, Kansas. Courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University Library.

Presidential Room at The Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, Kansas. Courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University Library.

Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Site model, 1971. Photo by Julius Schulman. Courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Site model, 1971. Photo by Julius Schulman. Courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Inside the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library. Courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University Library.

Inside the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library. Courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University Library.

Former President Gerald R. Ford and his Cabinet officers at the dedication of the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, April 27-28, 1981. Courtesy of the Georgia State University Libraries Special Collections via the Digital Library of Georgia

Former President Gerald R. Ford and his Cabinet officers at the dedication of the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, April 27-28, 1981. Courtesy of the Georgia State University Libraries Special Collections via the Digital Library of Georgia

Mourners pay their final respects to former US President Ronald Reagan as his body lay in repose inside a flag draped coffin at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.

Mourners pay their final respects to former US President Ronald Reagan as his body lay in repose inside a flag draped coffin at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.