Independent experts ensured historical accuracy of new exhibits
YORBA LINDA, Calif. — (Sept. 29, 2016) — The National Archives today recognized and commended the efforts of four historians who reviewed and ensured the historical accuracy of the new permanent exhibit at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, which opens to the public on October 14.
“The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, one of 13 libraries in the Presidential Library system administered by the National Archives, invited independent historians to review and authenticate the historical accuracy of our permanent exhibit redesign,” said Michael Ellzey, Director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. “We are grateful to these talented experts for helping us develop a museum that explores and accurately conveys the life and legacy of America’s 37th president.”
The group of scholars, comprised of four independent historians selected by the National Archives, reviewed and advised the National Archives and Nixon Foundation project team.
The independent historians who contributed to the project are:
- Mary C. Brennan, Ph.D., chair of the history department at Texas State University and author of Pat Nixon: Embattled First Lady.
- David Farber, Ph.D., the Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Modern America at the University of Kansas and the author or editor of numerous books including The Age of Great Dreams: America in the 1960s and America in the Seventies.
- Dean Kotlowski, Ph.D., a professor of history at Salisbury University and author of Nixon’s Civil Rights: Politics, Principle, and Policy.
- Lien-Hang Nguyen, Ph.D., the Dorothy Borg Associate Professor in the History of the United States and East Asia at Columbia University and the author of Hanoi’s War: An International History of the War for Peace in Vietnam.
Nixon Library resource archivist, Gregory Cumming, Ph.D., coordinated this review program for the National Archives and Nixon Foundation project team. Dr. Cumming previously served as an archivist at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum and as Supervisory Archivist at the Nixon Library.
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum opens to the public on October 14. Highlights of the new museum include:
- 70 new family-friendly exhibits with more than 300 original artifacts;
- 30 unique multi-media experiences;
- 11 original films;
- 12 custom digital interactives;
- 10 curated archival film sequences;
- More than 600 photographs; and
- 8,000 square feet of wall murals.
Opening Celebration October 14-16 – details online at www.newnixonlibrary.com
Friday, October 14
- 11 a.m. (PST), outdoor public opening ceremony
- Free admission to the New Nixon Library
- Extended visitor hours to 9 p.m.
Saturday, October 15
- 10 a.m., The Making of the New Nixon Library, learn about the creative firms that designed, produced and constructed the new museum and its website;
- Noon, A Consequential Life: Biographers Evaluate President Nixon’s Impact on America and the World,” featuring four prominent Nixon biographers.
Sunday, October 16
- Nixon Library’s Weekly Concert Series includes free concerts at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is located at Richard Nixon’s birthplace in Yorba Linda, California and is one of 13 libraries in the Presidential Library system operated by the National Archives and Records Administration. Hours of operation are Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, please visit www.nixonlibrary.gov.
The Richard Nixon Foundation is a privately supported, nonprofit, nonpartisan institution dedicated to discovery, debate, and discussion about Richard Nixon and his influence on today’s world. The Foundation owns, and jointly operates with the National Archives, the 9-acre campus and buildings comprising the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. For more information, call 714-993-5075 or visit the Foundation’s website www.nixonfoundation.org.
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