Menorah with small removable pitcher to pour oil into the lamps for each night - President Harry S. Truman received this menorah from Brotherhood Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1949.
This is one of several menorahs that are in the museum collection of the Truman Presidential Library.
Happy Hanukkah!
-from the Truman Library
Source: facebook.com
This morning, our new exhibit opens to the public. “To the Brink: JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis” covers the 13 days when the world teetered on the brink of thermonuclear war.
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev ordered a secret deployment of a nuclear strike force in Cuba, just 90 miles from the United States—with missiles that could reach most major U.S. cities in less than five minutes. President Kennedy stated that the missiles would not be tolerated, and insisted on their removal. Khrushchev refused.
Now, 50 years later, curators at the Kennedy Library and designers from the National Archives have created an exhibit where you can listen to secret real-time White House recordings from Kennedy’s meetings with his advisors during the 13 terrifying days in October 1962.
Do you remember the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Image: Medium Range Ballistic Missile Field Launch Site in San Cristobal, Cuba, taken October, 14, 1962. From the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Learn more about the JFK Library here: http://go.usa.gov/Y8f9
The Freedom 7 was the space capsule that launched the first American, Alan Shepard, into space. Yesterday, Freedom 7 arrived at the JFK Library in Boston.
On September 12, 1962, President Kennedy made his famous promise to send a mission to the moon. The JFK Library will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the speech by unveiling a installation of the Freedom 7 capsule.
Thanks to the National Air and Space Museum for the generous loan! You can see the Freedom 7 at the JFK Library until December 2015.
Pictured, left: The Freedom 7 arriving yesterday at the JFK Library. Right: JFK and astronaut John Glenn look inside a different capsule, the Friendship 7, at Cape Canaveral, 2/23/62.
More photos from the JFK Library
Source: presidentialtimeline.org
Today is the birthday of George W. Bush. Take a look at White House photos on the brand new George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum website.
The site features information about President and Laura Bush, the American Presidency, museum exhibits, archival holdings, and educational resources for teachers and children.
Pictured here, President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush pause during a tour of the Hermitage, May 25, 2002, in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Happy birthday President Bush!
Source: georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu
White House Photo Flipbooks can now be viewed on the new George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum website.
The photo-rich website goes live today, and features Flipbook galleries and a 360-degree artifact viewers. A powerful zoom tool enables visitors to see Presidential Gifts up close, such as the baseball bat presented to President Bush on March 30, 2001 at a reception to honor members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Also featured is the bull horn President Bush used to speak to the first responders working at Ground Zero when he visited New York City on September 14, 2001.
The menus pictured is one of many featured in the Dining and Diplomacy Flipbook. It’s from the White House Dinner in honor of the Governors of the States and Territories. 2/24/08.
There’s much more to explore here - George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum website.
Source: georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu
Fifty three years ago…
Groundbreaking ceremony for the Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum. The little house in the background is Hoover’s birthplace cottage. West Branch, Iowa. 5/4/1959
-from the Hoover Library
I was at a dinner for Democrats some years ago, and I sat next to Liz Carpenter, who was LBJ’s press secretary. Since Lady Bird was so interested in beautification, it seemed that environmental protection was a safe topic, so I mentioned that I had written a book on the subject. Liz seemed interested, but soon after left the room. When she reappeared she called me to the phone and said, “The President wants to talk to you.” I said “Hello,” and there was LBJ thanking me for donating the drawings for The Lorax to his library in Austin, Texas.
Theodore Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss
Little known fact – Theodore Geisel, gave the original drawings from his book, The Lorax, to the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum. Ten original drawings are on display at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas through March.
Source: lbjlibrary.org
“I was truly touched by how the dirt and marks on the bullhorn resembled the tears that I and so many shed during those days.”
This post is part of a series on September 11. The George W. Bush Library holds many documents related to the events of September 11. In this series, our staff share some of their memories of the day and their thoughts on the records that are part of their holdings.
I remember September 11th and the horror watching all the desperate families trying in vain to find their loved ones throughout that day and the ensuing days. I cried almost non-stop every time I watched the television.
When President Bush visited Ground Zero, I remember feeling inspired and thinking that he said exactly what the nation needed to hear. I remember being comforted by his words and proud that he was the President. When I finally saw the bullhorn, I remembered that day and the speech he made. I was truly touched by how the dirt and marks on the bullhorn resembled the tears that I and so many shed during those days.
It is such a simple piece, and though it is quiet now—the batteries removed for preservation purposes—it still speaks volumes about the tragedy of that day and the strength of American resiliency.
Dr. Jennifer Schulle is the registrar at the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
The George W. Bush Presidential Library will be located in Dallas, TX, on the campus of Southern Methodist University. The permanent facility is expected to open in Spring 2013. George W. Bush Presidential Records are not yet available to the public under the requirements of the Presidential Records Act. The records will become available toFreedom of Information Act requests on January 20, 2014. The images contained in this series were previously released.
“The first time I saw it, I felt a physical jolt.”
This post is part of a series on September 11. The George W. Bush Library holds many documents related to the events of September 11. In this series, our staff share some of their memories of the day and their thoughts on the records that are part of their holdings.
I started the morning of September 11, 2001, as a senior at Texas A&M University shuffling around my apartment in College Station getting ready for my first class. By the end of the day and for the rest of the day and all that week I was glued to the television.
Some of that week is a blur now. What I remember most about that time was the emotion. There was fear and anger, but mostly I remember the sadness and then the hope. Everyone was grieving, but we were grieving as a community, not as individuals.
I graduated a year later with a degree in history and went on to become a museum professional. Now, ten years after that awful day, I am a museum technician at the George W. Bush Presidential Library. We have tens of thousands of artifacts in our collection, including many items related to 9/11.
One of our most recognizable artifacts is the bullhorn President Bush used to speak to the rescue workers when he visited Ground Zero on September 14.
I work with artifacts for a living. I believe in the power of an object to tell a story and evoke emotion in the viewer, but I was taken aback at the power of this ordinary, dirt streaked megaphone. The first time I saw it, I felt a physical jolt. I teared up and felt emotion welling in my chest. In an instant I was taken back to that day, week, month, and year.
I remembered the fear of the attack and the uncertainty of more to come. I remembered the sadness at the loss of so much human life, but mostly I remembered the unity we shared for a brief time. Working with historical artifacts like the bullhorn reminds me that when we need to, we can come together as one united nation.
I am proud to be a custodian of objects made sacred in our country’s collective memory. As a National Archives staff member, I look forward to sharing their power and presence with the people who visit the future Bush Presidential Library.
Christina Rodriguez is a museum technician at the George W. Bush Presidential Library. She has also worked in the museum and audiovisual archives of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library.
“Wake up. Two planes have hit.”
This is part of a series on September 11 in which our staff share some of their memories of the day and their thoughts on the records that are part of their holdings.
I woke up to my dad’s voice on the phone. “Wake up, planes have hit the World Trade Center.” In my groggy state I asked if it was foggy like the time the airplane crashed into the Empire State Building.
“No, Amy. Wake up. Two planes have hit. It’s terrorists.”
Everything was wrong. Nothing made sense. The whole world was upside down.
Like so many people, I reached out to my family and friends to make sure they were ok, to ask questions that no one had the answers to, and to just be close to people I loved as our country went through this surreal hell. I called my dad a lot and went over to my parents’ house after work every day for the first couple of weeks.
I was with my parents the night of September 14, watching the reports of the president’s trip to Ground Zero. When President Bush picked up that bullhorn and spoke to the rescue workers and the entire nation, I turned to my dad and expressed how proud I was. And my dad, ever the man to just say it like it is, simply replied, “You’re telling me.”
I still have a hard time keeping it together when I see footage of September 11, when I read letters from schoolchildren who sent their handmade flags to the White House to bolster the president’s spirits, or when I work with the personal 9/11 artifacts in the collection of the Bush 43 Library.
The only one that doesn’t choke me up is the bullhorn that President Bush used that day to comfort the workers at Ground Zero. Working with the bullhorn brings me back to that day when I knew with certainty that our country had suffered but would not be defeated and how the deafening response to his words exemplified the American spirit.
Working with the bullhorn also reminds me of my dad, who died in 2007. He didn’t live to see me become curator of the George W. Bush Presidential Library. I would have shown him the bullhorn and told him how unbelievable it is to work with the extraordinary documents and objects in our collection, and how grateful I am my career path has led me here.
And he would have said, “You’re telling me.”
Amy Polley is curator of the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
The George W. Bush Presidential Library will be located in Dallas, TX, on the campus of Southern Methodist University. The permanent facility is expected to open in Spring 2013. George W. Bush Presidential Records are not yet available to the public under the requirements of the Presidential Records Act. The records will become available toFreedom of Information Act requests on January 20, 2014. The images contained in this series were previously released.
