Introduction

James Baldwin

Author of Notes of An American Son

Poet, playwright, essayist and activist 1924 – 1987

Why remember our nations history through its presidents? There are certainly less biased and logistically easier ways to present such a chronicle than decades of visits to over thirty sites related to the American Presidency. Yet history is a story. A story has characters. Characters are set in times and locations that blend nuance, nostalgia, and a variety of perspectives.

How we remember them is perhaps indicative of how our collective memory of a nation evolves through human courage and frailty. They bear testament to our own struggles through divisive, challenging, controversial, and ever-evolving times. Perhaps they even cast light on how WE might be remembered by the generation or two we leave behind…

Video: Series Introduction

“How Will We Be Remembered?”

Paul St. Germain Reflects on Presidential Heritage Sites

“Through this entrance to the Place d’Arms of the fort have passed such men as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Benedict Arnold, The Marquis de Montcalm… Sir John Burgoyne… 

And a host of other great men of our history. You who tread in their footsteps: Remember their glory…”

Fort Ticonderoga, New York. 1920

Since the first site given by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (on the grounds of his Springwood estate in Hyde Park, New York) in 1939: “Presidential Libraries and Museums present vast archives of documents, museums full of important Presidential artifacts, interesting educational and public programs, and informative web sites.”

“Presidential Libraries and Museums are repositories for the papers, records and historical materials of the Presidents. We work to ensure that these irreplaceable items are preserved and made available for the widest possible use by researchers.”

National Archives Administration