Return to Virginia Business - November 2004

Staunton's presidential campaign

Virginia Business
November 2004

Virginia may have produced eight U.S. presidents — the most of any state — but it doesn’t have a single presidential library to show for it. That could be about to change. Fans of Woodrow Wilson kicked off a fund-raising campaign in early October in hopes of building a $28.5 million library at the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace and Museum in Staunton. The 29,000-square-foot library will offer a larger collection of Wilson papers, more in-depth exhibits and additional educational seminars and programs.

The move isn’t just about putting Wilson on an equal footing with the 11 presidents represented in the federal Presidential Library System. It’s also about boosting the local economy. Even the least popular presidential library — the Herbert Hoover library in West Branch, Iowa — draws about 90,000 visitors a year, says Maggie Ragon, spokeswoman for the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Foundation.

Right now about 25,000 people annually visit the Wilson birthplace, she says. “So we’re looking at the very least probably tripling our visitation,” she says. In addition to scholars and students, these libraries tend to attract a group of hard-core history buffs often referred to as “presidential groupies.”

If all goes according to plan, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library would open on Dec. 28, 2006, the 150th anniversary of Wilson’s birth. “We really feel that this president was important, his international policies and his vision still affect the world stage, and he deserves to be honored in this way,” Ragon says.

Return to Virginia Business - November 2004