The Sam Rayburn Library and Museum is a public research center, library, and museum at 800 West Sam Rayburn Drive in Bonham, Texas. It was built in 1957 as a working library and research center for

Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...

(1882-1961), the influential United States Congressman who holds the record as the longest-serving

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U. ...

. The building, designed by

Roscoe DeWitt Roscoe DeWitt (1894–1975) was an American architect. He designed many buildings in Texas, including houses, libraries, hospitals, schools, churches and several buildings on the campus of Southern Methodist University. Early life Roscoe Plimpton ...

, is the most prominent example of Classical Revival architecture in Fannin County, expressly evoking the Classical architecture of

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. The library is now operated as part of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, part of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2005.

Overview

In 1957 Rayburn dedicated the library in the style of a

presidential library A presidential library, presidential center, or presidential museum is a facility either created in honor of a former president and containing their papers, or affiliated with a country's presidency. In the United States * The presidential libr ...

to preserve his memory, library collection, honors, and mementos. Former president Harry Truman was the guest of honor at the dedication ceremony. While other Speakers of the House have public or university libraries named in dedication to them this library is unique in that the library is solely dedicated to being a library about Rayburn's life as well as being an archival library about Congress from the 1770s to the present day. The library building has a steel and concrete framework with solid brick walls and is faced with gleaming white Georgia marble and looks like many Classical-style buildings in Washington, D.C. such as the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

and the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in the ...

. It is set on a base of Texas red granite. In its original 1957 configuration the main lobby, made of black Italian marble, featured the original white marble rostrum that stood in the House of Representatives from 1857 until 1950 with a bronze statue of Rayburn standing behind it. The rostrum was moved to the main exhibit room in the 2012 renovation of the library. An exact replica of Rayburn's office is in the library. The furniture in this office was actually in the Speaker's Office in Washington, D.C. from 1907 to 1957. The fireplace immediately behind the speaker's desk was originally installed in the House of Representatives in 1857, where it remained for ninety-two years until its removal during the U.S. Capitol renovation project in 1949-50. This office served as Rayburn's official office from 1957 to 1961 whenever he returned home to Bonham to serve his constituents. The chandelier in Rayburn's office was originally installed in the White House during the

Grant administration The presidency of Ulysses S. Grant began on March 4, 1869, when Ulysses S. Grant was inaugurated as the 18th president of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1877. The Reconstruction era took place during Grant's two terms of office. The Ku ...

but was later transferred to the U.S. Capitol on the orders of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

who complained about the noise that the chandelier caused. In the west wing are two galleries, the H.G. Dulaney Gallery and the Rostrum Gallery. These galleries feature items from Rayburn's life, from his early childhood to his days as Speaker. The Dulaney Gallery's centerpiece is a white fireplace mantle that was installed originally in the Adams Room of the White House but removed during the White House renovation in the late 1940s. The Rostrum Gallery contains the white marble Speaker's rostrum that stood on the dais of the House of Representatives from 1857 until 1950. When the House was renovated in 1950, the rostrum was removed from the Capitol Building. It was presented to Sam Rayburn by his colleagues in the House of Representatives for permanent display in this museum. The east wing is composed of the reading room where researchers and locals can read Rayburn's personal books and access the complete run of the published proceedings of the United States Congress from the First Continental Congress of 1774 to the present. Rayburn's gifts and honors are also displayed in the reading room, including a 2,500 year old Grecian urn given by the Greek Palace Guard to Rayburn for assisting the Kingdom of Greece during the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

. Outside of the building is a bronze statue of Rayburn that was dedicated in 1990.

Gallery

File:Bonham July 2016 02 (Sam Rayburn Library and Museum).jpg, View of the Sam Rayburn Library from outside File:Sam_Rayburn_Library_and_Museum_June_2017_4_(Speaker_of_the_House_of_Representatives_office_replica).jpg, Replica of the Speaker's Office File:Sam_Rayburn_Library_and_Museum_June_2017_1.jpg, Main lobby File:Sam_Rayburn_Library_and_Museum_June_2017_3.jpg, The Rostrum Gallery File:Sam Rayburn Library and Museum June 2017 2 (H.G. Dulaney Exhibit Gallery).jpg, The H.G. Dulaney Gallery File:Sam_Rayburn_Library_and_Museum_June_2017_6_(library).jpg, The east wing library

References

External links

{{Authority control Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas National Register of Historic Places in Fannin County, Texas Neoclassical architecture in Texas Buildings and structures completed in 1957 History museums in Texas University of Texas at Austin Museums in Fannin County, Texas Rayburn, Sam 1957 establishments in Texas

Overview

Gallery

See also

References

External links