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Presidential libraries: from Boston to Honolulu ... or maybe Chicago

Presidential libraries can be found coast to coast, and may even go beyond that once a site is selected for President Obama's future repository of documents and artifacts. To quickly hopscotch around to the 13 official presidential libraries and museums overseen by the National Archives, plus that of Abraham Lincoln, check out this library list.

8. Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library

AP/File
In a file photo President Gerald Ford reads a proclamation in the White House on Sept. 9, 1974 granting former president Richard Nixon "a full, free and absolute pardon" for all "offenses against the United States" during the period of his presidency.

  • By Ross Atkin Staff writer

Website: www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/

Location: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ford's birthplace: Omaha, Neb., 1913)

A separate but affiliated library – The Gerald R. Ford Museum – is located in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Admission: $7 adults, $6 seniors (there is no admission fee for the library)

Opened: 1981

Attendance: 303,713

Bestselling gift shop biography: “A Time to Heal” by Gerald Ford

Hot-selling souvenir item: ruler featuring presidents and state flags

Lesser-known facts: President Ford is the only president with his library and museum in two separate locations, although both are within his home state of Michigan. Although most of the museum's artifacts date from the 20th century, there are two much older items in the collections: an 18th -century printing press purportedly used by Benjamin Franklin, and a 1st or 2nd Century C.E. Roman vessel, both gifts of heads of state.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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