The William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum is the

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 ...

of 25th

U.S. president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

. The library, which is located at the foot of the

McKinley National Memorial The McKinley National Memorial in Canton, Ohio, United States, is the final resting place of William McKinley, who served as the 25th president of the United States from 1897 to his assassination in 1901. Canton was a significant place in McKin ...

, is owned and operated by the Stark County Historical Society, and located in

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, where McKinley built his career as lawyer, prosecuting attorney, congressman,

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and president. The museum contains the largest collection of McKinley artifacts in the world and chronicles the life and career of the 25th president, from his birth to his death at the hands of an assassin. Another exhibit also explores the construction of the

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

and the unfortunate fate of the McKinley’s Canton home, destroyed by fire in 1937. As for the Museum itself it boasts a science center with some wildlife and fossils. The museum has a temporary exhibit space called the Keller gallery. The museum also has an planetarium show. Because of the science center, the museum has a membership plan that lets the member access other museums meeting the same criteria throughout the United States. The museum also houses other artifacts on the surrounding city. The museum largely relies on volunteer staff for its operations. The current curator is Kimberly Kenney.

Hoover-Price Planetarium

The Hoover-Price Planetarium was built during 1962, opened in July 1963, and stands adjacent to the McKinley National Memorial in Canton, Ohio. The Planetarium is housed within the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum. The primary influence in the design and development of the planetarium was Richard Emmons (1919-2005), senior engineer in the Astronautics Department at Goodyear Aircraft Corporation, and past program director and lecturer at Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Asteroid 5391 Emmons (1985 RE2) was named in Emmons honor. The central opto-mechanical star projector, a Spitz Model A-3-P, was enhanced by Emmons to show an additional 1,500 stars. Except for the dome and the sound system, all of the original equipment was purchased from Spitz Laboratories. The dome was made and installed by Astro-Dome, Inc., of Canton. It measures 7.2 meters in diameter and is made of aluminum structural beams covered by a perforated aluminum screen. The planetarium has 60 auxiliary projectors, including solar and lunar eclipses, meteors, life cycle of stars, double stars, Aurora Borealis, rainbows, the Milky Way galaxy, views of the moon and sunrise and sunset. The construction of the planetarium was and remains privately funded. It is named after the two families whose donations made the project possible, the Hoover family and company and Mr. and Mrs. Harley C. Price. The planetarium has undergone few changes since 1964, except for the addition of two DLP projectors and a computer to generate images. Richard Emmons' son, Thomas Emmons, Emeritus Professor at Kent State’s Physics Department, continues to maintain the planetarium. The current director is David L. Richards, with a part-time staff of four program lecturers. All programming is accomplished in-house.

Ramsayer Research Library

The presidential archive itself is called the "Ramsayer Research Library" and is located in the South Wing of the building.

External links

William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinley Presidential Library and Museum, William Buildings and structures in Canton, Ohio Libraries in Ohio Museums in Stark County, Ohio Presidential libraries Presidential museums in Ohio William McKinley Tourist attractions in Canton, Ohio

Hoover-Price Planetarium

Ramsayer Research Library

See also

External links