Coming soon:  Grover Cleveland Presidential Library & Museum!

The Grover Cleveland Birthplace Memorial Association (GCBMA) is excited to announce that soon a new Grover Cleveland Presidential Library & Museum will open on the grounds of the Grover Cleveland Birthplace Historic Site in Caldwell, New Jersey. The new historical and research facility will reside within a spacious new visitor center that is still under construction. A grand opening is planned for some time in the future (date to be announced). Funding for the visitor center and presidential library has been provided by the GCBMA, donations, membership fees, fundraising activities, and the state of New Jersey.

Grover Cleveland is the only president born in New Jersey and, being the only executive to serve non-consecutive terms, was both the 22nd and 24th president of the United States of America. He was a strong proponent of honest government, and his campaign slogan and political guiding principle was “A Public Office is a Public Trust.” The Grover Cleveland Presidential Library & Museum will be a source of both local pride and national significance. Many, but not all, American presidents have a library dedicated to preserving their legacy. Since Herbert Hoover every president’s library is managed by the National Archives, while those who served earlier have libraries administered by various public or private agencies. Both the location and administrators of the new Grover Cleveland Presidential Library & Museum are eminently appropriate: The birthplace home is the only historic site in the nation solely dedicated to Grover Cleveland, and the GCBMA was initially founded in 1913 to preserve the natal home and honor Grover Cleveland’s legacy. In addition, the GCBMA and the Grover Cleveland Birthplace Historic Site maintain one of the largest collection of Grover Cleveland papers and material archives in the nation.

The mission of the Grover Cleveland Presidential Library & Museum is to collect, preserve, and make available to researchers materials documenting the public and private life of Grover Cleveland (1837-1908).  Manuscripts, artifacts, and exhibits will cover his life from his birth in Caldwell, to his presidencies in the White House, as well as his post-presidential years in Princeton, New Jersey. Inspired by Cleveland’s writings on “Good Citizenship,” a Learning Lab in the presidential library will focus on several of his main points on the topic. Cleveland encouraged all citizens to become educated voters, take on civic duties, insist on ethics in government, and for any who are up to the task, serve the country by entering politics; locally, or on the state or national level. Future leaders from any socio-economic background, race, religion, or identity can visit the Lab to learn how to become a more actively engaged citizen and to discover what “Good Citizenship” means for them personally. The library also includes archives related to First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland (1864-1947).

In addition to the physical location, the Grover Cleveland Presidential Library & Museum will also have a digital presence on its website GroverClevelandPresidentialLibrary.org.

For more information or media inquiries contact the GCBMA.