Lady Bird Johnson and the LBJ Library and Museum

Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum
Media Contact: Anne Wheeler, Communications Director
Office: (512) 721-0216
Cell: (523) 731-2351
anne.wheeler@nara.gov

When Lady Bird Johnson first heard the news that The University of Texas wanted to be the site of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum and the School of Public Affairs, she recorded in her diary that night that the idea was “…almost too great to comprehend.” She and Lyndon Johnson made sure that the Library and Museum belonged to all Americans, that admission was free, and historical papers, audio/video recordings, and photographs of the Johnsons’ years of public service were open for all to review. They wanted the scholarly research done here to form a framework for the future of public policy in this country. An additional wish was that it would be an interesting, fun place to visit.

In planning the LBJ Library, Mrs. Johnson visited other presidential libraries and made architectural tours around the country. Her vision for the Library was reflected in the daily diary that she kept: “…there should be a melding of both library and museum, a melding from which they would both profit and become more alive.”

Dedicated on May 22, 1971, in a nationally televised ceremony, the LBJ Library was the first presidential library to be affiliated with an academic institution (The University of Texas at Austin) and the first to feature extensive use of film and video in the museum exhibits. Mrs. Johnson was instrumental in guiding the design of exhibits and proposed displaying the millions of pages of historic documents in red archival boxes, adorned with a gold Presidential Seal and stacked behind a wall of glass for everyone to see. This area is called “The Great Hall.” Mrs. Johnson will lie in repose in The Great Hall of the Library (fourth floor).

“Mrs. Johnson’s warm and welcoming spirit and her emphasis on education and beauty inspired all of us who have had the good fortune to work in the LBJ Library and Museum,” said Dr. Betty Sue Flowers, Director of the Library. “Her intelligent guidance was felt in all aspects of the life of the Library. She came to our events, hosted our gatherings, inspired our programming, and showed her caring in so many ways, large and small.”

President Johnson had ordered that his White House telephone recordings be sealed until 50 years after his death. Although Mrs. Johnson had not known of the recordings’ existence, she recognized their potential historical importance, and supported then-Director Harry Middleton’s decision to start releasing them in the early 1990s, enabling scholars and the public to view Johnson’s presidency as he intended-- “…with the bark off.”

In a 1980 interview with American Heritage, Mrs. Johnson said, “We are a lively, vigorous ongoing center for the study of today’s problems. It makes me flinch whenever I hear people say “monument to your husband” or something like that, because I like to think of this place, and I know he did, as an ongoing, useful part of the life of this state and this region.”

Dr. Flowers adds, “Towards the end of her life, every time Mrs. Johnson appeared at a Library program, the people in the audience would spontaneously stand and begin to clap. Everyone who knew her loved her – and felt blessed to have known her.”

The LBJ Library and Museum houses The First Lady’s Gallery on its tenth floor, a permanent exhibit and tribute to Mrs. Johnson which tells the story of Lady Bird Johnson’s life from the time she met Lyndon Johnson to the present. It is a portrait of her legacy as a humanitarian, an unofficial diplomat, and a major champion of the environment. The Gallery attempts to illustrate the words of her husband, Lyndon Johnson -- “….she enriched the lives of all Americans.”