The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum is a five building complex consisting of the Visitors Center, the Place of Meditation, the Eisenhower Boyhood Home, the Library and Museum; and is part of the presidential libraries system administered by the National Archives and Records Administration, a federal agency.
The Eisenhower family home was occupied by David and Ida Eisenhower and their sons from 1898 through 1946, when Ida Eisenhower died. Her sons donated the home and its contents to the Eisenhower Foundation and the Boyhood Home was opened to the public in 1947.
The Eisenhower Museum's galleries include the Introductory Gallery, the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Gallery, the Military Gallery, the Presidential Gallery, and a changing exhibits gallery. The museum’s holdings are well over 46,000 objects; many Eisenhower received as Head of State gifts or as gifts from the admiring public. The items on display interpret Eisenhower's role during WWII and as the 34th President of the United States. The Presidential Gallery was re-designed in 2002 and illustrates Eisenhower’s life from 1945 to his death in 1969. The gallery contains interactive programs which will give the visitor an insight into the culture of the 1950 period. Many of the objects on display are of great historic interest to the Eisenhower era.
The façade of the Eisenhower Presidential Library is made of natural Kansas limestone. The basic function of the Library is to provide a place for scholars to come to work with the rich historical materials housed in this building. Millions of pages of manuscripts materials, tens of thousands of photographs and thousands of books are available for their use in the Research Room of the Library. In 1955, President Eisenhower signed the Presidential Library Act that forever established the current Presidential Library System.
The eleven‑foot statue of Eisenhower in his WWII uniform stands on a five‑sided Kansas granite monument and was a gift from Kansas senator Harry Darby and is entitled: “Champion of Peace.” Under the statue reads this inscription of his accomplishments: "General, Supreme Commander, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, Supreme Allied Commander, and U.S. President."
Dwight D. Eisenhower died on March 28, 1969 and is buried in the Place of Meditation. In November 1979, Mamie Doud Eisenhower was interred here. Their first born son, Doud Dwight, was interred in 1966.
All the buildings are open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. seven days a week, with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. If you have a group which would like to visit the Eisenhower Center, please refer to the information section relating to school and public group tours.
The Eisenhower Center does not conduct guided tours; this should pose no problem, however, as the exhibits are self-explanatory. We suggest you allow a minimum of one to two hours to visit the Center. Ample parking is available near the Visitors Center and the Place of Meditation.
Upon your arrival, we suggest you stop at the Visitors Center to view the 25 minute orientation film. The Gift Shop is also located in the Visitors Center.
We recommend when visitors leave the Visitors Center they proceed to the Boyhood Home. The entrance door is on the south side. The Home provides insight into the early life of the Eisenhowers and is typical of Midwestern homes at the turn of the century. A tour guide provides information on the history of the Home and answers questions about the Home and the family.
From the Home, we suggest that visitors go to the Museum which is located to the east of the Home. The Museum building is circular in traffic pattern, and it takes about one to two hours to cover the 35,000 square feet of exhibit space. There the visitors will find exhibits covering every phase of the life of the 34th President. A Museum admission fee is charged for persons 8 years of age or older. No admission fee is charged at any of the other buildings. It is helpful if all members of a large group wear some type of badge so that they may be easily identified at the Museum admission desk. For small groups, admission may be paid individually at the Museum. With larger groups, a payment in cash, check or credit card for the entire group is the most efficient way.
From the Museum the visitors can proceed to the Library. Although part of the Library is not open to the public, there is an exhibit area on the second floor. The remainder of the building is used to house the papers of General Eisenhower, provide staff offices, and provide a research area for scholars.
We suggest that when your group has toured the Library they go to the Place of Meditation which is the final resting place of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States, his wife Mamie, and their first-born son.
