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VAGABOND TRAVELER
VISITING PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES & HOMES
By Mary Emma Allen
Visiting Presidential Libraries provides a sense of history and adds to youngsters' knowledge of their country. I enjoyed this as a child and still do as an adult. When my husband and I were in Grand Rapids, MI on a recent business trip, I glimpsed the Gerald Ford Presidential Library (from the outside since we didn't have time for a tour) and remembered visits of my childhood.
Sometimes, if a Presidential Library is near your home, school field trips are arranged. I recall, in seventh grade (many years ago) visiting the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, NY, about 15 miles from my school. We had specific things we were looking for, assignments from our teachers, so couldn't roam aimlessly. It was a nice spring day, as I recall, and the spacious grounds were impressive, as well as the building. Seeing the Gerald Ford Library brought back memories of Presidential Libraries and Homes.
Online Libraries
Also, there are several Presidential Libraries you can visit online, taking your family on virtual tours and learning about those eras in our country's history. These online tours are a good way to preview the library before an actual tour.
Check out these library web sites at the National Archives Presidential Libraries and Museums web site.
These include:
- Herbert Hoover
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Harry S. Truman
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- John F. Kennedy
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Richard Nixon
- Gerald R. Ford
- Jimmy Carter
- Ronald Reagan
- George H.W. Bush
- William J. Clinton
- George H. Bush
Visiting Presidential Homes
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Monticello
Credit sxc.hu
Gregory Waldron |
In addition to the libraries and museums, you'll find the homes of many presidents open for visitors, whether these are places where they were born or where they lived at some time during their lives. I've always enjoyed viewing these, a tradition started by my parents when we went on family trips. Memorable times for me were touring Presidents' homes in Virginia on trips to visit my mom's friend who lived in that state. These were spectacular plantation homes.
The homes included:
On a trip with our daughter, when she was a teen, we stopped at Andrew Jackson's plantation, The Hermitage .
Whenever I've walked through these Presidential Homes, I've tried to step back in time and imagine those days of yesteryear when these families lived there. At Mount Vernon, the view overlooking the Potomic River was spectacular. Jefferson's Monticello impressed me with its elegance and the fact that this president designed it himself. The Hermitage was a relaxing stop on a long drive across the country and gave us time to gain more insight into Andrew Jackson's life.
One friend and her son made it a quest to visit all of our Presidents' homes and finally completed their list. This gave them a fun family goal and enjoyable trips around the country.
What Presidential homes have you visited?
Here is a web site with more information and photos about U.S. Presidential Homes .
(c)2009 Mary Emma Allen
(Mary Emma Allen writes from her multigenerational home in NH and during her travels. She and her husband enjoy "vagabonding" around the country. E-mail: me.allen@juno.com )
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