Kiwanis January 29 Program: Overview of United States Presidential Libraries and Museums

John Eyre introduced Bert Whalin (right in photo) at the January 29 Kiwanis meeting. She and Ron Whalin gave an educational and entertaining talk on the twelve presidential libraries. They have visited and toured all twelve presidential museums and libraries: Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, H. W. Bush and Clinton. The George W. Bush library is under construction. The new museum located at Southern Methodist University in Dallas will be opened to visitors in May.

Presidential libraries are operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

The Presidential libraries were illustrated using photographs and the National Archives websites. One of the largest and most visited is the Ronald Reagan library in Simi Valley, CA. The following photo shows the Air Force One plane which Reagan used while in office. This airplane is displayed in a walk-through exhibit.

The audience asked questions and contributed interesting comments during and after the presentation.

To learn more about the Libraries, please visit the CSPAN website (http://presidentiallibraries.c-span.org/ ), the NARA website (http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/ ) and an educational website for students and teachers (http://www.presidentialtimeline.org/ ).