Don’t know, I’ve never gone through the process.
Let’s stop with the political innuendo. We all want this thread to have a … errr, not gonna say it.
I’ve been to the Nixon Library, but for a party.
The SIGGRAPH after the release of Jurassic Park, ILM put on a huge party at the Nixon Library. Contortionists, fire-eaters, Fishbone and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Timothy Leary…it was epic.
Generally they’ll be open to everyone, and you don’t need to apply.
The phrasing for the Carter library is very similar:
To check for others, go to their site, and look for a library/research link - there will generally be info in there under a FAQ or the like.
It’s interesting that the library guidelines say “You will be provided with a locker for storage of your personal items.”
Do they make you leave your personal items like purses, backpacks, bags, etc. to avoid people stuffing the Presidential records into a bag and absconding with them? Or is it some other reason?
Well, yes. You’re dealing with one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable items. So, you get to take in what you need to do the research, but your other things stay outside, though secure.
And from your link:
Not ever having thought about this before…I find this absolutely awesome. It never even occurred to me that I could walk into the Clinton Library and do research, as a private citizen. Or that I could e-mail questions.
Nice.
The Carter library is surprisingly forthright about his term as president. I’ve been to that, Nixon, and Kennedy; my parents are on a long-term project to visit all of them.
Nobody seems to have addressed the OP’s question. I think the law you’re referring to is the Presidential Records act which was passed in the immediate aftermath of the Nixon scandal, and the intent was to prevent any presidential papers from being destroyed. Papers were to be turned over to the National Archives. It set a 12-year limit, during which time a former president could request that papers be withheld from public view.
Presidents Reagan, GW Bush, and Obama have issued executive orders which either expanded access to or put limits on access to presidential records.
The Presidential Libraries Act was passed in 1955 and established a system of privately erected and federally maintained libraries.
There’s only one library near enough to me that I can drive to, the Nixon Library. One of these days I want to go there, the pictures look cool
Do they actually have books you can check out at these libraries? Wouldn’t it be better to call them Presidential Archives?
On a related note, do the entrance fees (I know the Reagan Library has one, $21) go to a Reagan charity or just an upkeep of the library. More directly, am I supporting any political causes by paying these fees?
<hijack>It’s happened. The one case I know of from the news involved the main Archives building, not a Presidential library. I found a Wikipedia link about former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger </hijack>
All of the modern-era libraries are run by NARA; as a government agency they’re not going to be handing over your money to political groups.
Yes, but they’re of varying quality. Here are some of the finding aids for the Eisenhower library. They give you a rough idea of what’s in each collection. If you contact the library before visiting and tell them what you’re interested in researching, a librarian will try to point you in the right direction. If it’s a popular topic, they may already have a prepared list of relevant materials. That said, you’ll probably end up doing a fair amount of digging in any case.
When you decide which boxes you want to take a look at you fill out a small form and bring it to a librarian in the research room who then retrieves the boxes from the archives. It’s all pretty much like what goes on at the National Archives in MD, though much better (since the number of researchers is so much smaller, you get much better attention).
Dang, with a $21 admission fee, shouldn’t they just drop the word “library” and call it a theme-park?
Funny you should say that, but when I was checking the price the first teaser I saw on their website was for “Treasures from the Walt Disney Archives”. It looks like they will have some kind of dragon headed car possibly from a Disney parade. They also have an Air Force One.
The Presedential Libararies are essentially museums which also have reasearch libraries, not at all unlike the Baseball Hall of Fame, to name just one example.
As with other research libraries, they typically do not allow you to browse through most of their materials. Rather, they are available on request, and if you are looking at historical papers you may be viewing a copy.
In my experience, it’s pretty standard for archives and libraries with original documents (in Canada; never been to a presidential library).