The 19th president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes was also an avid reader and amateur historian. His collection of 12,000 volumes, as well as various bits and pieces collected during his life and political career, became the first presidential library in the US in 19161. Hayes' children wanted to offer his collection to the public as an educational resource highlighting their parents' lives and the history of the era in which they lived.
The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums includes the library, a museum, an arboretum, and the Hayes family home.
Obligatory photo of the entry sign.
One of the first informational murals in the museum discusses how the library came to be.
Rutherford and Lucy Hayes in a portrait taken during their honeymoon. Lucy Webb Hayes was the first First Lady to have received a college education. She was much younger than her husband--in fact, when his mother first encouraged him to court her, he refused because he felt she was too young (she was 14 and he was 23). He began to court her in earnest when she was 19, and they married in 1852.
This display features the clothes she wore at her wedding.
By all accounts their marriage was quite happy. There are numerous letters where they discuss how much they hated being apart, one of which is quoted on this display:
My Darling: The home is lonely without you, in short, it is no home at all. But you'll soon return and how glad we will all be.
Rutherford to Lucy, June 13, 1875
Sadly, she died before Rutherford, suffering a stroke at age 57.
In 1861, Hayes volunteered for the Union army and spent the next four years as a soldier. Lucy visited him as often as possible, and served the troops by caring for wounded soldiers.
The soldiers nicknamed her "Mother Lucy" for her service and her comforting presence among them.
An early section of the museum highlights souvenirs Hayes brought back from the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia.
The Centennial Exhibition of 1876 was the first world's fair to be held in the United States. Intended to showcase the country's innovation and commercial growth, the exhibition included such marvels as the typewriter, Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, Heinz Ketchup, and Hires root beer.
A timeline of Hayes' election breaks down the controversial sequence of events. Neither candidate secured sufficient electoral votes to be declared a winner due to irregularities of the voting certifications. Supposedly, Hayes was granted the victory, although he did not win the popular vote. It is said, but not proven, that the Compromise of 1877 allowed him to secure the electoral votes necessary to win in exchange for the end of federal support for Reconstruction and the withdrawal of troops from the former Confederacy. In today's world, we could not possibly imagine such a sequence of shenanigans leading to the election of a president........2
Some artifacts of Hayes' inauguration, including a piece of the plank he stood on and the Bible (King James version, natch) on which he swore his oath of office.
Some electoral propaganda from the election, including items from the campaign of Samuel Tilden, Hayes' opponent in the election.
After his election, Hayes traveled the country, feeling that he could not be in charge of the US without knowing something about his constituents.
He went from coast to coast and brought back a range of souvenirs.
Hayes was also concerned about Native Americans, and visited representatives of several tribes. His views and work on Native American issues was given a rather more positive spin in the museum and on the house tour than is necessarily borne out by the historical record.
In foreign policy news, Hayes was involved in arbitration in Paraguay in 1878 after the Paraguayan War. Hayes ruled in Paraguay's favor in a territorial dispute between Paraguay and Argentina. The territory granted to Paraguay is now known as Presidente Hayes Department3, and its capital is Villa Hayes. Paraguay also has a football club named after Hayes, Club Presidente Hayes. Their banner is shown below.
Summaries of notable events during the Hayes administration. Hayes was a one-term president by choice, and his presidency is not rated highly by historians.
The White House sideboard, which Rutherford and Lucy Hayes purchased in 1880. The museum repurchased it in 1967 from an antiques dealer.
Various gifts given to Hayes and his wife. The case on the right features their 25th anniversary gifts. The owl was removed from the Washington Monument, then under construction. It was gifted to Hayes after it died (I hope of natural causes, but it doesn't say).
The museum features a rotating display of Lucy's dresses. She wore this one on New Year's Day, 1878, at a reception for the Diplomatic Corp.
Clothing originally worn by the Hayes children, Scott and Fanny. These were costumes from a costume ball. Scott was dressed as a soldier, while Fanny was dressed as Martha Washington.
Memorabilia from Lucy Hayes' funeral in 1889 and from Rutherford's visit to Nashville, one of his first trips after Lucy's passing. Hayes himself passed away in 1893 at the age of 70. He was buried in Spiegel Grove, and if somebody hadn't been annoyingly insistent that we needed to go get lunch because they were about to expire from hunger, we might have gotten to see the burial spot. (It was me. The somebody was me.)
This barely touches the surface of the museum which, though fairly small, is packed with fascinating bits and pieces from a family of avid collectors. The Hayes family home is equally interesting, and we visited that, as well.