LBJ Library and Museum: The LBJ Library was the largest of any of the Presidential Libraries when it opened in 1971. The 10 story building holds the archives of the Johnson public service years including his years as President as well as thousands of other items and artifacts from the Johnson family. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Great Hall: The Library’s great hall is an expansive space with displays on all of the walls. As visitors take the steps to the next level they are looking at the archives from the LBJ years in Washington, D.C. There are four floors behind the huge glass walls with each floor having 175 rows of boxed archives which contain 45 million pieces of paper, thousands of photos, and many voice and video recordings made during the Johnson Presidency. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
We enjoy visiting museums along the way as we travel about in our little RV. While in Texas in April we visited our first Presidential library. We visited the Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) Library and Museum, which is located on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.
The LBJ Library was only the fifth Presidential Library when it was dedicated and opened in May 1971 and was the first such library located on a university campus. The first four previous Libraries were in honor of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt (FDR), Harry Truman, Herbert Hoover, and Dwight Eisenhower. John F. Kennedy’s library did not open until the late 1970s.
The LBJ Library was the largest of any of the presidential libraries when it opened. The facility holds almost everything involved in the Johnson years of public service. There are millions of documents, thousands of photos, and a large collection of recorded conversations of Johnson and leaders and dignitaries in the U.S. and worldwide. There are thousands of items from the Johnson Presidential years as well.
In addition to the Presidential items the Johnson family donated over 50,000 items to the facility. The items cover a wide range of family interest including personal items, furniture, and art collections and thousands of other items.
To walk through this museum and truly read, listen or watch each display would take days. While the museum contains many of the accomplishments of the LBJ era but it also contains many of the difficulties and failures of the LBJ era. A quote by Lyndon B. Johnson at the Library’s dedication in May 1971 reads “It is all here: the story of our time with the bark off … This library will show the facts, not just the joy and triumphs, but the sorrow and failures, too.”
I really did not know what to expect as I walked into the library. I had never seen a Presidential Library and was anxious to learn more. After visiting the facility I came away with a new appreciation of the library and museum. I believe that the displays give one an opportunity to learn about how decisions were made, the many personalities involved, and why things happened as they did. One also gets a glimpse of the person who was President and not just his political views and beliefs. I am now hoping to visit as many other Presidential Libraries as possible as we travel about the country.
The time spent at the LBJ Library and Museum was both enjoyable and very educational on many levels. I am happy that we were with friends who wanted to visit the library and get a glimpse into one of our country’s most unsettled times.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
I Ask Only for Your Help: A paper with LBJ’s handwritten changes are part of the display from Nov. 22, 1963, the day of John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the day that Johnson became President of the U.S. The paper is displayed next to the photo of the Kennedy motorcade taken in Dallas, Texas, moments before the assassination. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
I Shall Not Seek: The photo on the left shows a President who has endured the worst era of the country as he announces on national TV that he would not seek reelection for President of the U.S. The placard on the right contains quotes from that speech. The photo and the placard were displayed together at the LBJ Library and Museum in Austin, Texas. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Oval Office: An Oval Office, which is 7/8 the size of the actual Oval Office in Washington is part of the display at the LBJ Library. Other than office size, every detail is identical to the Oval Office in Washington, D.C. during the Johnson era. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Sitting Area: The opposite end of the Oval Office mentioned above shows the sitting area and fireplace in LBJ’s Oval Office. The office at the museum is 7/8 the size of the actual office in Washington. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
High Tech: Technology from the 1960s and early 70s are displayed in the Oval Office at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas. There were three TVs so that LBJ could watch news reports from all three national networks at once. The white cabinet to the left of the TVs is the teletype machine used for communication at the time. My how times have changed! Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Photos: In addition to thousands of official photos the LBJ Library had many personal photos and items on display at the LBJ Library and Museum. The Johnson family donated more than 50,000 items to the museum when it opened. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com