Location Abilene, Kansas, USA Phone +1 785-263-4751 | Management NARA Named for Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
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Website Eisenhower Library, Museum and Boyhood Home Address 200 S E 4th St, Abilene, KS 67410, USA Hours Open today · 9AM–4:45PMWednesday9AM–4:45PMThursday9AM–4:45PMFriday9AM–4:45PMSaturday9AM–4:45PMSunday9AM–4:45PMMonday9AM–4:45PMTuesday9AM–4:45PM Burials Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mamie Eisenhower Similar Herbert Hoover President, Harry S Truman President, Franklin D Roosevelt President, Jimmy Carter Library a, Gerald R Ford President Profiles | ||
Eisenhower museum tour the working white house
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home is the presidential library and museum of Dwight David Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States (1953–1961), located in his hometown of Abilene, Kansas. The museum also includes his boyhood home, where he lived from 1898 until being appointed to West Point in 1911, and his final resting place. It is one of the fourteen presidential libraries under the auspices of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
Contents
- Eisenhower museum tour the working white house
- History
- Eisenhower Foundation
- Construction of the Museum
- Construction and dedication of the library
- Campus
- References
Admission to the Visitor Center, Place of Meditation (gravesite), and the archives is free. Admission to the museum is $12 for adults and includes a tour of the Boyhood Home. The complex is open every day except New Year's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
History
The Eisenhower Presidential complex is only one of two whose creation preceded the close of a presidency, and while this is obviously the case with his boyhood home, construction of the library itself began in 1958, and the museum portion before he even took office, coinciding with the then-General's announcement of his presidential candidacy in June 1952.
Eisenhower Foundation
As World War II came to an end, local admirers of the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe decided to honor him with a museum. In 1945, a non-profit foundation in his name was created to purchase his boyhood home and build the museum on the same property. It was to focus on World War II in general and the military career of Eisenhower in particular. At the time, the General's mother Ida was still alive and refused to sell the property. When she died in 1946, another purchase attempt was made. However, the fund-raising tactics of the foundation offended Eisenhower and his brothers, and this almost scuttled the project. New rules were established and Milton S. Eisenhower was put in charge. The house was ultimately donated by the Eisenhower brothers to the Foundation, and he entire site, in south Abilene, later became the Eisenhower Presidential Center.
Construction of the Museum
Mrs. Eisenhower's home opened to the public as a museum on June 22, 1947. and the cornerstone of an Eisenhower/World War II museum was laid in June 1952 by the General himself, just before he accepted the draft and formally announced his candidacy for President.
The museum was completed in 1954, and the President was in attendance when it was formally opened on November 11 of that year. He was impressed by the results, and told the leadership of the foundation that if they could raise the money to build a facility, he would donate his papers and other materials to it.
A fundraising campaign launched in 2015 seeks to refresh and expand the museum's exhibits in 2018. If plans remain the same, the museum would be closed for about a year while the remainder of the site would remain open as usual.
Construction and dedication of the library
With the constraints on the foundation by the "gentleman's agreement" still in place, the Kansas Legislature took up the slack authorizing a separate "Eisenhower Presidential Library Commission", and over the next five years enough money was raised to begin construction in 1959. Again, President Eisenhower was there when ground was broken on October 13, 1959. The project took three years and the now former President was there at the dedication on May 1, 1962.
Running of the site was turned over to the NARA in 1966, becoming the fourth library in the system.
Campus
The campus has five buildings:
Also on the site: