HISTORICAL MATERIALS IN THE
LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON LIBRARY
FOREWORD
The Lyndon Baines
Johnson Library was established to preserve and make available for research
the papers and memorabilia of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. In addition,
the Library actively collects the papers of Johnson's contemporaries and
conducts an oral history program designed to supplement the written record.
This summary guide
is designed to give potential researchers (1) preliminary information
on the types of materials housed in the Library, and (2) information on
their availability for research. Supplementing this summary are detailed
finding aids for individual segments of the collection that are available
for use in the Library's Reading Room or on loan.
The Johnson Library
is part of a system of presidential libraries administered by the National
Archives and Records Administration. It is a public institution open to
all researchers on an equal basis.
HARRY J. MIDDLETON
Director
The Library records
reflect the nation for 40 years--from the '30s through the '60s. They
picture a sweep of history beginning with the depression and ending with
the most prosperous era we have ever known. They record a drive for change
and social reform unparalleled in its energy and scope--and a World War
unmatched in its destruction. They chronicle the end of colonialism--and
the beginning of the Cold War and the Atomic Age which still threaten
mankind. They cover the time when liberty was challenged in Europe and
Latin America and Asia--and record America's response to those challenges.
It is all here:
the story of our time--with the bark off.
. . . . . . .
This Library does
not say, "This is how I saw it," but, "This is how the
documents show it was."
There is no record
of a mistake, nothing critical, ugly, or unpleasant that is not included
in the files here. We have papers from my 40 years of public service in
one place, for friend and foe to judge, to approve or disapprove.
I do not know how
this period will be regarded in years to come. But that is not the point.
This Library will show the facts--not just the joy and triumphs, but the
sorrow and failures, too.
Remarks of Lyndon
B. Johnson
At the dedication of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
May 22, 1971
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