LBJ Library and Museum
by Joan Carroll
Title
LBJ Library and Museum
Artist
Joan Carroll
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photograph
Description
The outside is quite stark, unrelieved in the hot summer Texas sun. It is the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, also known as the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin TX. But I found the inside to be quite moving. Old enough to remember the tumult over Vietnam but not old enough or perhaps politically aware enough to appreciate LBJ's great work. The library is one of 13 Presidential Libraries administered by theNational Archives and Records Administration. It houses 45 million pages of historical documents, including the papers of Lyndon Baines Johnson and those of his close associates and others. The Library was dedicated on May 22, 1971, with Johnson and then-President Richard Nixon in attendance. After her death in July, 2007, the body of Lady Bird Johnson lay in repose in the Library and Museum, just as her husband's had after his death, 34 years earlier. In 2012, the LBJ Library underwent a multi-million dollar redesign, during which most of the exhibits were closed. On December 22, the Library reopened to the public. Lucky for me since I had been there about 10 years ago and now I got to see the new exhibits. The Library, adjacent to the LBJ School of Public Affairs, occupies a 14-acre (57,000 m�) campus that is federally run and independent from The University of Texas at Austin. The top floor of the Library has a 7/8ths scale replica of the Oval Office decorated as it was during Johnson's presidency. One placard inside lists LBJ's legislation: Civil Right Act, Voting Rights Act, Fair Housing Immigration Law, War on Poverty, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Aid to Appalachia, Indian Vocational Training, Aid to Education, Higher Education, Teachers Corps, Guaranteed Student Loans, Clean Air, Wilderness Areas, Clean Water, Redwoods Park, Scenic Rivers Scenic Trails, Medicare and Medicaid, Heart Cancer Stroke Program, Child Health, Narcotics Rehabilitation, Criminal Justice, Drug Controls, Juvenile Delinquency Control, Truth in Packaging, Child Safety, Traffic Safety, Highway Safety, Mine Safety, Product Safety Commission, Kennedy Cultural Center, Arts and Humanities Foundation, Public Broadcasting, Tax Reduction, Farm Program, Aid to Small Business, Inter-American Development Bank, Arms Control, Food for India, Outer Space Treaty, Department of transportation, Cold War GI Bill, Urban Mass Transit, Federal Highway Aid, Freedom of Information Act, and Vietnam Veterans Benefits. Agree or disagree, I think it is an amazing legacy, one that touches all our lives today in ways we don't fully appreciate.
FEATURED PHOTO, Architecture And Architectural Abstracts group, 4/8/15
FEATURED PHOTO, Landscape and Landmark Photography group, 4/1/15
FEATURED PHOTO, ALL Fine Art America Artwork group, 8/10/14
FEATURED PHOTO, The Road to Self Promotion group, 7/29/14
Uploaded
July 29th, 2014
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Viewed 4,146 Times - Last Visitor from Mount Laurel, NJ on 03/27/2024 at 2:03 AM
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Comments (109)
Joan Carroll
thank you Mark for the feature in the Architecture And Architectural Abstracts group, 4/8/15
Judy Vincent
Wonderful image! Congratulations on your feature in the “Landscape and Landmark Photography” group!
Lori Pittenger
So dramatic and proud...fantastic composition to represent the grandeur of this wonderful library and museum! L
Joan Carroll
thank you Nadine and Bob for the feature in the ALL Fine Art America Artwork group, 8/10/14