Bush Library

We have visited several presidential libraries over the years. Each one is a great trip through history, reminding us of events we lived through and giving us a more complete view of our chief executives than we get during their time in office. They are more than the decisions they made and events they faced in the 4 or 8 years they were in office.

George H. W. Bush's library is in College Station and we visited there with our son Eric. Since it is December the lobby had a Christmas tree.

President Bush had quite a background before being elected as first vice president and then president. At the age of 18 he enlisted in the US Navy at the beginning of World War II. As a pilot, at the age of 20, he had to ditch his plane. It was damaged as it took off from the aircraft carrier and he had to take it down with all the bombs still on board.

This is a quote from one of his crew mates about the event.

After the war he moved to Texas and worked in the oil business and was involved in off-shore drilling. Going into politics, he was elected to congress. His wife, Barbara, accompanied him during the campaigns and took up needlepoint to occupy her as she listened to the same speech time and time again. These are two of the articles she made during the campaign.

During his time in the House of Representatives he voted for the Civil Rights Bill which included equal housing, despite criticism from many of the supporters. Here is a quote from a speech about why he voted for the bill.

He went on to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee then head of the Central Intelligence Agency. As chair of the party he supported President Nixon during the Watergate scandal--until the hidden tapes came out and he then urged Nixon to resign.

This was going on in the l970s. I was a young mother at home with two children and I was glued to the TV during the congressional hearings. That is where I became a news junky. Today I watch Fox News every night.

Ronald Regan asked Bush to run for vice president and he served in the position for 8 years before being elected president. I was very aware of the Gulf War because our son Doug was there with the U.S. Marines. The day the bombing of Baghdad began I was a teller in a bank in Granby, CO, where we lived. The TV was on in the break room and my supervisor let me go watch much of the coverage. That was the war where Wolf Blitzer and CNN were in our living room every night as we follow the conflict. That war showed the effectiveness of numerous technological advances and changes in the US military.

Eric and I sat and talked with President Bush before Eric took over the presidential desk in the replica Oval Office at the museum.

It was a good visit and we were glad to take Eric on his first experience in a presidential library. They are such a wonderful learning opportunity.

Looking Back, Way Back

After our stroll up the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver, we went to the History Colorado Center, the new history museum. Before going on the road full time 6 years ago, we volunteered once a week at the old history museum, helping keep the computer up to date on the location of items in the museum's collection. We knew they had a new facility--the Colorado Supreme Court needed to expand its building so it took over the location of the old museum.

This sign was right inside the museum entrance. If you visited Colorado in the past, you would see this sign as you crossed the border. A few of the signs still exist, but they don't have the word "Colorful" in full color.



Who hasn't heard of Colorado's Coors Beer? We learned that the company kept afloat during prohibition by manufacturing malted milk powder.



Who knew that a crocheted cover could serve as a silencer on a chamber pot?



A sad chapter in our nation's history was the internment of people of Japanese ancestry during World War II, many of them US citizens. Numerous states refused to allow refuge camps within their borders because they didn't want "those people" around. Colorado Gov. Ralph Carr disagreed with the internment policy and welcomed the people to a camp in Colorado. Called Amache, it was located in Granada on the eastern plains. At it's height, it house over 7,300 people, two thirds of them US citizens. This sign is a copy of a letter given to people of Japanese ancestry on the west coast, outlining what they were to bring and how to assemble for transport to a camp.



Have you heard of the Denver Boot? It is used to immobilize illegally-parked cars. It really was invented/developed here in Denver. Sorry.



The theme of many of the displays is the issue of race in Colorado. One display talked about the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado. I knew it had had an influence here, but wasn't aware of how great that influence was--or how it was reduced if not eliminated.



I grew up one block west of Washington Park in Denver. One of the two lakes there had a swim beach, though I never went swimming there. But I was not aware of the 1932 race riot there.



The museum is very kid-friendly. One example of that is this buffalo.



This display illustrates the importance of the buffalo to people living on and traveling through the plains. It shows how different parts of the buffalo are used: the stomach could become a container to carry food; dung provided fuel for fires; large bones could be used as cooking dishes; the coat provided warmth; the trail was a good fly swatter.