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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Presidential Libraries
preserve past for future
Question: What are Presidential Libraries and where are they located? What is their purpose and how do they serve the public good? Does the public have access to their resources? How are they funded?
Answer: Presidential Libraries are not traditional libraries, "but rather repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, and other historical materials of U.S. presidents since Herbert Hoover," according to the National Archives & Records Administration (NARA).
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NARA's Office of Presidential Libraries, in College Park, Md., administers the libraries. There are currently 10 Presidential Libraries, each containing a museum and each providing "an active series of public programs," according to the NARA.
The William J. Clinton Presidential Materials Project in Little Rock, Ark., will be moved to the Clinton Library, which is scheduled to become the 11th Presidential Library when it opens Nov. 14-18 in Little Rock.
The only recent president who does not have a Presidential Library affiliated with NARA is Richard M. Nixon, who resigned in 1974 in the face of impeachment following the Watergate political scandals. The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace is in Yorba Linda, Calif.
However, the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 mandated that the National Archives preserve historical materials from the Nixon administration -- 1969-1974 -- and make them available to the public in the Washington, D.C., area. That resulted in NARA's Nixon Presidential Materials Staff.
On NARA's Web site, www.archives.gov/presidential_libraries/, we learned that the Presidential Library system dates back to 1939. That's when Franklin Roosevelt donated his personal and presidential papers to the federal government, pledging part of his Hyde Park estate to the United States.
Before then, there was no effort to collect and store presidential papers. Although many pre-Hoover collections are housed in the Library of Congress, the papers of many other presidents ended up in other libraries, historical societies or private collections, or were lost or destroyed.
Roosevelt's friends formed a nonprofit corporation to raise funds to build a library and museum, but Roosevelt asked the National Archives to take his papers and administer his library.
At the dedication of his library on June 30, 1941, Roosevelt laid the philosophical cornerstone for the Presidential Library system by saying: "To bring together the records of the past and to house them in buildings where they will be preserved for the use of men and women in the future, a nation must believe in three things. It must believe in the past. It must believe in the future. It must, above all, believe in the capacity of its own people so to learn from the past that they can gain in judgment in creating their own future."
In 1950, Truman also decided to build a library to house his presidential papers.
Five years later, the Presidential Libraries Act was passed, encouraging other presidents to donate their historical materials to the government.
When a president leaves office, NARA establishes a "Presidential Project" until a library is built and transferred to the federal government.
Until 1978, materials created during a presidency were considered the personal property of the president or his associates. But the Presidential Records Act of 1978 established that the presidential records that document the constitutional, statutory and ceremonial duties of the president are the property of the federal government.
Ronald Reagan's records were the first presidential records to be governed by that act.
Before Reagan, materials donated to the libraries of Presidents Hoover to Carter (excluding Nixon) may still have restrictions on access, which were agreed to by the National Archives. So some of that material may not be available for research.
The Presidential Libraries Act of 1986, meanwhile, requires private endowments linked to the size of the facility. These endowments are then used to offset a portion of the maintenance costs for the library.
Auwe
Police should watch out for the "lolos" who routinely turn left -- either against the signs or in-between the signs -- going Ewa on Kapiolani Boulevard during rush hour, from Kalakaua Avenue to Cooke Street. The signs say "No left turn into driveway" or "No left turn when coned." But people still turn left into driveways or make abrupt U-turns. This is not only distracting, but dangerous! I drive the road every day and can say that about 15 percent of the drivers are probably tourists, who legitimately panic when they realize they've passed Waikiki or Ala Moana. Another 10 percent are local drivers who find themselves on a strange route with no way to get off, newcomers to the circus. That leaves a glorious 50 percent desperately earning their lolo designation. This is the area that HPD should send the rookies to, not Downtown. I'd say there are at least a dozen or more violations a day. -- Chip Davey(We passed your observations on to the Honolulu Police Department.)
Mahalo and Auwe
Mahalo to cable channel 53 for their Classic Arts Showcase programs without commercials (the best thing on TV). Auwe for cutting them off in the middle of whatever is playing at 5 a.m. for traffic scenes (when others do that, too). Mahalo to radio station 105 FM for their great Hawaiian music without commercials. Auwe for playing the same songs over and over for the past few years. There are other great ones too, like Mihana's CD, some old Alfred Apaka, etc. -- Elaine Lewis
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Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
E-mail to kokualine@starbulletin.com