# Federal Presidential Libraries

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URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/crs%3A95-389

## Record

- **Collection:** Congressional research report
- **Document type:** CRS Report
- **Published:** March 14, 1995
- **Citation:** 95-389

## Text

95-389 GOV

Federal Presidential Libraries

Harold Relyea
Specialist in American National Government
Government Division

B
March 14, 1995

CRS

FEDERAL PRESIDENTIAL LIB

S

SUMMARY
Through the National Archives and Records Administration, the Federal
Government currently operates and maintains nine presidential libraries, and
will soon assume responsibility for a tenth facility. Inaugurated with the
Presidential Libraries Act of 1955, these entities are privately constructed on
behalf of a former President of the United States and, upon completion, are
deeded to the Federal Government. Deposited within these edifices are papers,
records, memorabilia, and artifacts of the former President, his family, and,
oftentimes, his political associates. These materials are made accessible to the
public in accordance with prevailing law concerning custody, national security,
personal privacy, and other similar restrictions. Federal presidential libraries
have been established for Herbert Hoover and each succeeding Chief Executive
except Richard Nixon. A Nixon library and museum was built and dedicated,
but the facility is privately operated. The George Bush presidential library is
under construction and plans call for it to be subsequently deeded to the Federal
Government.
Since the enactment of the 1955 statute authorizing the creation of
presidential libraries: at least two additional laws have further modified
arrangements concerning these facilities. The Presidential Records Act of 1978
carefully defined "presidential records" and specified that all such materials
created on or after January 20, 1981, were governed by its provisions. It
effectively made presidential records Federal property which was to remain
under the custody and control of the Archivist of the United States when each
incumbent President left office. More recently, Congress enacted the
Presidential Libraries Act of 1986, which set certain reporting requirements,
architectural and design conditions, and fiscal limitations regarding presidential
libraries, includingrequiring an operating endowment. However, portions of the
endowment requirement pertaining to new presidential libraries or archival
depositories were specifically made applicable "to any President who takes the
oath of office as President for the first time on or after January 20, 1985." A
George Bush presidential library will be the first such facility to be subject to
all of these recent reform requirements.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

................................. 1

Table 1. Library of Congress Major
Purchases of Presidential Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
THE FEDERAL PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
THE POLICY STRUCTURE

.................................... 5

THE LIBRARY SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
COST CONSIDERATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
TABLE 2 . Cost of Presidential Libraries and
Former Presidents to U.S. Taxpayers. 1955-1987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
TABLE 3 . Program Costs for Presidential
Libraries FY1985-FYI996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

19

TABLE 4 . Operating Costs for Presidential
Libraries FY1985-FYI996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
TABLE 5 . Total Costs for Presidential
Libraries FY1985-1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
DOCUMENTS

23

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

APPENDM: Institutions Holding Collections
Comprising 100 or More Presidential Papers

FEDERAL PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES
The Federal Government currently operates and maintains nine
presidential libraries, and will soon assume responsibility for a tenth facility.
The first such entity was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in
1939. The system of subsequent libraries was inaugurated with the Presidential
Libraries Act of 1955. These facilities are privately constructed on behalf of a
former President of the United States and, upon completion, are deeded to the
Federal Government. Deposited within these edifices are papers, records,
memorabilia, and artifacts of the former President, his family, and, oftentimes,
his political associates. These materials are made accessible to the public in
accordance with prevailing law concerning custody, national security, personal
privacy, and other similar restrictions. In subsequent years, other statutes-the
Presidential Records Act of 1978 and the Presidential Libraries Act of
1986-have further modified arrangements concerning these facilities.

HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
Although the government of the United States is based upon a written
Constitution and laws, the management and preservation of the public records
of the Nation was generally neglected during the first century and a half of the
existence of the Republic.' Inattentiveness to the maintenance of official papers
prevailed within both the infant bureaucracy and the White House. While the
Secretary of State bore the responsibility for retaining copies of the most
important government documents, lesser papers, without immediate
administrative significance, disappeared in a clutter: disintegrated, became
otherwise lost, or were destroyed by design.
Within this atmosphere, departing Presidents had little choice with regard
to the disposition of their records: there was no national archive to receive such
papers and, for reasons of etiquette, or politics, or both, there was reluctance to
leave them behind. Thus, the early Chief Executives carried away their
documents of office: entrusting them to their family, estate executors, and often
to fate. After years and decades of the perils of private ownership, many
collections of presidential records came to be established within the libraries of
State and private universities, State historical societies, and the Library of
Congres~.~
However, time le51ed a price on some caches of such documents
before they came to rest in friendly institutions.

See H. G. Jon-.

The Records o f A Netion. New York, Atheneum, 1969, pp. 3-23.

See the appendix to this report indicating institutions holding collections comprising 100 or
more presidential papers.

The Library of Congress has possession of approximately 95 percent of
President George Washington's papers, purchased from his heirs in 1834 and
1849 at a total cost of $45,000. Some 23;600 Thomas Jefferson documents were
purchased by the Library in 1848. They were not the full collection available
a t that time though. "Fully half of the original papers were returned to the
estate after this transaction was completed, as of too 'personal' a nature for
government acquisition. They were ultimately dispersed by the heirs to friends,
relatives and collector^."^
In three separate purchases totaling $65,000, the Library of Congress
acquired 10,000 items from James Madison's presidency. Of the 4,200
documents from the James Monroe collection held by the Library, the bulk of
them was acquired in 1849 for $20,000. The Andrew Jackson collection at the
Library consists of approximately 20,000 items, certain of which were donated
in 1903, but most were purchased in 1911 and 1932 for a total of $18,000.
Jackson's legal and militia papers were destroyed, however, when the
Hermitage, the family home, burned in 1834.

Table 1. Library of Congress
Major Purchases of Presidential Papers4
President

Purchased

Amount

Washington
Jefferson
Madison
Monroe
Jackson
Tyler
Polk
A. Johnson
In various ways, fire has been the chief destroyer of retired presidential
documents. President Martin Van Buren carefully selected papers from his
administration and is thought to have burned the rest, leaving less than 7,000
items. Fewer than 1,000 of William Henry Harrison's papers have survived,
many of them being destroyed in 1858 when his home in North Bend, Ohio, was
consumed by flames. While the Library of Congress has 800 items from the
John Tyler presidency, purchased in 1919 for $1,000, a large part of the original
collection was destroyed in the burning of Richmond in 1865. Documents of

David Dernarest Lloyd. Presidential Papers and Presidential Libraries. Manrscripfs, v. 8,
Fall, 1955, p. 10.
Drawn from Ibid., pp. 9-15. Additional material supplied by the
Manuscript Di~esionof the Library of Congress.

President Zachary Taylor not already scattered by descendants were also burned
during the Civil War when the family plantation was put to the torch.
Peculiarities surround the papers of some Presidents. After leaving office,
President Ulysses S. Grant reportedly returned certain of the letters he had
received from political friends and associates to their writers. Most of Chester
A. Arthur's papers "disappeared." The documents of Warren G. Harding's
presidency vanished for a time and were thought to have been destroyed by his
widow. Some were acquired by the Library of Congress, but a quantity of them
then turned up in Marion, Ohio: where certain materials remain under seal, the
most sensitive items to be released in 2014.
For over a century and a half, the papers of the President were regarded
a s his personal property to be taken with him when he left office. However, as
the Federal establishment began to grow, questions arose as to the propriety and
wisdom of this practice. By the turn of the century, historians had become
alarmed that papers were accidently destroyed, lost, and sometimes only
selectively released for scrutiny. Archivists lamented omissions in the national
governmental record which the situation created. Not only might entire files be
carried from the White House, but presidential correspondence might be
retrieved from departmental files. As it applied to government records, the
concept of presidential papers knew no bounds. This aspect of the practice
became particularly acute in the aftermath of the creation of the Executive
Office of the President in 1939. Franklin D. Roosevelt established a panoply of
emergency and wartime agencies within this domain, all of which served the
President in immediate and direct capacities and all of which, therefore, could
be considered producers of "presidential papers." The potential loss of the
documentary materials of these entities, however, presented both a records
management problem and an administrative continuity difficulty.5

THE FEDERAL PRESIDENTIAL L I B M Y
Addressing this situation, Franklin Roosevelt sought to return presidential
papers to the public realm through a new type of institution-the presidential
library. When F.D.R. advanced this concept in 1938, two prototype libraries
were already in existence. In 1914, the State of Ohio completed the Rutherford
B. Hayes Memorial Library in Fremont, Ohio. Built in fulfillment of obligations
to receive the former Chief Executive's papers and memorabilia, the library
memorial,
contains 67,425 items and 293 volumes of historical material."he
which also houses certain local and regional historical papers apart from those

The bulk of the records of the temporary Executive Office agencies are, in fact, divided
between the Franklin D. Roosevelt presidentiallibrary at Hyde Park, New York, and the National
Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D. C.
David Demarest Lloyd. Presidential Papers and Presidential Libraries, p. 13.

of President Hayes, continues to be maintained jointly by the State of Ohio and
the Rutherford B. Hayes-Lucy Webb Hayes F ~ u n d a t i o n . ~
Roosevelt's immediate predecessor, Herbert Hoover, placed his presidential
papers in the Hoover Library of War; Revolution, and Peace, located on the
Stanford University campus. In 1919, Hoover had pledged $50,000 to the
university to establish an institution which would serve as a repository of
largely original documents deriving from European propaganda and
pamphleteering activities of World War I.8 Built at a cost of $600,000 for the
basic archival building, the resulting entity was later renamed the Hoover
Institution on War: Revolution, and P e a ~ e .Today?
~
it is no longer attached to
Stanford University, but maintains itself through donations and as a contract
research organization. It continues to hold papers evolvingfrom Hoover's public
service since 1914. Certain of the presidential papers, however, were transferred
to the Herbert Hoover presidential library at West Branch, Iowa, when that
facility was completed and turned over to the Archivist of the United States in
1964.
Franklin Roosevelt built upon these models and developed the concept of
a publicly maintained presidential library. The idea apparently germinated in
the President's thinking in 193'7. By December of 1938, he had organized an
executive committee on the project and had recruited Waldo Gifford Leland: a
distinguished historian, leader of the archival profession, and eminent executive
secretary of the American Council of Learned Societies, to chair the panel.'0
After an initial organizational meeting and gathering with the President on
December 17: plans were made to organize a corporation to gather funds for the
private construction of the library building." The Carnegie Corporation
granted the executive committee $1,500 for its activities, and the first round of
construction pledges totaled $450,000.'2

See Thomas A. Snlith. Before Hyde Park: The Rutherford B. Hayes Library. American
Archiuist, v. 43, Fall, 1980, pp. 485-488.
Paul Dickson. Think Tanks. New York, Atheneum, 1971, p. 303.
David Demarest Lloyd. Presidential Papers and Presidential Libraries, p. 15
lo See Waldo Gifford Leland. The Creation of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Libraw: A Personal
Narrative. American Archiuist, v. 18, January, 1955, pp. 11-29. Also see Donald R. McCoy. The
Beginnings of the Franklin D. Roozevelt Library. Pmlogrn, v. 7, Fall, 1975, pp. 137-160.

" Members of the executive committee chaired by Leland included Randolph G. Adams,
Librarian of the lVi1liam L. Clements Library of the University of Michigan; Charles E . Clark,
recent dean of the Yale University Law School who had just been named to a Federal appeals
court judgeship; Robert D. W. Connor, Archivist of the United States; Helen Taft Manning, dean
of Btyn Mawr College; Samuel Eliot Morison, professor of history a t Harvard Univei-siiy; and
Stuart A. Rice, chairman of the Central Statistical Board.
l2 Waldo Gifford Leland. The Creation of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library: A Personal
Narrative, pp. 15-16.

The declared purposes of the library construction corporation were to
construct and equip a building or buildings on the grounds of the Roosevelt
family home at Hyde Park, New York, or elsewhere, either for the corporation
or for the United States. This facility was to house and preserve such historical
materials as Franklin Roosevelt might give, bequeath, or transfer to the
corporation or to the United States, as well as any other acceptable historical
materials. The corporation was to provide for the custody and maintenance of
such buildings and historical materials, making the latter available to students,
scholars, historians, teachers, and others until ownership and control should be
taken over by the United States. It had power to solicit, accept, borrow, invest,
and expend money, and to transfer property to the United States; provided that
adequate legislation was enacted for the acceptance of such property and for its
permanent care and maintenance.13
Chartering legislation for the Roosevelt presidential library was enacted in
1939.14 The Archivist of the United States, acting on behalf of the Federal
Government, accepted the completed library edifice on July 4, 1940. The
museum portion of the facility was opened to the public approximately a year
later; library materials were available for research use by the public in the
spring of 1946.

THE POLICY STRUCTURE
The efforts of Franklin Roosevelt to create a presidential library were both
ad hoc and specific. Nonetheless, Harry Truman was no less attentive to history
and the preservation of his presidential records. In the aftermath of his 1948
election, Truman saw the 1950 creation of a Missouri corporation to establish
a presidential library on his behalf, following the F.D.R. model.15 Furthermore,
in an unpublished January 17, 1953, letter to the Administrator of General
Services (who had succeeded the Archivist of the United States as the official
recipient of publicly donated presidential records and archival facilities), Truman
proposed to offer his White House papers for deposit in the national archival
system pursuant to somewhat awkward authority of the Federal Records Act or
under future legislation in the event that the proposed library was accepted by
the Federal Government.'"
While the Truman library corporation was endeavoring to raise funds for
the construction of an archival edifice; Congress enacted the Presidential

l3 Md., pp. 17-18

l4 53 Stat. 1062
l5 Background information on the establishment of the Truman presidential library was
provided by the National Archives and Records Administration. Also see David D. Lloyd. The
Harry S. Truman Library. American Archiuist, v. 18, April, 1955, pp. 107-110; Philip C. Brooks.
The Harry S. Truman Library-Plans and Reality. American Archivist, v. 25, January. 1962. pp.
25-37.
l6 See Section 507(e), 64 Stat. 583, 588

Libraries Act of 1955. Truman's successor; Dwight D. Eisenhower, approved the
legislation-an amendment to the Federal Property and Administrative Sewices
Act of 1949-in August." This law provided the statutory basis for all
subsequent Federal presidential libraries.
Under the terms of the new Presidential Libraries Act, a former President
was understood to have complete control over his official records, even to the
point of his defining what constituted "presidential papers." These materials
could be taken by the Chief Executive when he departed office. The Presidential
Libraries Act established arrangements whereby a former President could: after
privately constructing a depository edifice: deed both the building and such
papers as he wished to house within it to the Federal Government. In accepting
this property-buildings, land, records, and papers, and perhaps artifacts-the
government agreed to abide by the terms of the deed or contract of bequest,
which often meant that temporal restrictions were set on the public availability
It was also understood that security
of some presidential materials.
classification and other limited common law restrictions, such as personal
privacy, would be honored as we11.18
Pursuant to this authority, Federal presidential libraries were subsequently
created for former Presidents Harry S. Truman, Herbert C. Hoover, Dwight D.
Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Gerald R. Ford, and Jimmy
Carter. However, new laws began to emerge, changing the arrangements Tor
future presidential libraries.
First, as a consequence of the Watergate incident and related matters, the
official papers and records of President Richard Nixon were placed under
Federal custody by the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act
of 1974.'' The statute requires that these materials remain in Washington, D.
C.! where they are maintained under the supervision of the Archivist of the
United States. Thus, Nixon neither could take his presidential records and
documents with him when he left office, nor could he place them in a
presidential library outside of the Nation's capital.
This 1974 statute also created the temporary National Study Commission
on Records and Documents of Federal official^.^^ The task of this panel was
"to study problems and questions with respect to the control, disposition, and
preservation of records and documents produced by or on behalf of Federal
officials: with a view toward the development of appropriate legislative
recommendations and other recommendations regarding appropriate rules and
procedures with respect to such control, disposition, and preservation."

l7 69 Stat. 695; 44 U.S.C. 2101, 2107-2108 11976).
l8 See William J. Stewart. Opening Closed Material in the Roosevelt Libraty. Prologue, v. 7,
Winter, 1975, pp. 239-241.

'' 88 Stat. 1695

Consisting of 17 members? the commission was chaired by former Attorney
General Herbert Brownell." Its final report was issued in March of 1977."
Responding partly to some of the commission's recommendations,
legislation to establish the future public ownership of presidential records and
procedures governing the preservation and public availability of such materials
at the end of each Chief Executive's tenure was introduced in the House early
in 1978. It was subsequently given congressional approval and was signed into
law in November as the Presidential Records Act." The statute carefully
defined "presidential records," and specified that all such materials created on or
after January 20, 1981, were subject to its provisions. The new law effectively
made presidential records Federal property which was to remain under the
custody and control of the Archivist of the United States when each incumbent
President left the White House. Jimmy Carter was the last occupant of the Oval
Office who could freely take away his records and papers.
At about this same time, there was a growing sentiment in Congress that
would eventually result in another reform of Federal presidential library law.
Concern about the increasing cost of providing benefits to the Nation's former
Presidents was beginning to build, legislatively manifesting itself initially in
March, 1980, in proposals to adjust the Federal largess bestowed upon former
Presidents and their fa mi lie^.'^ Federal presidential libraries-particularly

" In addition to Brownell, the other members of the panel included Lucius D. Battle; Senior
Vice President of the Communications Satellire Corporation; Philip W. Buchen, former U'hite
House Counsel to President Ford; Ann Morgan Campbell, Executive Director of the Society of
American Archivists; David 0. Cooke. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Administration;
Allen Ertel, Member of the House of Representatives; Frank B. Freidel, Jr., Harvard University
Professor of History; Elizabeth Hamer Kegan, Assistant Librarian of Congress for Anlerican and
Libraw Studies; Robert J. Lagomarsino, Member of the House of Representatives; William E.
Leucbtenberg, Columbia University Professor of History; J. Edward Lumbard, Jr., Senior Judge
of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; Edward Mezvinsky, Member of the House
of Representatives; Gaylord Nelson, U n i ~ dStates Senator; James B. Rhoads, Archivist of the
United States; John M. Thomas_ Assistant Secretary of State for Administration; Michael M.
Uhlmann, former Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs; and Lowell P. Weicker, J r . ,
United States Senator.
22 U. S. National Study Commission on Records and Documents of Federal Officials. Final
Report of the Xational Study Commission on Records a n d Documents of Federal Oflcials.
Washington, March 31, 1977. This document also contains a n alternate report of minority
mcmbcrs of rhc con~n~~;?ion
.\Is0 see Anna Kasten S e l ~ o n The Publlc Documents Comm~sjlon
Politics and Prcsidcnt~dlZcsords Go>:ernmznr P ~ h l t c n r ~ o nNcrteu..
s
v . 9. Seoren~ber.Ocrober.
1982, pp. 443451
23 92 Stat. 2523; 44 U.S.C. 2201-2207 (1982)
24 See U. S. Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. Federal Benefits to Former
Presidents and Their Widows. Report No. 85-173 GOV, by Stephanie Smith. Washington, August
19, 1985; U. S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Former Presidents
Facilities and Senices Reform Act of 1986. S. Rept. 99-349, 99th Congress, 2d session.
Washington, U. S. Govt. Print. Off, 1986, pp. 8-9.

their physical size and continued maintenance-were among the perquisites seen
to be contributing to the burden of the taxpayers.25
During the 99th Congress, the House and the Senate moved legislation
addressing this single area of expense involving former Presidents. The
Presidential Libraries Act of 1986 set certain reporting requirements,
architectural and design conditions, and fiscal limitations regarding future
presidential libraries; including requiring an operating end~wment.~"or
example, prior to accepting any gift of land, a facility, or equipment to create a
Federal presidential library or making any physical or material change in an
existing one, the Archivist must submit a written report to Congress providing
certain details: as specified in the statute, about the transaction. However,
portions of the endowment requirement for new Federal presidential libraries
were specifically made applicable "to any President who takes the oath of office
as President for the first time on or after January 20, 1985."2'
The George Bush presidential library will be the first such facility to be
subject to all of these recent reform requirements. In brief, as the President
nears the completion of his tenure, a private development corporation may be
chartered under State law to generate funding for the construction of an
archival facility that will function as a presidential library. This edifice must
meet architectural and design standards prescribed by the Archivist of the
United States pursuant to the Presidential Libraries Act of 1986. The structure
will probably be located at or near the former President's birthplace, family
home, or alma mater. The former President will not, however, have official Oval
Office records to present with the edifice at the time of deeding it over to the
Federal Government. These materials, under the control of the Archivist, will
be deposited at the facility after the government takes possession of it. Finally,
the development corporation will also have to provide an adequate maintenance
endowment with the archival edifice in order that the Archivist may make
acceptance.

THE LIBRARY SYSTEM
Through the National Archives and Records Administration, the Federal
Government currently operates and maintains eight presidential libraries, and
will soon assume responsibility for a ninth such facility. Federal experience
with the first four presidential libraries-Roosevelt, Truman, Hoover; and
Eisenhower-established two patterns: the facility was located at what was
considered to be the particular former President's hometown (birthplace or

25 See U. S. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Presidential Libraries:
Unexplored Funding Altematiues. H. Rept. 97-732, 97th Congress, 2d session. Washington, U. S.
Govt. Print. Off., 1982.

26 100 Stat. 495; 44 U.S.C. 2101, 2112 (1988)

27 100 Stat. 498 (emphasis added)

principal residence) and the library building(s), grounds, and holdings were
deeded to the Federal Government.
Change in or exception to this practice occurred with the Lyndon Baines
Johnson presidential library, which was located on the campus of the University
of Texas at Austin. Because the University could not legally deed its land to the
Federal Government, another provision of the Presidential Libraries Act was
relied upon to effect Federal supervision of the facility. Rather than taking title
to the presidential archival facility, the Archivist relied upon his authority to
"make agreements, upon terms and conditions he considers proper: with a State,
political subdivision, university, institution of higher learning, institute, or
foundation to use as a Presidential archival depository land, buildings, and
equipment of the State, subdivision, university, or other organization, to be
made available by it without transfer of title to the United States, and maintain,
operate, and protect the depository as a part of the national archives
Pursuant to this authority, a n agreement or memorandum of understanding was
executed regarding the Federal supervision of the Johnson presidential library.
This innovation was repeated in the case of the Gerald R. Ford presidential
library because its location on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of
Michigan once again raised the land deed barrier. A separate Ford museum is
located in the former President's hometown of Grand Rapids; Michigan, but it
is not a Federal presidential library.
Both the John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Jimmy Carter presidential libraries:
however, while deeded to the Federal Government, are located in major cities in
close proximity to respective presidential hometowns. The planned Ronald
Reagan presidential library appears to follow this model. Each of the
presidential libraries is briefly profiled below.29

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library (Hyde Park, New York).
The oldest of the Federal presidential libraries, the Roosevelt facility
was individually chartered by Congress in 1939. Shortly after this
legislation was signed into law; the President and Mrs. Roosevelt
deeded approximately 16 acres of their family estate to the Federal
Government as a site for the archival edifice. The building design was
F.D.R.'s own; the cornerstone was laid on November 19, 1939; and the
completed structure was accepted by the Archivist of the United States
on July 4,1940. The museum portion of the library was opened to the
public on June 30, 1941, and materials were made available for
research by the public on May 1; 1946.
Wings were added to the original archival edifice in memory of
Mrs. Roosevelt in 1972. The Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial Foundation,
a private group chartered by Congress, contributed half of the

2a See 44 U.S.C. 2112la) (1982); 44 U.S.C 2112(a)ll)(B)li~
(1988)
29 Profile information was largely provided by the National Archives and Records
Administration.

construction funds for the expansion."
money for the other half of the cost.

Congress appropriated

The Harry S. Truman Library (Independence, Missouri).
A library construction corporation was chartered under the laws of
Missouri on July 14, 1950. Just before he left office, President
Truman, in a January 17,1953, letter to the Administrator of General
Services, indicated his intention to donate his presidential records to
the National Archives.
Subsequently, Congress enacted the
Presidential Libraries Act of 1955, which opened the way for a joint
gift of an archival edifice and presidential materials. The construction
corporation collected funds from 1950 to 1957, and the library building
was completed in September, 1957. The city of Independence donated
13.5 acres for a site; and related road improvements were made by the
Missouri Highway Department. The construction corporation deeded
the entire facility to the Federal Government on June 10, 1957. The
Truman Library was dedicated and accepted on July 6, 1957.
The Herbert Hoover Library (M7estBranch, Iowa). In 1954,
a foundation was incorporated in Iowa to preserve former President
Hoover's birthplace, promote the principles for which he stood, and
preserve certain of his memorabilia. It cooperated with the Hoover
Birthplace Society, a local citizens group which had opened the Hoover
home to the public and acquired land in the vicinity of the cottage.
The two groups merged in the late 1950s and began efforts at
financing the construction of a library-museum on the birthplace site.
Development funds were appropriated at times by the Iowa legislature.
The uncompleted facility was offered to the Federal Government on
December 5,1960. The library was subsequently dedicated on August
10, 1962, and was deeded to the United States exactly two years later.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Library (Abilene, Kansas).
During the closing months of World War II, the Eisenhower
Foundation was granted a non-profit corporation charter by the State
of Kansas on July 23, 1945. While its original purpose was to honor
war veterans, the foundation came to focus increasingly on publicly
recognizing and memorializing the achievements of General
Eisenhower. An important step in this regard occurred in 1946 when
the Eisenhower brothers, after the death of their mother, deeded the
family home in Abilene, Kansas, to the foundation to be operated and
preserved for the benefit of the public. Assuming this responsibility,
the foundation opened the home for public visitation in June of 1947.
Next, General Eisenhower made the foundation the recipient of his
military mementoes and awards.
Soon, the foundation began
constructing a museum for these memorabilia at the family home site.
This facility was completed and dedicated on November 11: 1954.
During Eisenhower's first presidential term, the foundation began
30 See 77 Stat. 8.

planning to build a presidential library a t the home site. The State of
Kansas assisted the effort with acquisition and landscaping of a library
site, supervising the design and construction of the archival edifice,
and an appropriation of over $2 million. The presidential library was
dedicated and accepted by the Federal Government on May 1: 1962.
Four years later, the foundation deeded both the museum and family
home to the United States, creating the Eisenhower Center.

The John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library (Boston,
Massachusetts). Eight months after his inauguration, President
Kennedy, in a September 20,1961, letter to the Archivist of the United
States, indicated his initial interest in establishing his presidential
library. Plans sufficiently progressed that, prior to his death, Kennedy
had actually viewed and given preliminary approval to a possible site
for an archival edifice. A development corporation for the facility was
chartered in Massachusetts on December 5,1963. President Kennedy's
heirs formally donated his official papers and other artifacts to the
United States by a deed of gift accepted by the Administrator of
General Services on February 25, 1965.
Subsequently, the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts authorized the Massachusetts Bay
Transportation Authority to convey a certain portion of land to the
United States for the site of the Kennedy library, and pledged to pay
a reimbursement for this property. Federal law, approved August 27,
1966, authorized the Administrator of General Services to accept the
offered 10-acre site in Cambridge, located near Harvard Yard.31 The
transfer occurred with a deed of February 15, 1968. However;
controversy developed concerning the environmental impact of the
facility on Cambridge. Eventually, special legislation authorized the
return of the land to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1976.32
That same year, the Commonwealth authorized the University of
Massachusetts to convey 12.5 acres of its Boston campus property,
located on Columbia Point, to the Federal Government for the
Kennedy library site. Federal law adopted in 1977 authorized
acceptance of this land.33 Construction of the archival edifice was
undertaken, and the completed facility was deeded to the United
States. The library was formally dedicated and opened to the public
on October 20, 1979.34

31 See 80 Stat. 370

32 See 90 Stat. 589
33 See 91 Stat. 174

34 See Dan H. Fenn. Launching the John F. Kennedy Library. American Archiuist, v. 42,
October, 1979, pp. 429-442; U. S. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. John
Fitzgerdd Kennedy Presidential Library. Hearing, 95th Congress, l s t session. April 28, 1977.
Washington, U. S. Govt. Print. Off., 1977; U. S. Congress. House. Committee on Government
Operations. John Fitzgerald Kennedy Presidential Library. H. Rept. 95-273, 95th Congress, 1st
session. Washington, U. S. Govt. Print. Off., 1977.

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library (Austin, Texas).
President Johnson, in a August 13, 1965, letter to the Administrator
of General Services, offered his presidential and other papers as a gift
to the United States. This offer was accepted by the Administrator on
August 17. Subsequently, on September 6: 1965, legislation was
approved authorizing the Administrator to enter into an agreement
with the University of Texas to use as a presidential archival facility
certain land, buildings, and equipment of the University to be made
available by it without transfer of title to the Federal Government.
The depository was to be maintained, operated, and protected as part
of the national archival system.35 The Administrator and the
University of Texas entered into an agreement on October 8, 1965,
pursuant to this authority. Because the University provided the 14acre site for the library and constructed the edifice, no private
foundation or corporation was formed to solicit funds for the
depository. The building was dedicated on May 22, 1971-the first
presidential library to be situated on a university campus. The
University of Texas retained title to the building, but dedicated it to
the United States in perpetuity.

The Richard M. Nixon Library (Yorba Linda, California).
The privately constructed and operated Nixon archival facility is not
a. Federal presidential library. Richard Nixon resigned the presidency
on August 9,1974, shortly after the House Committee on the Judiciary
approved three articles of impeachment. He left the White House
immediately and was automatically succeeded by Vice President Gerald
Ford. A month later, on September 8: 1974, President Ford announced
a full and unconditional pardon of Kixon. That same day, a few hours
later, presidential counsel Philip Buchen disclosed an agreement
between Nixon and the Administrator of General Services regarding
the disposition of some 42 million documents and materials of the
Nixon presidency. In the agreement, Nixon asserted that he retained
"all legal and equitable title to the materials, including all literary
property rights." Supporting this position; a September 6, 1974, legal
opinion prepared by Attorney General William Saxbe took the position
that such documents and materials were the private property of Nixon.
The agreement provided for the transfer of the Nixon presidential
records to a temporary Federal archival facility in California where
they would be held for three years until a presidential library was
completed for their deposit. Storage costs during this period were to
be borne by the Federal Government. Access to the material, however,
was to be solely and absolutely controlled by former President Kixon,
who also retained broad discretionary power over what records and
tape recordings might be donated to the United States, retained by
him, or destroyed. Furthermore, even those tapes donated to the
United States were: according to the agreement, to be destroyed at the
time of Nixon's death or on September 1, 1984, depending upon
whichever event occurred first.

This agreement was met with widespread congressional
objection.36 Overriding legislation was enacted in December of
1974.37 The Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act
gave the Federal Government custody over the Nixon presidential
records, documents, and tape recordings. These materials were to
remain in Washington, D. C.: for use in on-going court proceedings by
the Federal Government. The Administrator of General Services was
made responsible for managing the materials, including their
preservation, security, and organization, and for preparingregulations
regarding public access to them. These materials continue to remain
in Federal custody in the Nation's capital.
Although former President Nixon did not have possession of or
control over his presidential records: documents, and tapes, planning
proceeded for a library in his honor. The formation of a foundation
for this purpose had been announced by the Nixon White House on
May 12, 1969.38 Difficulties ensued, however, over a location for the
library, and various sites were pursued-Whittier
College, San
Clemente: and Duke University, among other locales. In 1987,
agreement was reached on the Nixon birthplace-Yorba
Linda,
California-for the archival facility.39 Reportedly costing $21 million,
the Nixon library complex was dedicated on July 19, 1990.40 The
research collection includes Nixon's congressional and vice presidential
records and a small collection of copies of his presidential papers.41

The Gerald R. Ford Library (Ann Arbor, Michigan). The
University of Michigan had sought Gerald Ford's congressional and
vice presidential papers before he succeeded to the presidency in
August of 1974. A deed of gift for these records and his presidential
86 See U. S. Congress. House. Committee on House Administration. The "Public Documents
Act." Hearings, 93rd Congress, 2d session. September 30 and October 4, 1974. Washington, U.
S. Govt. Print. Off., 1974; U. S. Congress. House. Committee on House Administration.
Presidential Recordings a n d Materials Preservation Act. H. Rept. 93-1507, 93rd Congress, 2d
session. Washington, U. S. Govt. Print. Off., 1974; U. S. Congress. Senate. Committee on
Government Operations. Presemation, Protection, a n d Public Access With Respect to Certain Tape
Recordings and Other Materials. S. Rept. 93-1181, 93rd Congress, 2d session. Washington, U. S.
Govt. Print. Off., 1974.
37 88 Stat. 1695.
Ss See Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, v. 25, May 23, 1969, p. 828.
39 Mariann Hansen. Nixon Presidential Library to Be Built in Yorba Linda. Los Angeles
Times, November 7, 1987, pp. 1, 33.
40 Leon Whiteson. Nixon Library Hits Close to Home. Los Angeles Times, July 19, 1990, pp.
E l , E6; R. W. Apple, Jr. Winner and Loser, Nixon Comes Back. New York Times, July 20, 1990,
pp. Al, A10; Ann Devroy. Nixon Library Dedicated as 3 GOP Presidents Praise "Architect of
Peace." Washington Post, July 20, 1990, p. A5.

41 Attorneys for the former President continue to contest National Archives control of some
materials in the hope of returning them to Nixon's possession.

materials was executed by Ford with the Federal Government on
December 13; 1976. The University of Michigan subsequently provided
the land for the Ford library; the building, constructed with privately
donated funds, remains under University ownership, while its contents
are the property of the Federal Government. The facility officially
opened on April 27, 1981. Memorabilia and artifacts of the Ford
presidency are housed separately in a Ford museum located in Grand
Rapids, the former President's birthplace.

The Jimmy Carter Library (Atlanta, Georgia). In a press
conference immediately after his 1980 electoral defeat, President
Carter indicated his intentions to place his official papers and records
in "a proper library or repository somewhere," and that these materials
would "belong to the public eventually."42 That "somewhere" soon
became Atlanta, Georgia. A location for a presidential library was
announced in June of 1981, and the development corporation began
negotiations with the Georgia Department of Transportation to
purchase the site. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on October
2, 1984, and the completed facility was dedicated and opened to the
public on October 1, 1986.43 The Carter presidential papers became
initially accessible to researchers and scholars on January 28, 1987.44

The Ronald Reagan Library (Simi Valley, California).
Plans for a Reagan presidential library were unveiled in January of
1987, with the site to be on the Stanford University c a m p u ~ . ~A' few
months later, however, objection from the Stanford faculty prompted
reconsideration of the location of the facility.46 The new site,
according to development corporation plans submitted by the Archivist

42 Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Jimmy Carter, 1980-81. Vol. 3.
Washington, U. SD. Govt. Print. Off., 1982, p. 2689.
43 See U. S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Carter Presidential
Library Proposal. Hearing, 98th Congrejs, 1st session. November 9, 1983. Wahington, U. S.
Govt. Print. Off., 1984; Donald B. Schewe. Establishing a Presidential Library: The Jimmy Carter
Experience. Prologue, v. 21; Summer, 1989, pp. 125-133.
44 New York Times. Scholars Begin to Delve Into Carter's Documents. Neu York Times,
January 29, 1987, p. 37; Tom Kedburn. Carter Papers Reveal Passion for Detail. Los Angeles
Times, January 29, 1987, part 1, p. 4; Umted P r e s International. Carter Presidential Papers
Opened. Washington Post, January 29, 1987, p. C13.

45 Benjamin Forgery. Reagan Library Plan Unveiled. Washington Post, January 29; 1987, p.
C3; New York Times. Model Shows Reagan Plan For a Library. New York Times, January 31,
1987, p. 7.
46 Cheryl Sullivan. Stanford U. Faculty Wants Say In Plans. Christian Science Monitor,
March 27, 1987, pp. 3, 4; William Trombley. Southland, Not Stanford, to Get Reagan Library.
Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1987, part 1, pp. 1, 31; David Hoffman. Reagan Library Group
Seeks New Site. Washington Post, April 24, 1987, p. A3; Robert Lindsey. Proposal for Reagan
Library on the Campus at Stanford Is Dropped. New York Times, ApriI25, 1987, p. 10; Charlotte
Saikowski. After Quitting Stanford, Reagan Library Seeks Site in L.A. Area. Christian Science
Monitor, May 6, 1987, p. 5.

of the United States to Congress in May of 1988, is "an unimproved
parcel of land containing approximately 100 acres in an
unincorporated area of Ventura County, California, located between
the cities of Simi Valley and Thousand oak^."^' A dedication and
groundbreaking ceremony for the library was held on November 21,
1988.48 The completed facility was opened to the public on November
4,1991. Pursuant to the Presidential Records Act of 1978, the Reagan
presidential papers and documentary materials have remained under
the custody and control of the Archivist since the conclusion of
President Reagan's tenure of office.

The George Bush Library (College Station, Texas). While
at least four universities initially indicated interest in locating a
presidential library for George Bush on their campuses, Texas A&hT
University at College Station ultimately was chosen as the site.49
Groundbreaking occurred on November 30, 1994, and construction of
the $82 million complex, which will include a library, museum, and
adjacent university facilities, is expected to be completed in 1997."
The Bush presidential library will be the first such entity subject to
the endowment requirement of the Presidential Libraries Act of 1986.
COST CONSIDERATIONS
There has long been a concern in Congress about the cost of Federal
presidential librarie~.~' Recently, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich

4' Letter of May 5, 1988, from The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, signed by W-illiam
French Smith, chairman of the Board of Trustees, to Hon. Don Wilsan, Archivist of the United
States, reproduced in National Archives and Records Administration. Letter report to the
Speaker of the Houje and the President of the Senate on a proposed archival depository for the
presidential and other historical materials of the Reagan Administration. May 9, 1988.
Washington, D.C.

48 LOUCannon. Reagan Dedicates His Presidential Library. Washington Post, November 22,
1988, p. A13.
49 Kenneth F. Bunting. Texas Schools Make Pitches for Bush's Library. Fort Worth StarTelegram, April 4, 1989, section 1, pp. 11, 14;Jeff Franks. Booking Bush. Chicago Tribune, July
3, 1989, section 2, p. 1.
j0 Hugh Aynesworth. Bush Hails Oval O f f i e Hopefuls in Groundbreaking for Library.
Washington Times, December 1, 1994, p. A8.

Of related interest, debate has ensued from time to time within Congress and American
society over the decentralized organization of the Federal presidential library system and the
option of a single presidential library facility, operated by the National Archives and probably
located in the Nation's capital, to house the records, papers, and materials of office of all future
Presidents. See, for example, Houston G. Jones. Presidential Libraries: Is There a Case for a
National Presidential Library? American Archioist, v. 38, July, 1975, pp. 325-328.

suggested the presidential libraries should be privately operated." Such
archival facilities have not always been designed for economical maintenance,
incur operating expenses for staff and other resources, and have been expanded
with public funds. These issues were largely addressed by the Presidential
Libraries Act of 1986. Still, the unchecked growth of these libraries and the
prospect of their needing electronic information technology and supporting
resources to service presidential records collections in the future remain open
to debate.
Due to a caveat in the 1986 reform legislation, the Reagan presidential
library seemingly is the last such facility deeded to the Federal Government
without a required operating e n d o ~ r n e n t ."The
~ ~ Archivist," according to the
statute, "shall not accept or take title to any land, facility, or equipment . . . or
enter into any agreement to use any land; facility, or equipment . . . for the
purpose of creating a Presidential archival depository, unless the Archivist
determines that there is available, by gift or bequest for deposit . . . in an
endowment with respect to such depository, an amount for the purpose of
maintaining such land, facility, and equipment equal to" certain specified
criteria.j4 A similar requirement was set regarding the expansion of existing
Federal presidential library facilities. At the time this reform legislation was
enacted, the following congressional accounting of the cost of Federal
presidential libraries to U. S. taxpayers was produced.55

TABLE 2. Cost of Presidential Libraries and F o r m e r Presidents
t o U.S. Taxpayers, 1955-1987

1

Fiscal Y e a r

Libraries

Total*

Libraries P e r c e n t a g e

Ruth Larson. Archivists Cool to Gingrich's Plan. Washington Times, January 4 , 1995, p.
A6.
Regarding The Ronald Reagan Library, the Archivist has offered the following pertinent
comment4. "The architects have complied with the intent of the Presidential Libraries Act of
1986," he testified, "and met all the specifications that we asked for. I t is a first rate building and
satisfies the requirements of the intention of the law which I fully support. This gives the
archivist some kind of control over the kind of structure that is going to be built."
U. S. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Treasury, Postal Seruice, and
General Gooernment Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1990. Part 4. Hearings, lOlst Congress, 1st
session. Washington, U. S. G o d . Print. Off., 1989, p. 287.
j4

See 100 Stat. 497; 44 U.S.C. 2112(g)(3).

'5 Adapted from U. S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Former
Presidents Facilities and Services Reform Act of 1986, p. 8.

CRS-17

TABLE 2. Cost of Presidential Libraries and Former Presidents
to U.S. Taxpayers, 1955-1987
Libraries

Truman addition

$312,000

Total*

Libraries Percentage

$1,629,298

61

1969

$1,406,808

Hoover addition

$1,074,000

$3;261,360

76

Eisenhower addition

$1,610,000

$5,207,644

74

1972

$2,513,559
$5,088,679

67

Roosevelt addition

$882,000

1979

$7,523,783

Truman addition

$2,667,000

$18,149,365

56

1980

$10,171,000

$18,474,826

55

TABLE 2. Cost of Presidential Libraries and Former Presidents

More recent cost data concerning presidential libraries; as provided by the
National Archives and Records Administration, is provided in Tables 3-5.

Tnble 8. Nationnl Archives and Records Administration
Program Costs for Presidential Libraries
By Flscal Year ($000'~)

Library

noover

Roosevelt

Truman

Eisenhower

Source: National Archives and Records Administration.

Kennedy

Johnson

Ford

Carter

Reagan

Totals

Table 4. National Archives and Records Administration
Operating Costs for Presidential Libraries
By Fiscal Year ($OOO's)

NOTE: All figures exclude rent charges.
Source: National Archives and Records Administration

Table 5. National Archives and Recorda Administration
Total Costa for Presidential Librariee
By Fiscal Year ($000'6)

NOTE: All figures exclude rent charges.
Source: National Archives and Records Administration

CONCLUSION
The Federal presidential library system has been in existence for almost
four decades, if the 1955 program statute is used as a benchmark, longer if the
1939 establishment of the Roosevelt library is relied upon. An important
property question involving the essential resources of this program-the
ownership of presidential papers and records-was statutorily resolved in 1978,
and growing concerns about the cost of the library system were addressed to the
satisfaction of many in 1986 with Presidential Libraries Act amendments. At
present, it appears that, for the immediate future, former Presidents will, within
the operative legal framework for such institutions, continue to establish
separate library facilities at a location of their choice in the United States.
Sometime in the next century, at least for reasons of cost, alternatives to this
general arrangementsuch as the creation of a single archival facility for
presidential papers in the Nation's capital-may be pursued. Greater use of
electronic information technology in the White House, the Executive Office of
the President, and the Federal departments and agencies may result in a
consequential need for such technology in the next presidential libraries, raising
another cost consideration for the years ahead.56 Furthermore, presidential
libraries may become electronically integrated into some larger Federal
information system of the future.

"

It is known, for example, that conversations in the Oval Ofice were tape recorded during
the Nixon Administration and, during the Reagan regime, that there was interaftice computer
communication-the PROF system-in the f i l i t e House. For the Carter experience, see John
Gosden and Jon Turner. The President and Information Management. In Harold C. Relyea, ed.
The Presidency and Information Policy. Proceedings of the Center for the Study of the Presidency,
v. 4, 1981, pp. 3447. On the general subject of electronic records, see U. S . Congress. House.
Committee on Government Operations. Taking A Byte Out ofHistory: The ArchiualPresercation
of Federal Computer Records. H. Rept. 101-978, lOlst Congress, 2d session. Washington, U. S .
Govt. Print. Off., 1990.

FEDERAL PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES:
A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARTICLES
Aeschbacher; William D. Presidential Libraries: New Dimension in Research
Facilities. Midwest Quarterly, v. 6, Winter, 1965: 205-214.
Album, Michael J. Government Control of Richard Xixon's Presidential
Materials. Yale Law Journal, v. 87; July, 1978: 1601-1635.
Burk, Robert F. New Perspectives for Presidential Libraries. Presidential
Studies Quarterly, v. 11,Summer, 1981: 399-410.
Cappon, Lester J. Why Presidential Libraries? Yale Review, v. 68: Autumn,
1978: 11-34.
Cole, Harold R. Presidential Libraries. Journal of Librarianship, v. 4, April,
1972: 115-129.
Dollase, Richard H. Using the Presidential Libraries. Social Education, v. 48,
February, 1984: 91-98.
Drewry, Elizabeth B. The Role of Presidential Libraries. Midwest Quarterly, v.
7, Autumn, 1965: 53-65.
Freidel: Frank. Roosevelt to Reagan: The Birth and Growth of Presidential
Libraries. Prologue, v. 21, Summer, 1989: 103-113.
Geselbracht, Raymond H.; and Daniel J. Reed. The Presidential Library and the
White House Liaison Office. American Archivist, v. 46: Winter, 1983: 6972.
Gustafson, Merlin. The Presidential Libraries: Some Impressions. Manuscripts,
v. 18, November, 1974: 155-165.
Jones, Houston G. Presidential Libraries: Is There a Case for a National
Presidential Library? American Archivist, v. 38, July, 1975: 325-328.
Kirkendall, Richard S. Presidential Libraries-One Researcher's Point of View.
American Archivist, v. 25, October, 1962: 441-448.

----- A Second Look at Presidential Libraries. American Archiuist, v. 29, July,
1966: 371-386.
Lovely, Louise. The Evolution of Presidential Libraries.
Publications Review, v. 6, 1979: 27-35.

Government

McGowan, Carl. Presidents and Their Papers. Minnesota Law Review, v. 68,
December, 1983: 409-437.
Menez, Joseph F. Presidential Papers and Presidential Libraries.
Science, v. 47, Winter, 1972: 34-39.

Social

O'Neill, James E. Will Success Spoil the Presidential Libraries? American
Archivist, v. 36, July, 1973: 339-351.

DOCUMENTS
U . S . Congress. House. Committee o n Government Operations. Presidential
Libraries Funding. Hearing, 98th Congress: 2d session. February 23,1984.
Washington, U . S. Govt. Print. O f f . , 1984. 173 p.

----- Presidential Libraries Funding Proposal. Hearing, 99th Congress, 1st
session. March 26: 1985. Washington, U . S. Govt. Print. O f f . , 1985. 14 p.

----- Presidential Libraries: Unexplored Funding Alternatives. H . Rept. 97-732,
97th Congress, 2d session. Washington, U. S. Govt. Print. Off.: 1982. 12
P.

----- Preservation and Management of Presidential Records. H. Rept. 98-856,
98th Congress, 2d session. Washington, U . S. Govt. Print. Off., 1984. 24
P.

----- Presidential Records Act of 1978. Hearings, 95th Congress, 2d session.
February 23,28 and March 2: 7,1978. Washington, U . S. Govt. Print. Off.,
1978. 896 p.

----- Presidential Records Act of 1978. H. Rept. 95-1487 Part 1, 95th Congress,
2d session. Washington, U . S. Govt. Print. O f f . ,1978. 24 p.

----- Reduction of Costs of Presidential Libraries.

H. Rept. 99-125, 99th
Congress, 1st session. Washington, U . S. Govt. Print. O f f . ,1985. 23 p.

U . S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Presidential
Library Act of 1985. S. Rept. 99-257, 99th Congress, 2d session.
Washington, U . S. Govt. Print. O f f . , 1986. 15 p.

----- T h e Presidential Records Act of 1978-S. 3494. Hearing, 95th Congress, 2d
session. September 15: 1978. Washington, U . S. Govt. Print. Off., 1979.
45 p.
U . S . Xational Archives and Records Administration. N A R A and Presidential
Records: Laws and Authorities and Their Irnplernentation. Washington,
National Archives and Records Administration, 1988. var. pag.

CRS-29
APPENDIX

Institutions Holding Collections
Comprising 100 o r More ~yesidentialPapers5'
(Excluding Federal Presidential Libraries)

President

Institution

Washington

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Henry E. Huntington Library (San Marino: Calif.)
Connecticut State Library (Hartford, Conn.)
Chicago Historical Society (Chicago, 111.)
Boston Public Library (Boston, Mass.)
William L. Clements Library (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul, Minn.)
Long Island Historical Society (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
New York Historical Society (New York, N.Y.)
Pierpont Morgan Library (New York, N.Y.)
Virginia Historical Society (Richmond, Va.)
\?'illiam and Mary College (Williamsburg, Va.)

J. Adarns

Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston, Mass.)

Jefferson

Library of Congress (Washington, DL!.)
Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston, Mass.)
University of Virginia (Charlottes\dle; Va.)
Colonial Williamsburg (Williamsburg, Va.)
William and Mary College (Williamsburg, Va.)
Virginia Historical Society (Richmond, Va.)
Henry E. Huntington Library (San Marino, Calif.)
Missouri Historical Society (St. Louis, Mo.)
New York Historical Society (New York, N.Y.)
Pierpont Morgan Library (New York, N.Y.)

Madison

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.)
New York Historical Society (New York; N.Y.)
Henry E. Huntington Library (San Marino, Calif.)
New York Public Library (New York, N.Y.)

Monroe

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
New York Public Library (New York, N.Y.)
James Monroe Memorial Found. (Fredericksburg, Va.)
William and Mary College (Williamsburg, Va.)

''

Adapted from Arthur Bernon Tourtellot. The Presidents on the Presidency. Garden City,
Doubleday and Company, 1964, pp. 471485. Updating material provided by the Manumipt
Division of the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration.

University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.)

J. Q. Adarns

Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston, Mass.)
Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)

Jackson

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Tennessee State Library (Nashville, Tenn.)
Tennessee Historical Society (Nashville, Tenn.)
Chicago Historical Society (Chicago, Ill.)
New York Public Library (New York, N.Y.)

Van Buren

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
New York State Library (Albany, N.Y.)

W. H. Harrison Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)

Tyler

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
University of Virginia (Richmond, Va.)
William and Mary College (Williamsburg, Va.)
Pierpont Morgan Library (New York, N.Y.)

Polk

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Chicago Historical Society (Chicago, Ill.)

Taylor

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)

Fillmore

Buffalo Historical Society (Buffalo, N.Y.)

Pierce

New Hampshire Historical Society (Concord, N.H.)

Buchanan

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Historical Society of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Lancaster County Historical Society (Lancaster: Pa.)

Lincoln

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Illinois State Historical Society (Springfield, Ill.)
Brown University Library (Providence, R.I.)
University of Chicago (Chicago, Ill.)
New York Public Library (New York, N.Y.)

A. Johnson

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Rutherford B. Hayes Library (Fremont, Ohio)

Grant

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Henry E. Huntington Library (San Marina, Calif.)
Rutherford B. Hayes Library (Fremont, Ohio)
Chicago Historical Society (Chicago, Ill.)
Illinois State Historical Society (Springfield: Ill.)

Hayes

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)

Rutherford B. Hayes Library (Fremont, Ohio)
Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio)

Garfield

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Ohio Historical Society (Columbus, Ohio)

Arthur

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
New York Historical Society (New York, N.Y.)

Cleveland

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Detroit Public Library (Detroit, Mich.)

B. Harrison

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)

McKinley

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland, Ohio)
Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio)

T. Roosevelt

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Harvard College Library (Cambridge, Mass.)
Pierpont Morgan Library (New York, N.Y.)
William L. Clements Library (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

Taft

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Yale University (New Haven: Conn.)
Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.)
Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio)
Ohio Historical Society (Columbus, Ohio)

Wilson

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Yale University (New Haven? Conn.)
Harvard College Library (Cambridge, Mass.)
Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.)
Columbia University (New York, N.Y.)
University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.)

Harding

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Ohio Historical Society (Columbus, Ohio)
Harding Memorial Association (Marion, Ohio)

Coolidge

Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)
Forbes Library (Northanpto~:Mass.)

Hoover*
(Stanford, Calif,)

F. Roosevelt*

Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace
Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.)

* Materials also held in a Federal presidential library

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/crs%3A95-389. Public record. Not legal advice.