Video
Episode Four: "All the World is Welcome Here"
Transcript
[Narrator]: Welcome to the fourth installment of The Texas White House: Past, Present and Future. I'm park ranger Cynthia Dorminey. So far, we’ve discussed the early history of the Texas White House and what life was like while President and Mrs. Johnson were living here. But what has it been like in the years that followed? As you learned in the last episode, in December 1972, the Johnsons gifted the Texas White House and approximately 600 acres to the National Park Service. Nearly 30 years later, Mrs. Johnson reflected on this gift in an opening letter to the park’s management plan. It reads: "As we reflected on the Presidential years, Lyndon and I felt strongly that this place should be preserved for the American people. We also wanted the LBJ Ranch to be our home for the remaining years left to us, and then to be open to all who wish to visit." President Johnson died just a month later, on January 22, 1973, after giving this gift to the American people. Mrs. Johnson passed away on July 11, 2007, and was laid to rest next to him in the family cemetery on the LBJ Ranch. Lady Bird Johnson's passing in 2007 marked the beginning of a new era at the park and for the Texas White House. During Mrs. Johnson's lifetime, the U.S. Secret Service maintained security at the ranch, especially around the Texas White House. After her death, the Secret Service left the LBJ Ranch, and the way visitors experienced the ranch began to change. The bus tours continued, but rangers started allowing passengers to step off the bus in front of the Texas White House to enjoy a better view and take better photos of the historic home. Behind the scenes, preparations were underway to honor the Johnsons’ wish to open their home to all who wished to visit. For a home of approximately 8,500 square feet with 28 rooms and over 50 years of Johnson family history, there was much to do. The goal was to restore the majority of the home to the look it had during President Johnson’s lifetime, especially the period of 1963 to 1969, known as the “period of significance.” Due to the home’s size and the funding needed for the work, the plan was to open the home one section at a time, starting with the President's office. Virginia Kilby, the park museum curator from 1998 to 2011, led the effort to restore the home and prepare it for public tours.
[Virginia Kilby]: “Well, it was always decided that it would be during the Presidential time period, and that was because mainly the house had changed very little over the years. We researched the interior of the house at the LBJ Library in their photo archives, and Mrs. Johnson changed very little from the '60s until she died, so it was very easy to put the house back to the way it looked during the Presidential time period. This house is one of the better-documented presidential homes as far as what it looked like during the presidential time period and the later years. There are hundreds of photographs in the LBJ Library archives of the interior of the house. The photographers were there for special events and when people were visiting, so we know what it looked like at that time."
[Narrator]: The much-anticipated day arrived on August 27, 2008, the 100th anniversary of President Johnson's birth. For the first time in the park’s history, visitors were allowed to drive their own cars into the LBJ Ranch to attend the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Johnson Family Cemetery. Afterward, they continued through the ranch to the Texas White House. The Johnson’s daughters, Lynda Johnson Robb and Luci Baines Johnson, along with park staff and the Director of the National Park Service, officiated the festivities. That day, more than 800 visitors got their first look at President Johnson's office in the Texas White House, complete with original furnishings and personal belongings. Over the course of the next three and a half years, the remaining rooms on the first floor were opened, and visitors enjoyed learning about the Johnson family’s home life and political life through ranger-led tours. Through the next 10 years, until August 2018, thousands of visitors each year toured the Texas White House. Just as their mother had on occasion, Lynda and Luci would share their own love for their family home with lucky visitors. But all the activity began to take its toll on the aging house. On August 2, 2018, the Texas White House was closed to public tours due to structural and environmental issues. Join us next time for the fifth installment of The Texas White House: Past, Present, and Future, to find out what the National Park Service is doing to preserve the home for future generations of visitors.
Description
Episode Four highlights the National Park Service efforts to prepare the Texas White House for visitors after the passing of Mrs. Johnson. It describes the opening of the house on August 27, 2008 through the next ten years, until its closure in August 2018.
Duration
7 minutes, 50 seconds
Credit
NPS
Date Created
08/24/2022
Copyright and Usage Info