Looking for a winter getaway? Let’s put on the snow tires, defrost the car, and hit the road! To celebrate Presidents Day, we’re excited to share a series of citizen archivist transcription and tagging missions throughout the month of February: a Presidential Libraries Road Trip! Join us online as we virtually travel throughout the country, bringing you records from the Presidential Libraries across the National Archives.
Newsreel clip showing Harry and Bess Truman's car trip to Washington, D.C., June 1953 (Motion Picture MP-76-28)
Did you know there is likely a Presidential Library near you? The Presidential Library system at the National Archives is composed of fourteen Presidential Libraries that can be found across the country, from Massachusetts to California.
Presidential Libraries are archives and museums, bringing together the documents and artifacts of a President and his administration and presenting them to the public.
Left: Photograph of President and Mrs. Ford Holding Hands While Riding in the President's Limousine on a Chicago, Illinois, Freeway, 8/19/1974: National Archives Identifier 186761 Right: General William Westmoreland and President Lyndon B. Johnson at the LBJ Ranch, 5/30/1968: National Archives Identifier 192560
Presidential Libraries and Museums give you the chance to see, hear, and participate in the events that changed our lives and made us who we are as a nation. At Presidential Libraries you will find vast archives of documents, museums containing Presidential artifacts, interactive exhibits, and educational and public programs.
To share more of the incredible resources held at the Presidential Libraries, our virtual road trip will make a “stop” each day at a different Presidential Library. We’ll share records from each Library and feature a new citizen archivist mission using records from that location. Imagine what you will learn and discover as you contribute.
Right: President Ronald Reagan Driving His Jeep with Millie The Dog at Rancho Del Cielo in Santa Barbara California, 4/21/1984: National Archives Identifier 75853317
Follow along on our Citizen Archivist Missions page to learn more about each Library and help us tag and transcribe records at each stop on our Road Trip. Every word you transcribe and tag you will help make these records more discoverable in our Catalog.
The JFK Library and Museum portrays the life, leadership, and legacy of President Kennedy, conveys his enthusiasm for politics and public service, and illustrates the nature of the office of the President. Students and scholars can conduct research using our collection of historical materials chronicling mid-20th century politics and the life and administration of John F. Kennedy.
Help us tag and transcribe these records in our Catalog to make them more discoverable online. Here are some examples of records you can expect to find at the JFK Library and Museum:
We’ll make a stop at each of our 14 Presidential Libraries throughout the month of February. Follow along on our Citizen Archivist Dashboard to learn more about the libraries and what you can expect to find in each National Archives location. You might even find one near you!
Left: Herbert Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover Ride in an Automobile during the 1928 Presidential Campaign , 10/6/1928: National Archives Identifier 40978757
Right: President Bush rides in a HUMVEE with General H. Norman Schwarzkopf during his visit with troops in Saudi Arabia on Thanksgiving Day, 11/22/1990: National Archives Identifier 186424
We’ll feature a new location and new mission each day:
Left: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama Ride in the Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C., 1/21/2013: National Archives Identifier 157649350
