(College Station)—As the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University enters its eighth year of operation, there is much to be proud of, with even bigger things planned for the future.
Opened in November 1997, the library and museum is a 21,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art American history museum that hosts more than 150,000 visitors from around the world each year.
Like the nine other presidential libraries, the Bush Library and Museum is also a research institution, and is integrated into the academic environment of Texas A&M. It is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration.
The Bush Library's collections include 38 million pages of official and personal papers, one million photographs, 2,500 hours of videotape, and 70,000 museum objects.
The core exhibit tells the story of George Bush’s life and achievements, including his distinguished career of public service. It features extraordinary sections on World War II, the Berlin Wall, Air Force One and Camp David.
The
young and the young at heart will have the opportunity to ride a quarter-scale
Union Pacific Train around Texas A&M's Research Park through July.
The museum also contains a special section is dedicated to former First Lady Barbara Bush and a classroom, the first of its kind in the presidential libraries network, for students from kindergarten through high school.
In addition, the museum includes two changing exhibit galleries. Featuring two to three new exhibits each year, The Ansary Gallery of American History’s exhibits have included White House in Miniature; Fathers and Sons: Two Families, Four Presidents; American Women; Barbara Bush: An Extraordinary Journey; From Sea to Shining Sea; Discovering the World with Peter Sis; and Texas Flags.
The Fidelity Corridor features three to four new exhibits each year. These have included Fashioning Art: Handbags by Judith Leiber, The Art of Jim Work and Texas: Lone Star Pride.
The museum also hosts many exciting events such as its annual Fourth of July celebration and the White House-style Easter Egg Roll. The museum also hosted the 41 at 80 Birthday Celebration, the unveiling of the United States Postal Service Presidential Library stamp, as well as many distinguished speakers such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Condoleezza Rice, James Carville and Laura Bush.
The Bush Museum continues to strive to bring new and exciting exhibits and forums to the Brazos Valley. This year, the museum is unveiling its most ambitious exhibition yet. In November 2005, Trains: Tracks of the Iron Horse whistled its way to the museum. This 4,200-square-foot exhibit fills both of the museum’s changing exhibit galleries and covers everything from the train’s inception to the modern day locomotives and routes. Trains will run through July 31.
Some highlights of the exhibit are an actual General Electric locomotive cab simulator, historic railroad china, a restored Union Pacific caboose, an extensive collection of railroad clocks and pocket watches, selections from Frank Sinatra’s model railroad collection, an executive order signed by Abraham Lincoln setting the gauge for the railroad, Overland model railroad cars, a three foot long crystal train and hundreds of historic photographs gathered from across the nation.
Also on display (in March 2006 only) will be the Golden Spike, which was symbolically driven on May 10, 1869, at Promontory Point, Utah, to complete the first transcontinental railroad. More than a dozen model railroads from various model railroad associations throughout Texas will be on display during the course of the exhibit.
For children, the exhibit will have a number of touch-and-learn stations highlighting issues of railroad safety and railroad operations. There will also be classic films about trains playing for free at the Bush Complex through late July 2006. Some of these wonderful films include Strangers on a Train, High Noon and North by Northwest.
To take the train theme into the community, the Bush Museum is sponsoring Locomotives on Parade, a public art project. Painted fiberglass models of steam locomotives will be displayed in front of various businesses and public venues in the Bryan/College Station area.
These remarkable pieces of art are sponsored by local businesses and citizens and have been hand painted or decorated by the artist of the sponsor’s choosing. The locomotives will be on display throughout the community through May, and the exhibit will culminate in an auction of all locomotives at the museum. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the museum.
We are proud of our eight years here on the campus of Texas A&M University. Texas A&M has welcomed us and made us feel a part of the community. President Bush said it best: “there is a spirit on this campus, it’s the Aggie spirit.” We look forward to continue working together in the years to come.