Jimmy Carter Library and Museum | |
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General information | |
Location | Atlanta, Georgia, US |
Coordinates | 33°45′59″N84°21′23″W / 33.76639°N 84.35639°W |
Named for | Jimmy Carter |
Construction started | October 2, 1984 |
Inaugurated | Dedicated on October 1, 1986 |
Cost | $26 million USD |
Management | National Archives and Records Administration, Carter Center |
Technical details | |
Size | 69,750 sq ft (6,480 m2) |
Website | |
www |
The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, houses U.S. President Jimmy Carter's papers and other material relating to the Carter administration and the Carter family's life. The library also hosts special exhibits, such as Carter's Nobel Peace Prize and a full-scale replica of the Oval Office as it was during the Carter Administration, including a reproduction of the Resolute desk.
The Carter Library and Museum includes some parts that are owned and administered by the federal government, and some that are privately owned and operated. The library and museum are run by the National Archives and Records Administration and are part of the presidential library system of the federal government. Privately owned areas house Carter's offices and the offices of the Carter Center, a non-profit human rights agency.
The building housing the library and museum makes up 69,750 square feet (6,480 square metres), with 15,269 square feet (1,418.5 square metres) of space for exhibits and 19,818 square feet (1,841.2 square metres) of archive and storage space. The library stacks house 27 million pages of documents; 500,000 photos, and 40,000 objects, along with films, videos, and audiotapes. These collections cover all areas of the Carter administration, from foreign and domestic policy to the personal lives of President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Mrs. Rosalynn Carter.
The complex is situated next to John Lewis Freedom Parkway, which was originally called "Presidential Parkway" (and at one point, "Jimmy Carter Parkway" [1] ) in its planning stages. The land on which the museum sits was a part of General Sherman's headquarters during the Civil War's Battle of Atlanta. [2]
Although President Herbert Hoover and almost all Presidents since (except John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson) have chosen to be buried at their presidential museum, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter chose to instead be interred on the grounds of their home in Plains, Georgia. [3] The Carters also planned for their home, which is owned by the National Park Service and is part of the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, to be converted into a museum. [4]
Early in his administration, Carter indicated interest in having his presidential library be built in Georgia. [5] The site chosen was in the Poncey–Highland neighborhood of Atlanta, on land that had been acquired by the state of Georgia Department of Transportation, for an interchange between two redundant highways that were cancelled by Carter when he was governor of Georgia, in response to the Atlanta freeway revolts. (See Interstate 485, Georgia 400, Interstate 675, and the Stone Mountain Freeway.)
The Atlanta firm of Jova/Daniels/Busby was selected as architects, in cooperation with Lawton/Umemura/Yamamoto of Hawaii. During design and construction, Carter's papers were temporarily housed at the former post office building in downtown Atlanta. [5] Construction commenced on October 2, 1984, and the library was opened to the public on Carter's 62nd birthday, October 1, 1986. Construction cost $26 million, funded by private contributions. [5]
A $10 million renovation of the museum began in April 2009 with completion on President Carter's 85th birthday in October 2009. [6]
The first director of the library and museum was Dr. Donald Schewe, who originally assisted with the transfer and processing of the Carter Administration materials at the end of Carter's term in early 1981. [7]
Since 2015, the current director is Dr. Meredith Evans, an Atlanta native who had held various leadership positions in special collections and libraries in institutions such as Washington University in St. Louis and George Washington University. [8]
The library and museum offers free admission to all students 16 and under. They can either go on a docent or self-guided tour. Together the library and The Coca-Cola Foundation have established funding for the library to provide transportation funds for all Georgia schools to use when bringing students to the museum for education activities. [9]
Following her death, Rosalynn Carter laid in repose at the library on November 27, 2023. [10] [11] A year later, Jimmy Carter was also laid in repose at the library from January 4 to 7 before being sent to Washington, D.C. for the state funeral. [12]
James Earl Carter Jr. was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, Carter served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975 and in the Georgia State Senate from 1963 to 1967. He was the longest-lived president in U.S. history and the first to reach the age of 100.
Plains is a city in Sumter County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 573. It was the home of Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, who were the 39th president and first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981.
Eleanor Rosalynn Carter was an American activist and humanitarian who served as the first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. Throughout her decades of public service, she was a leading advocate for women's rights and mental health.
The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidential election. The center is located in a shared building adjacent to the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum on 37 acres (150,000 m2) of parkland, on the site of the razed neighborhood of Copenhill, two miles from downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The library and museum are owned and operated by the United States National Archives and Records Administration, while the center is governed by a Board of Trustees, consisting of business leaders, educators, former government officials, and philanthropists.
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.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the presidential library and burial site of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States (1981–1989), and his wife Nancy Reagan. Located in Simi Valley, California, the library is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
Amy Lynn Carter is the only daughter and fourth child of the 39th U.S. president Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. Carter first entered the public spotlight as a child when she lived in the White House during her father's presidency.
Interstate 675 (I-675) is an 11.04-mile-long (17.77 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in the southeast part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. It travels from I-75 in Stockbridge in the south to I-285 in the north. I-675 is also designated as the Terrell Starr Parkway and also has the unsigned internal state route designation of State Route 413 (SR 413).
Poncey–Highland is an intown neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, located south of Virginia–Highland. It is so named because it is near the intersection of east/west Ponce de Leon Avenue and north/southwest North Highland Avenue. This Atlanta neighborhood was established between 1905 and 1930, and is bordered by Druid Hills and Candler Park across Moreland Avenue to the east, the Old Fourth Ward across the BeltLine Eastside Trail to the west, Inman Park across the eastern branch of Freedom Parkway to the south, and Virginia Highland to the north across Ponce de Leon Avenue. The Little Five Points area sits on the border of Poncey–Highland, Inman Park, and Candler Park.
The Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, located in Plains, Georgia, preserves sites associated with Jimmy Carter (1924–2024), 39th president of the United States. These include his residence, boyhood farm, school, and the town railroad depot, which served as his campaign headquarters during the 1976 election. The building which used to be Plains High School serves as the park's museum and visitor center. When Carter lived in Plains, the area surrounding the residence was under the protection of the United States Secret Service. The residence is also the burial site of Carter and his wife, First Lady Rosalynn Carter (1927–2023); the residence and gravesites of the Carters will not open to the public until sometime after Jimmy Carter's state funeral and burial in January 2025.
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) is a state public university in Americus, Georgia. Founded as the Third District Agricultural and Mechanical School in 1906, the university was established and is administrated by the Georgia Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. The historic core of the campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Freedom Park is one of the largest city parks in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The park forms a cross shape with the axes crossing at the Carter Center. The park stretches west-east from Parkway Drive, just west of Boulevard, to the intersection with the north-south BeltLine Eastside Trail, to Candler Park, and north-south from Ponce de Leon Avenue to the Inman Park/Reynoldstown MARTA station.
On December 26, 2006, Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States and the 40th vice president, died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California at 6:45 p.m. local time. At 8:49 p.m. local time, his wife of 58 years, Betty Ford, issued a statement announcing his death. The causes of death listed on the death certificate were arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and diffuse arteriosclerosis.
Robert Jerome Lipshutz was an American attorney who served first as the national campaign treasurer for Jimmy Carter's successful 1976 run for the United States Presidency and then as the White House Counsel from 1977 to 1979 during Carter's administration. He played a back channel role in the negotiations between Egypt and Israel that led to the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978.
There have been multiple freeway revolts in Atlanta, Georgia. The longest and most famous examples of Interstate opposition were against I-485 and the Stone Mountain Freeway through Intown Atlanta, lasting over 30 years, from the early 1960s until the final construction of Freedom Parkway on a small portion of the contested routes in 1994.
Jimmy Carter was the 39th president of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981. Carter's post-presidency is widely considered by historians and political analysts to be one of the most accomplished of any former U.S. president. After leaving office, Carter remained engaged in political and social projects, establishing the Carter Center, building his presidential library, teaching at Emory University in Atlanta, and writing numerous books, ranging from political memoirs to poetry. He also contributed to the expansion of the nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity.
The presidential transition of Jimmy Carter began when he won the 1976 United States presidential election, becoming the president-elect, and ended when Carter was inaugurated on January 20, 1977. Carter had become president-elect once the election results became clear on November 3, 1976, the day after the election.
The home of Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter, president and first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, is located at 209 Woodland Drive in Plains, Georgia, United States. It is the only house that the Carters ever owned, and they occupied it from 1961 until Rosalynn's death in 2023 and Jimmy's the following year. They are now buried on the property.
On December 29, 2024, Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, the 76th governor of Georgia, and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his post-presidential work, died at his home in Plains, Georgia, after nearly two years in hospice care. At the age of 100 years, 89 days, Carter was the longest-lived U.S. president in history and the first to reach the age of 100.