Press Releases | May, 18 2017
This summer, the three presidential libraries in Texas will offer free admission to military personnel and their families in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and the Department of Defense.
AUSTIN (May 17,2017) – The LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, will offer free admission to the nation's active duty military personnel, including National Guard and Reserve and their families, from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2017. The LBJ Library is joining the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, and the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas in honoring military families.
"We are thankful to our military service members and their families for their selfless service and sacrifice for our country,” said Terri Garner, acting director, LBJ Presidential Library. "As Commander-in-Chief, President Lyndon Johnson was enormously proud of our men and women in uniform. We share his pride and are pleased to extend this small gesture as a token of our gratitude."
Currently, the LBJ Library's temporary exhibit is "Deep in the Vaults of Texas: A Campus Collaboration." Ten museums and archives at The University of Texas at Austin, along with the LBJ Library, share some of their most compelling and rare artifacts. Some of the items on display include Tom Landry's hat, Zelda Fitzgerald's ostrich feather fan, Santa Anna's memoir, and the first illustrated book on exercise (published in 1577). The exhibit is open through Sept. 6, 2017.
Additionally, visitors to the LBJ Library can step into a replica of the Oval Office, learn about the political and personal lives of Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson, and listen to telephone conversations as the president conducts business.
"The Legacy of Ranching: Preserving the Past, Embracing the Future" temporary exhibit, running through the end of the year at the Bush Library in College Station, highlights the strong ranching legacies and examines how the livestock industry helped shape the state of Texas. "Portraits of Courage," at the George W. Bush Library in Dallas, brings together 66 full-color portraits and a four-panel mural painted by President Bush of members of the U.S. military who have served our nation with honor since 9/11 — and whom he has come to know personally.
Free admission to all three museums is available May 29, 2017, through September 4, 2017, to any bearer of a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), a DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card. This includes active duty U.S. military - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, as well as members of the National Guard and Reserve, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps - and up to five family members. A family member of active duty military may include a spouse or child, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.
The free admission benefit is called Blue Star Museums and is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums of all types in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa. The complete list of participating museums is available at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.
