BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Archives -- Exhibit: School House to White House: The Education of Presidents

DC -- Natl Archives -- Exhibit: School House to White House: The Education of Presidents:

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Description of Pictures: Just in time for Spring Break, the family-friendly "School House to White House" exhibition will engage visitors of every age and interest. Documents, artifacts, photos and films drawn from the collections of the National Archives Presidential Libraries reveal fascinating details about children that would grow up to be presidents. Journey back to a time of one room school houses, large public schools, and private tutors. See these future presidents as young sports stars, choir members, and musicians. Watch them mature into serious college and military academy students. Together these experiences demonstrate the variety of educational and extra-curricular experiences that trained and influenced our nation’s future leaders.

Selected Highlights:
* Discover why John F. Kennedy missed 65 of the term’s 88 days in kindergarten
* See Richard Nixon’s childhood violin, and read his 8th grade autobiography
* Read what Harry Truman wrote in middle school about "Courage."
* Peek at report cards for Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and Jimmy Carter
* Learn what the presidents really thought of their teachers
* Learn which president, while in college, received offers to play professional football.

"School House to White House" includes more than 150 items from the holdings of the Presidential Libraries.
There are large photomurals of class photos and graduations, videos showing several presidents as children, and filmed presidential reflections on their school house years.

This multi-media exhibition explores themes in the early lives of presidents, including:
* Grade School – Whether they attended a one-room schoolhouse or private academy, the future presidents discovered a world of opportunity at school.
* High School – See how the future presidents blossomed in school. Learn who excelled academically, and who preferred extracurricular activities.
* College – All the future presidents continued their education after high school – whether it was a small institution, night school, law school, or a military service academy. Explore some of their college experiences.
* Men of Many Talents – Many of the future presidents had talents and developed skills that may surprise you. Learn about their varied interests and discover who sang, who acted, who joined the band, and who enjoyed working in the outdoors.
* Team Players – Whether it was football, baseball, golf, or swimming, most of the 20th-century presidents participated enthusiastically in sports. Most continued to follow and participate in sports even after they became President.
* Memories – Memoirs, scrapbooks, and letters reveal a range of experiences that shaped the lives of the future presidents. View these materials to glimpse the Presidents’ memories of their early lives.

About the Presidential Libraries
The National Archives and Records Administration operates twelve Presidential Libraries, representing U.S. Presidents from Herbert Hoover through Bill Clinton. These are not libraries in the usual sense. They are archives and museums, preserving the written record and physical history of our presidents, while providing special programs and exhibits that serve their communities. These libraries, described by President Reagan as "classrooms of Democracy," belong to the American people and provide to the public insight into the times in which these presidents lived and served the nation. See the Presidential Libraries web page for more information.

The above was from http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/visit/special_exhibitions.html

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[1] ARCHSH_070329_002.JPG	[2] ARCHSH_070329_006.JPG	[3] ARCHSH_070329_011.JPG
[4] ARCHSH_070329_016.JPG	[5] ARCHSH_070329_019.JPG	[6] ARCHSH_070329_024.JPG
[7] ARCHSH_070329_030.JPG	[8] ARCHSH_070329_035.JPG	[9] ARCHSH_070329_041.JPG
[10] ARCHSH_070329_064.JPG	[11] ARCHSH_070329_065.JPG	[12] ARCHSH_070329_075.JPG
[13] ARCHSH_070329_078.JPG	[14] ARCHSH_070329_082.JPG	[15] ARCHSH_070329_087.JPG
[16] ARCHSH_070329_092.JPG	[17] ARCHSH_070329_100.JPG	[18] ARCHSH_070329_104.JPG
[19] ARCHSH_070329_108.JPG	[20] ARCHSH_070411_004.JPG	[21] ARCHSH_070411_006.JPG
[22] ARCHSH_070411_014.JPG	[23] ARCHSH_070411_019.JPG	[24] ARCHSH_070411_022.JPG
[25] ARCHSH_070411_031.JPG	[26] ARCHSH_070411_036.JPG	[27] ARCHSH_070411_043.JPG
[28] ARCHSH_070411_047.JPG	[29] ARCHSH_070411_066.JPG	[30] ARCHSH_070411_078.JPG
[31] ARCHSH_070411_080.JPG	[32] ARCHSH_070411_083.JPG	[33] ARCHSH_070411_090.JPG
[34] ARCHSH_070411_097.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. ARCHSH_070329_002.JPG: School House to White House The Education of the Presidents: In 230 years, fewer than 45 people have become President of the United States. Who were these individuals who came to hold the highest office in the land? The Presidents of the 20th century were once boys struggling with their studies, teenagers trying to fit in, and young men deciding on a career. They came from many different backgrounds. Most went to public schools. Others had private tutors or attended prestigious private academies. Most were good students, although an occasional poor grade appeared on a report card. Many played sports, acted in theater, or joined clubs. All acknowledged the importance and influence of their education. We invite you to journey back to the school days of the 20th-century Presidents, through the collections of the National Archives Presidential Libraries. Take a good look around. You may discover that you have something in common with these uncommon men.
2. ARCHSH_070329_019.JPG: Grade School: "In grammar school, spelling was probably my favorite subject either because I had learned that a single letter could make a vast difference in the meaning of a word." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower Whether they attended a one-room schoolhouse or private academy, the future Presidents discovered a world of opportunity at school. Some met teachers they remembered all their lives. Others faced challenges such as illness, poverty, and the death of parents. As you explore these grade school experiences, imagine how they molded the characters of boys who grew up to be our nation's leaders.
3. ARCHSH_070329_030.JPG: High School: "In my childhood, a high school education was an exceptional opportunity for an American boy or girl; a college education was possible only to an exceedingly small minority." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt After grade school, some of the future Presidents moved on to the local high school. Others went away to private academies and boarding schools. Whatever secondary school they attended, their world of education, sports, and social activities suddenly expanded. Class work became more varied and demanding. How did the future Presidents cope with these new challenges? The report cards and other documents on display here reveal part of the answer.
4. ARCHSH_070329_064.JPG: Graduation, Class of 1947, United States Naval Academy, June 5, 1946. Jimmy was in the Class of 1947 at the Naval Academy. But the class actually graduated in 1946. How could that happen? During World War II, the course of instruction was shortened from four to three years to accommodate the increased need for naval officers.
5. ARCHSH_070329_075.JPG: College: "Everything that has been good in my life began here." -- Ronald Reagan When the 20th-century Presidents were growing up, college attendance was less common than it is today. Remarkably, they all continued their education after high school -- whether it was college, night school, or service academy. For many of them, college was an extraordinary opportunity, a giant step forward in their lives. They made lifelong friends and started down paths that led to important career choices. Take a look at what college days were like for some of the future Presidents.
6. ARCHSH_070329_082.JPG: Look for FDR
7. ARCHSH_070411_004.JPG: Richard Nixon (far right, on the ground, with a tie), first grade, in Yorba Linda, California, 1919.
8. ARCHSH_070411_014.JPG: Groton school picture, Groton, Massachusetts, 1897. To find FDR, look for the third column from the left. Move to the left of the boy about two persons, looking for the hatless woman in the light jacket. About where his knee is, there is a hatted individual to the left of a hatless kid in dark clothes. The hatted person is FDR. Immediately to the left and down from him is someone in a beard and mustache.
9. ARCHSH_070411_019.JPG: Harry Truman (top row, fourth from the left), senior class, Independence High School, Independence, Missouri, ca. 1901.
10. ARCHSH_070411_022.JPG: Dwight Eisenhower (back row, far left), freshman class, Abilene High School, Abilene, Kansas, 1905.
11. ARCHSH_070411_031.JPG: Lyndon B. Johnson (last row, fifth from left), Johnson City High School, Johnson City, Texas, 1924.
12. ARCHSH_070411_036.JPG: Senior graduating class, Jimmy Carter (front row, far right), Plains High School, Plains Georgia, ca. 1941.
13. ARCHSH_070411_043.JPG: Photograph taken at the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson, Eisenhower is sixth from the right, in the front row, 1913.
14. ARCHSH_070411_047.JPG: Close-up of Eisenhower's section during the Woodrow Wilson inaugural. Eisenhower is in the front row, sixth from the right. (The arrow is pointing at his crotch.)
15. ARCHSH_070411_066.JPG: Bill Clinton in Miss Mary's Kindergarten (far left, in striped shirt), Hope, Arkansas, May 6, 1950.
16. ARCHSH_070411_080.JPG: John F. Kennedy (sitting in the middle of the first row), Riverdale Country Day School, in Bronxville, New York, ca 1927-28
17. ARCHSH_070411_090.JPG: Dwight Eisenhower (front row, second from left), fifth grade class, Lincoln Elementary School, Abilene, Kansas, 1900. Dwight later wrote "At one point, a suggestion was made that I should 'skip' a grade. This is not tribute to any academic mastery, I suspect that it was simply recognition that I lived in a home where learning was put into practice... The suggestion... was never put into effect. My conduct was not the equal of my reading ability."
18. ARCHSH_070411_097.JPG: Herbert Hoover (front row, far right side) with classmates, about 11 years old, in Oregon, 1885.
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