President Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson posing in front of the new LBJ Library. [LBJ Library photo by Frank Wolfe #D4110]

History

Official Name:

Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum

Other Appropriate Name:

LBJ Presidential Library

Dedication Date:

May 22, 1971

Location:

The library is situated on a 30-acre site on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas. The building is on a promontory-like plaza adjoining Sid Richardson Hall and the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Library Architecture:

• Modern and monolithic in design, the ten-story building is notable for its unornamented travertine exterior
• The east and west walls have a base thickness of eight feet, curving gently upward to the underside walls of the tenth floor, which overhangs the exterior walls by fifteen feet on each side
• The north and south walls are set back fifteen feet, with balconies overlooking the campus and city
• The most notable feature of the interior is the Great Hall, with its ceremonial staircase and a four-story, glass-encased view of the archives collection

Library Architects:

Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. Partner-in-charge: Gordon Bunshaft

Brooks, Barr, Graeber, and White. Partner-in-charge: R. Max Brooks