Our annual cross-country journey never grows old. Even though we move at a fast pace, especially on our way East, there are always surprises. This year’s trip, in early June, provided a good example. A last minute decision to push beyond Toledo, Ohio had us camping beside the highway at a Law Enforcement Training Center for police dogs, which is part of Harvest Hosts, about which you may recall we wrote last year. Despite the possibility of horrific encounters between Piper, our sweet but territorial Great Pyrenees and the German Shepherds in residence, all was quiet except for the hum of the highway and an occasional train whistle.
A quick Google search before turning in, after a beautiful sunset, to see if there was anything worth checking out in Fremont, Ohio, provided our surprise. Believe it or not, Freemont is the site of the first Presidential Library at the home of the 19th President, Rutherford B. Hayes. While I am a collector of National Park stamps, the pursuit of Presidential Libraries hadn’t occurred to me. Our early morning visit the next morning to Spiegel Grove changed all that. I am now a fan.
The day was bright but it was full of mystery beneath the canopy of over 100 different kinds of trees. After circumnavigating the grounds with lots of local walkers, we visited the tomb of the President and his admirable wife, Lucy (who was the first wife of a President to graduate from college, thus earning the title, “First Lady”), and peeked into the windows of their Victorian mansion. Then it was time for the library to open.
My next piece of good luck was when I introduced myself to the capable staff member at the front desk. Confessing my ignorance about President Hayes gave him license to open up a fountain of knowledge and he gave me enough literature to read in the truck for the next few hours. At the same time, my fellow Ripper was chatting up the Grounds Keeper, who filled him in on what we had missed the day before, a vintage baseball game played according to 1860 rules. The foundation tries to recreate outdoor activities that also took place when the Rutherfords lived there. A croquet league uses the grounds and the town hosts three ice cream socials each summer. The biggest event is the 4th of July celebration which includes the Cleveland Symphony and a military salute complete with cannons.
They also shared many insights into traditions that continue to this day. The Hayes family hosted the first Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn. The Resolute Desk in the Oval Office was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Hayes and it was made out of timber from the HMS Resolute, a ship locked in ice in the Arctic for almost two years until finally rescued by the United States Navy. It was also interesting to hear that President Hayes’ election had contested electoral votes, which delayed his swearing in until March of 1877. History does have a way of repeating itself, doesn’t it?
Our best insight was to put Presidential Libraries on our “must visit” list. Which one will be next? Do you have a recommendation? Please share.
Johnson Library in Austin
Kennedy Library in Boston
LBJ’s is great. It’s at U Texas. Heavy on the domestic, not so much on the disaster in Vietnam. Carter’s is in Atlanta–heavy on the Middle East Peace, light on the national malaise.
Your pal Hayes was the brokered into the Presidency, with the understanding that he’d stop Federal enforcement of laws in the South, which led to Jim Crow and all its attendant nastiness. Read up on that before you head to LBJ’s library!
They were pretty up front about how Hayes got to the presidency. He also promised to be a one-term prez.
I always love living vicariously through your adventures.