Presidential library system facts for kids

This page is about the network of libraries in the United States. For other libraries, see Presidential Library.

Official seal of the presidential libraries

In the United States, the presidential library system is a nationwide network of 16 libraries administered by the Office of Presidential Libraries, which is part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). These are repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, collections and other historical materials of every president of the United States since Herbert Hoover, the 31st president from 1929–1933. 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 (32nd president, 1933–1945) proposed to leave his papers to the public in a building donated by him on his Hyde Park, New York, estate. Since then, a series of laws established the public keeping of documents and the presidential library system. While not sanctioned and maintained by NARA, libraries have also been organized for several presidents who preceded Hoover and the official start of the Presidential Library Office.

The library sites are sometimes referred to as presidential centers. The Barack Obama Presidential Center (44th president, 2009–2017) is the most recent library, and operates under a new model. The Barack Obama Presidential Library is fully digitized, preserved, and administered by NARA with archival materials lent to the privately operated Presidential Center for display.

Overview
- Presidential libraries outside NARA
History
Holdings
List of presidential libraries
Locations of other presidents' papers
See also

Overview

NARA Presidential Libraries Passport

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 (NARA) 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.

The National Archives and Records Administration uses a passport to promote visiting the Presidential libraries. Upon visiting every library, NARA awards a crystal paperweight.

Presidential libraries outside NARA

The presidential library system is made up of thirteen presidential libraries operated fully, or partially, by 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 B. 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, the private nonprofit Richard Nixon Foundation owned and 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, California. 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 NARA by 2007, while the Nixon Foundation would continue to own the campus and operate the Nixon Library complex with NARA. 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 Yorba Linda facility. On July 11, 2007, NARA began its operations at the Nixon Library site and the facility's name was changed to Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.

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 (president from March 4, 1881, until his death on September 19, 1881) 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 (NARA) 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 Presidential Libraries Act of 1955, 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, private and non-federal public sources provided the funds to build the library. Generally, once completed the private organization turned over the libraries to the National Archives and Records Administration to operate and maintain. The library and museum founded for Richard Nixon remained privately owned and managed for many years, but his heirs ultimately reached an agreement for it to become a NARA facility.

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.

Deeds of Gift

Apart from the presidency of Richard Nixon, the handling of presidential records by NARA for the presidencies of Hoover through Carter (1929–1969, and 1973–1980) are governed by their deeds of gift, whereby the public took ownership of the records of each president.

Nixon presidency and the Preservation Act of 1974

In the wake of the Watergate scandal, Congress asserted public ownership and control of materials from the Nixon White House (1969–1973), under the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974.

Presidential Records Act of 1978

The Presidential Records Act of 1978 established that the presidential records that document the constitutional, statutory, and ceremonial duties of the president are the property of the United States Government. When 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 Presidential Libraries Act of 1986 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 Presidential Historical Records Preservation Act of 2008 amended 44 U.S.C. § 2504 to authorize grants for Presidential Centers of Historical Excellence.

Effects of changes in the records laws and modern digital records

While the libraries for presidents Hoover to George W. Bush eventually conformed to a model whereby the former president funded or fundraised and built a facility for NARA to house the library, presidents are not required to do so under the law (Nixon's was not under NARA for many years). Nonetheless, according to NARA as of 2023, recent changes in these laws have increased significantly the amount of endowment the former president must raise, if they do decide to build a NARA owned facility. According to NARA, not only are the digital nature of modern records changing the needs, plans, and lessening space requirements of physical storage, but the significantly increased endowment requirement may lessen the likelihood that present and future presidents will continue to build NARA facilities.

Holdings

The thirteen presidential libraries maintain over 400 million pages of textual materials; nearly ten million photographs; over 15 million feet (5,000 km) 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, Lyndon B. Johnson, and (upon his own death) Jimmy Carter, every American president since Hoover is or has chosen to be buried at their 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 44th president Barack Obama, 45th president Donald Trump, and 46th president Joe Biden 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. Denotes libraries outside the NARA Presidential Library Office (all post-Hoover administrations have presidential library holdings administered by NARA, but one will have a physical facility that is outside NARA's ownership, and another remains to be decided). Denotes presidential sites without libraries. Denotes library without presidential site. Denotes library where plans are yet to be announced.

#	President	Library name	Location	Operated by	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	_website
2	John Adams	Stone Library at Adams National Historical Park Opened to public 1870	Quincy, Massachusetts	National Park Service (NPS)	_website
3	Thomas Jefferson	Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello Opened to public 1994	Charlottesville, Virginia	Thomas Jefferson Foundation	_website
4	James Madison	The Papers of James Madison at Shannon Library Opened in 1937, the Papers of James Madison went digital, April 28, 2010.	Charlottesville, Virginia	University of Virginia	_Montpelier
4		Montpelier Opened to public 1984	Montpelier Station, Virginia	The Montpelier Foundation	_Montpelier
4		James Madison Museum Opened to public 2013	Orange, Virginia	James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation	museum
5	James Monroe	James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library Opened to public 1966	Fredericksburg, Virginia	University of Mary Washington	_website
5	James Monroe	Highland Opened to public 1931	Simeon, Virginia	College of William and Mary	_website
6	John Quincy Adams	Stone Library at Adams National Historical Park Opened to public 1870	Quincy, Massachusetts	NPS	_website
7	Andrew Jackson	The Papers of Andrew Jackson at Hoskins Library Opened to public 1987	Knoxville, Tennessee	University of Tennessee at Knoxville	_website
7	Andrew Jackson	The Hermitage Opened to public 1894	Nashville, Tennessee	Andrew Jackson Foundation	_website
8	Martin Van Buren	Martin Van Buren National Historic Site Opened to public October 26, 1974	Kinderhook, New York	NPS	_website
9	William Henry Harrison	Berkeley Plantation Opened to public 1940s	Charles City, Virginia	Berkeley Plantation	_website
10	John Tyler	Sherwood Forest Plantation Opened to public 1970s	Charles City, Virginia	Sherwood Forest Plantation Foundation	_website
11	James K. Polk	President James K. Polk Home & Museum Opened to public 1929	Columbia, Tennessee	James K. Polk Memorial Association	_website
12	Zachary Taylor	Zachary Taylor National Cemetery Opened to public 1928	Louisville, Kentucky	National Cemetery Administration	_website
13	Millard Fillmore	Millard Fillmore House Opened to public 1975	East Aurora, New York	Aurora Historical Society	_website
14	Franklin Pierce	Franklin Pierce Homestead Opened to public 1920s	Hillsborough, New Hampshire	State of New Hampshire	_website
15	James Buchanan	James Buchanan papers at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania Gift of the Buchanan family; transferred to the Historical Society, c. 1895–1897	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Historical Society of Pennsylvania	_website
15	James Buchanan	Wheatland (James Buchanan House) Opened to public 1930s	Lancaster, Pennsylvania	James Buchanan Foundation	_website
16	Abraham Lincoln	Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Opened to public in 2004	Springfield, Illinois	State of Illinois	_website
17	Andrew Johnson	President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library Opened to public 1993	Tusculum, Tennessee	Tusculum College	_website
17	Andrew Johnson	Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Opened to public 1993	Greeneville, Tennessee	NPS	_website
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	_website
18	Ulysses S. Grant	Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site Opened to public 1989	Grantwood Village, Missouri	NPS	_website
19	Rutherford B. Hayes	Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center Opened to public 1916	Fremont, Ohio	Ohio Historical Society and Hayes Presidential Center, Inc.	_website
20	James A. Garfield	James A. Garfield National Historic Site Opened to public 1998	Mentor, Ohio	NPS and Western Reserve Historical Society	_website
21	Chester A. Arthur	Chester Alan Arthur State Historic Site Opened to public 1950s	Fairfield, Vermont	Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development	_website
22 and 24	Grover Cleveland	Grover Cleveland Birthplace Opened to public March 18, 1913	Caldwell, New Jersey	New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry and Grover Cleveland Birthplace Memorial Association	_website
22 and 24	Grover Cleveland	Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library Opened to public October 16, 1976	Princeton, New Jersey	Princeton University	_website
23	Benjamin Harrison	Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site Opened to public 1970s	Indianapolis, Indiana	Arthur Jordan Foundation	_website
25	William McKinley	William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum Memorial/Gravesite opened to the public September 1907	Canton, Ohio	Stark County Historical Society	_website
26	Theodore Roosevelt	Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library	Medora, North Dakota in planning	Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation	_website
26		Houghton Library Collection donated in 1943	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Harvard University	_website
26		The Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University Launched in 2009	Dickinson, ND	Dickinson State University	_website
26		Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site Opened to public 1923	Manhattan, New York City, New York	NPS	_website
27	William Howard Taft	William Howard Taft National Historic Site Opened to public 1970s	Cincinnati, Ohio	NPS	_website
28	Woodrow Wilson	Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Opened to the public in 1990	Staunton, Virginia	Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Foundation	_website
28		Woodrow Wilson Center Chartered by Congress in 1968	Washington, DC	Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Foundation	_website
28		Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library Opened to public October 16, 1976	Princeton, New Jersey	Princeton University	_website
29	Warren G. Harding	Warren G. Harding Home & Memorial Opened to the public in February 1926	Marion, Ohio	Ohio History Connection	_website
29	Warren G. Harding	Warren G. Harding Presidential Center Opened to the public on May 12, 2021	Marion, Ohio	Ohio History Connection	_website
30	Calvin Coolidge	Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum Opened to the public in 1956	Northampton, Massachusetts	Forbes Library	_website
30	Calvin Coolidge	President Calvin Coolidge State Historical Site Opened to the public in 1957	Plymouth Notch, Vermont	State of Vermont	_website
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 (NARA)	_website
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum Dedicated June 30, 1941 Rededicated June 30, 2013	Hyde Park, New York	NARA	_website
33	Harry S. Truman	Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum Dedicated on July 6, 1957 Rededicated December 9, 2001	Independence, Missouri	NARA	_website
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home Dedicated on May 1, 1962 Rededicated on October 7, 2019	Abilene, Kansas	NARA	_website
35	John F. Kennedy	John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Dedicated on October 20, 1979 Rededicated October 29, 1993	Boston, Massachusetts	NARA	_website
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	_website
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	_website
38	Gerald Ford	Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum Dedicated on September 18, 1981 Rededicated April 17, 1997	Grand Rapids, Michigan	NARA	_website
38	Gerald Ford	Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library Dedicated on April 27, 1981	Ann Arbor, Michigan	NARA	_website
39	Jimmy Carter	Jimmy Carter Library and Museum Dedicated on October 1, 1986	Atlanta, Georgia	NARA	_website
40	Ronald Reagan	Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Dedicated on November 4, 1991	Simi Valley, California	NARA	_website
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	_website
42	Bill Clinton	William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park Dedicated on November 18, 2004	Little Rock, Arkansas	NARA	_website
43	George W. Bush	George W. Bush Presidential Center Dedicated on April 25, 2013	Dallas, Texas	NARA and Southern Methodist University	_website
44	Barack Obama	Barack Obama Presidential Library	Digital, NARA facilities	NARA	website
44	Barack Obama	Barack Obama Presidential Center Scheduled to open in the mid 2020s	Chicago, Illinois	Obama Foundation and the University of Chicago	_website
45	Donald Trump	Donald J. Trump Presidential Library	in planning	NARA	_website
45	Donald Trump	Donald J. Trump Presidential Center in planning, no location or opening scheduled so far.	under consideration	not decided
46	Joe Biden	Joe Biden Presidential Center	TBA

Locations of other presidents' papers

Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson left their papers to Princeton University where they may be found at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library. The Theodore Roosevelt Association collected Theodore Roosevelt's papers and donated them to Harvard University in 1943, where they reside at its Widener and Houghton libraries.

James Buchanan left his papers to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where they may still be found. The Papers of Andrew Jackson is a project sponsored by the University of Tennessee at Knoxville to collect Andrew Jackson's papers on microfilm. A microfilm edition of Martin Van Buren's papers was produced at Pennsylvania State University in 1987; a digital edition of the Papers of Martin Van Buren is being produced at Cumberland University. 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 except for classified materials are available through FOIA since 2023.