Jimmy Carter Library and Museum

Jimmy Carter Presidential Library
Location Atlanta, Georgia, US
Construction start October 2, 1984
Dedicated October 1, 1986
Named for Jimmy Carter
Size 69,750 square feet (6480 m²)
Management National Archives and Records Administration, Carter Center
Website www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov

The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia houses U.S. President Jimmy Carter's papers and other material relating to the Carter administration and the Carter family's life. The library also hosts special exhibits, such as Carter's Nobel Peace Prize and a full-scale replica of the Oval Office, including a reproduction of the Resolute desk.

The Carter Library and Museum includes some parts that are owned and administered by the federal government, and some that are privately owned and operated. The library and museum are run by the National Archives and Records Administration and are part of the Presidential Library system of the federal government. Privately owned areas house Carter's offices and the offices of the Carter Center, a non-profit human rights agency.

The building housing the library and museum makes up 69,750 square feet (6480 m²), with 15,269 square feet (1419 m²) of space for exhibits and 19,818 square feet (1841 m²) of archive and storage space. The library stacks house 27 million pages of documents; 500,000 photos, and 40,000 objects, along with films, videos, and audiotapes. These collections cover all areas of the Carter administration, from foreign and domestic policy to the personal lives of President and Mrs. Carter.

The complex lies next to Freedom Parkway, which was originally called "Presidential Parkway" (and at one point, "Jimmy Carter Parkway"[1]) in its planning stages.

History

The library was built in the Poncey-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta, on land that had been acquired by the state of Georgia DOT, for an interchange between two redundant highways that were cancelled by Carter when he was governor of Georgia, in response to the Atlanta freeway revolts. (See Interstate 485, Georgia 400, Interstate 675, and the Stone Mountain Freeway.) Construction started on October 2, 1984, and the library was opened to the public on Carter's 62nd birthday, October 1, 1986.

A $10 million renovation of the museum began in April 2009 with completion on President Carter's 85th birthday in October 2009.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Freedom Parkway to open". Rome News-Tribune. September 15, 1994. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
  2. ↑ "Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum Reopening". CarterCenter.org. The Carter Center. Retrieved 2015-03-19.

Further reading

Coordinates: 33°46′02″N 84°21′22″W / 33.76735°N 84.35617°W / 33.76735; -84.35617

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