Presidential Libraries as Public History

• September 30, 2014
• 6:00 PM CST
• Cuneo Hall, Room 311
• Kyle Roberts, kroberts2@luc.edu
• Free
• Open to the public.
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• Details

  Dr. Michael J. Devine, recently retired director of the Harry S Truman Presidential Library in Independence, MO, will talk about how the nations presidential libraries offer a distinct form of public history. Devine will look at the origins of the National Archives and and Records Administration (NARA) system, beginning with FDR's Presidential Library in 1939, and review the evolution of the system to the current 13 diverse institutions. He will also talk about various legislative efforts in the U.S. Congress to provide standards and control costs at these libraries which had the effect of giving increased power to the library foundations. Devine is one of the nations most prominent public historians with over forty years experience which also includes being Illinois State Historian and director of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency/Illinois State Historical Society (1985-1991) and a faculty member at the University of Wyoming (1991-2001). This past spring he was awarded the National Council on Public Historys Robert Kelley Memorial Award for his achievements.