Woodrow Wilson Facts & Photos

Learn about Woodrow Wilson’s personal and political life, his visionary ideals and his surprising sense of humor. Click here >

Presidential Library Holds First Session of Journey Into History Camp

The Presidential Library hosted the first of two sessions of its fun-filled Journey Into History camp, titled “As the Century Turned,” for children seven to ten years of age on June 15-17.  Due to a generous grant from the Reynolds Foundation of Richmond and the sponsorships of local businesses, the Presidential Library was able to double its capacity for camp and offer scholarships each session.  The foundation grant was matched in part by a corporate sponsor, Mathers Construction, and four small business sponsors, G&G Cleaning, Blue Mountain Coffees, the Split Banana, and Pufferbellies.  Pampered Palate is donating lunches for the final day of both sessions.

The second session will be Tuesday, July 15, through Thursday, July 17.  For more information, contact Museum Educator Ellen Abernethy, at (540) 885-0897, ext. 110.

For a newspaper article about the camp, click here>

For the newspaper's photo gallery, click here>

For a television story, click here>

For more information about the camp, click here>

Presidential Library Offers New League of Friends Membership Program

The Presidential Library is pleased to offer a new membership program, the League of Friends.  Members support the mission of the Presidential Library and obtain benefits for their membership, including free admission to the Museum, discounts in the President's Shop, the Wilson Review newsletter, and more.  Those who join by August 31, 2010, will become Charter Members, forever commemorated on a plaque in the Woodrow Wilson Museum. 

For more information on this program, including benefits and membership categories, click here>

WWPL to co-host World War I Teacher Institute with Virginia War Memorial

The Presidential Library is pleased to partner with the Virginia War Memorial on a Teacher Institute, "Over There--Over Here: An In-Depth Look at World War I," to be offered twice, on Tuesday, July 27, at the WWPL and Tuesday, August 3, at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond. The institutes, aligned with Virginia history and social science standards of learning, are targeted to U.S. II and Virginia/U.S. history middle school and high school teachers in Virginia. In Staunton, the guest speaker will be Dr. Edward Lengel, University of Virginia professor and author of To Conquer Hell: The Meuse Argonne 1918. In Richmond, the guest speaker will be Brigadier General John "Jack" Mountcastle, former Chief of Army Military History. Participants will be eligible for five recertification points for the five-hour program. There is no registration fee, and a complimentary lunch will be provided. 

For more information, click here>

To register, click here>

Presidential Library Participates in Blue Star Museum Program

The Presidential Library is pleased to participate in the Blue Star Museum program and offer free admission to all active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day, May 31, through Labor Day, September 6, 2010.   The Blue Star Museum program is a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and more than 600 museums in all 50 states across America.   The free admission program is available to active duty military and their immediate family members (military ID holder and five immediate family members), which includes active duty Reserve and active duty National Guard. 

For more information on the Blue Star Museum Program, click here>

Presidential Library Holds Week-long Teacher Institute

The Presidential Library hosted a one-week institute for Virginia history teachers from  June 21-June 25.  The summer seminar was the second of three annual week-long sessions in a professional development curriculum entitled “Critical Connections in American History.”  Dr. Lawrence Goodheart, Professor of History at the University of Connecticut, and Dr. Edward T. O’Donnell, Associate Professor of History at the College of the Holy Cross, spoke at the Institute.  Virginia teachers from Waynesboro, Staunton, Winchester, and Fredericksburg City schools and Augusta, Rockbridge, Rockingham, and Amherst County schools participated.  One of the sessions, led by local historian Lucinda Cooke, was held in Thornrose Cemetery and included two reenactors.

For a newspaper story about the session at Thornrose Cemetery, click here>

For a photo gallery about this session, click here>

For a television story, click here>

For more information about the institute, click here>

Historian's World War I Battlefield Talk Promotes Upcoming Tour of Battlefields

Local historian William Walker gave an illustrated talk on World War I battlefields on June 3 at the Presidential Library.  Mr. Walker, who is writing a book about World War I, is former Associate Vice President for Public Affairs at the College of William and Mary.  The talk related to the Presidential Library’s planned extensive tour of the World War I battlefields in October to be led by Mr. Walker and fellow World War I author Edward Lengel.  Scheduled for October 12-19, 2010, the tour will focus on the battlefields of General John J. Pershing’s Meuse-Argonne Offensive. 

For more information, click here>

Nearly 300 Participate in World War I Exhibit Grand Opening

Nearly 300 people participated in the Presidential Library's Grand Opening celebration of its new World War I trench exhibit on May 30.  Guests enjoyed re-enactors, live period music, refreshments, and free tours of the exhibit.  A brief ceremony with remarks from officials, including a Woodrow Wilson reenactor, kicked off the activities.  Re-enactors, including soldiers, Red Cross nurses, and “Doughnut Lassies,” shared what life was like during the war.  Guests explored artifacts from a World War I soldier’s trunk and toured the new trench exhibit, a fully immersive state-of-the-art experience that takes visitors to the battlefront.  Everyone enjoyed cake donuts and small bottles of Coke similar to those from the period and World War I songs performed by Cynthia and Bill Polhill.

The event was sponsored by Bankers Insurance and Segars Engineering.  Coca-Cola Enterprises donated the Cokes, Dunkin' Donuts donated the donuts, and Shenandoah Valley Water donated bottled water.

For a newspaper article about the Grand Opening, click here>

For a television story, click here>

For more information about the Grand Opening, click here>

World War I Exhibit Featured in Podcast

The Presidential Library's new World War I exhibit is featured in a new podcast, including an interview with President and CEO Don Wilson.  To see the podcast, click here>

WWPL Featured in Virtual Tour of Staunton

The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum is featured in a five-minute video virtual tour of Staunton.  To see the video, click here>

Presidential Library Hands Out Flags to Guests on Flag Day

In recognition of President Woodrow Wilson’s establishment of Flag Day in 1916, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum handed out flags to guests on Flag Day, Monday, June 14.  President Woodrow Wilson established Flag Day with a Proclamation in 1916.  Communities across the nation began celebrating Flag Day that year. 

For a newspaper article about Flag Day at the Presidential Library, click here>

For more information about President Wilson's role in establishing Flag Day, click here>

2010 Symposium: World of Power/World of Law: Wilsonianism and Other Visions of Foreign Policy

The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library held its national symposium, "World of Power/World of Law:  Wilsonianism and Other Visions of Foreign Policy," on April 15-16, 2010, in Staunton, Virginia, at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel and Conference Center and at the Presidential Library.  Walter Russell Mead of the Council of Foreign Relations kicked off the symposium with a talk, "Wilsonian Foreign Policy:  Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow."  Participants from around the country included scholars from Harvard, Columbia, the University of Vermont, Niagara University, Presbyterian College, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Kansas.  Participants from Virginia included scholars from James Madison University, Washington and Lee University, Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, and Blue Ridge Community College.  Proceedings from the symposium will be published in the Journal White House Studies.  We appreciate the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Jessie Ball duPont Fund for their sponsorship of the event.

The Woodrow Wilson National Symposium is held periodically and convenes scholars from around the nation and the world to examine the life, times, and ideas of Woodrow Wilson for two days of panel presentations, dialogue and debate.  For a copy of the program, click here.

For more information about the Woodrow Wilson National Symposium, contact Dr. Joel Hodson, Director of Education at the WWPL, at 540-885-0897, ext. 103, or at jhodson@woodrowwilson.org

WWPL Adds Kids' Corner to Museum

The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum is pleased to announce its first interactive “Kids’ Corner.”  Housed in the Woodrow Wilson Museum, the Kids’ Corner gives younger visitors the opportunity to play with Wilson-era toys and books, dress up in period costumes, and go on a scavenger hunt.  While they’re having fun, children can learn about President Wilson and his times.  Read more> 

New Library and Research Center

The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum has embarked on a historic campaign to raise $2 million to acquire, renovate, retrofit, and endow a beautiful historic two-story mansion, called Kenwood by its previous owners, directly adjacent to the Dolores Lescure Center, which houses our Woodrow Wilson Museum. This building will be renovated into an incomparable Library and Research Center that will be fully integrated into the existing campus.  Read More>

Hundreds Attend Wilson Birthday Open House

More than 560 people celebrated President Wilson's Birthday at our annual Open House on December 28th.  President Wilson’s Birthplace, decorated for the holidays in Victorian-era style, and the Woodrow Wilson Museum were open for visitors at no charge, and there were refreshments and activities for children.  Guests viewed illustrations of plans for a new World War I exhibit being constructed in the Museum.  In addition, all non-sale items except books in the President’s Shop were offered at a 10% discount.   

For a newspaper article about the event, click here.

For a newspaper photo gallery, click here.

Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Now a Part of Presidents' Pass Program

The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum is pleased to announce that it is partnering with Monticello and other historical sites as a part of the Presidents' Pass Program. The $34 pass includes admission to Monticello, Ashlawn-Highland, and Michie Tavern, as well as a $2 discount at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Musuem and Montpelier. With the purchase of the pass, a vistor to all the participating sites can realize up to a $9 savings. Passes are available for purchase at each of these sites, including the WWPL.  Read More>

Wilson Scholar and Author John Milton Cooper Addresses WWPL Audience

Dr. John Milton Cooper, Jr., the foremost Woodrow Wilson scholar in the country and author of a new biography about President Wilson, addressed an audience of 130 people at the 2009 Annual Luncheon on November 13.  He spoke about his new book, Woodrow Wilson:  A Biography, which was released on November 3.  The luncheon was sponsored by Bankers Insurance and Wharton, Aldhizer and Weaver. 

WWPL Veterans Day Program a Success

In recognition of President Woodrow Wilson’s involvement in the formation of Veterans Day, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum presented a free Veterans Day program, open to the public, including a dramatic reading by Woodrow Wilson portrayer Judd Bankert of President Wilson’s Armistice Day address to Congress.  In addition to the program, all veterans, active military members, and their families were admitted free to the Presidential Library, including guided tours of President Wilson’s Birthplace and self-guided tours of the Woodrow Wilson Museum. 

To watch a television story about the event, click here>

For newspaper photographs, click here>