The Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum: About

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About the Presidential Library & Museum

The Eisenhower Center is a five-building complex on 22 acres of land, located in Abilene, Kansas, the hometown of Dwight D. Eisenhower. All buildings are constructed from native Kansas limestone. The massive glass entry to the Library is highlighted with bronze work, depicting a buffalo head and blue stem grass. Loreda Chiaro marble from Italy covers the walls, and the floors are Roman travertine trimmed with Breche d'Alep and Rouge Fleuri marble from France.

     The Eisenhower Home was given to the Eisenhower Foundation following the death of Ida Eisenhower, the mother of Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 1946. One year later it opened to the public. In 1952, ground was broken for the Museum, which was completed in 1954. It was enlarged with a new wing and rededicated in 1971. The Eisenhower Presidential Library was completed in 1962, and opened to researchers four years later, in 1966. That same year the Place of Meditation was finished. The final building, the Visitors Center, was completed in 1975. In 1985, the large Statue of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, located between the Museum and Library was dedicated.

     Operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), a federal agency, the Eisenhower Center is governed by federal statue and related federal codes. All NARA presidential libraries are constructed with private and/or non-federal funds, then presented to NARA, which provides federal funding for operating expenses. NARA does not fund the design, fabrication, or installation of exhibits, or the production of public programs and events. These must be funded from resources outside the federal government.

     All libraries in the system rely on foundations or other sources of funding for the resources needed for exhibits, programs, and events. In addition, beginning with the Bush Library, all new libraries are required by legislation to provide a twenty-percent endowment fund to support general maintenance of the facility.

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