“Texas has produced three presidents and will soon have, I hope not too soon, three presidential libraries,” said Don Wilson, former U.S. archivist and the chair of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Task Force. “Virginia has produced eight and has none. We believe it’s time to change that.” Wilson has also served as director of the Gerald Ford Presidential Library and executive director of the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation.
Peter deVaux, chair of the library’s board of trustees, said officials hope to get federal funding, noting the $10 million the government contributed to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. In addition, a national fundraising campaign was launched August 24.
Architects from Frazier Associates, who designed the proposed library, said they drew their greatest inspiration from Princeton University, where Wilson was president from 1902 to 1910. The library hopes to obtain Princeton’s collection of Wilson’s papers on permanent loan.
The board hopes to break ground on the library by December 28, 2006—the 150th anniversary of Wilson’s birth.
Posted August 27, 2004.