President Carter, First Lady Carter, & Presidential Libraries: Presidential Libraries Exhibit at GSU

The pins on the right were donated by the JFK Library. We were also given pens and pencils by the Gerald Ford Library and the Eisenhower Library. At the bottom is a presidential passport, which is available from the National Archives.

Photographer George Tames (left) with President Richard Nixon as the President uses Tames’ camera to take a picture of the remaining five original members of the White House News Photographers Association. 1971.

George Tames (1912-1994) was a legendary New York Times and Time Life photographer who spent his 45 year career in Washington, D.C. photographing 10 Presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George H. W. Bush; visiting statesmen from Churchill to Khrushchev; and countless members of Congress. President Eisenhower chose two of Tames’ photographs as official portraits and Tames’ award-winning work hangs in presidential libraries across the country.

Tames was trusted and well-liked by the Presidents. In his book “Eye on Washington, The Presidents Who’ve Known Me” Tames wrote insightfully about his personal observations, adding tantalizing details about the Presidents, who wanted always to show their “best side” - in LBJ’s case, his left - to The New York Times. What makes the book particularly special is Tames’ sense of history as he lived it first hand - and recorded it wonderfully - both with words and pictures - for posterity.

Tames’ daughter, Statesboro resident and writer Stephanie Tames, curated an exhibit of Tames’ photographs titled Private Presidential Pathways that premiered at the Averitt Center for the Arts in 2011 and now travels the country. Stephanie is currently working on a memoir of her father. She also works in the College of Education here at Georgia Southern.

Thank you to Stephanie Tames and to the Averitt Center for the Arts for the generous loan of these photographs.

President Carter in the George Anne October 1970 and in The Reflector.

Presidential Papers from various Presidents that we have in the libraries collection.  Also, check out this neat pen loaned to us from the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum with the signature of the President on it.

President Carter in The Reflector circa 1972.

These campaign buttons were provided by the Nixon Presidential Library. At the Bottom left is a campaign  button with a black and white image of Nixon in the center, above the image reads "Re-elect" in red font, below the image reads "The President" in blue font. In the middle is a white campaign button that reads "Nixon" in red font. There are also campaign buttons that were loaned to us from other members of the library.  

Here is a gold tone metal bracelet with a square charm that reads "Inaugural Ball January 20, 1969" on one side and "Forward Together" on the other side. This bracelet was donated by the  Nixon Presidential Library.