Among the thousands of items in the museum’s collection are ordinary voter artifacts inspired by former presidents. Let’s take a look at why they decided to give back to Obama.
The Obama Presidential Center has a replica of the Oval Office. Please look inside.
A replica of the Oval Office is on display at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago. Take a look inside and see how it compares to President Trump’s current Oval Office.
CHICAGO – The crown at the newly opened Obama Presidential Center is nowhere near the former president’s head, but it occupies a prominent place in the museum for that very reason.
The piece, a children’s plastic tiara placed overlooking a recreated Oval Office, does not itself honor President Barack Obama. The film draws attention to the untold and influential relationships the 44th president has cultivated with ordinary Americans, the people who inspired and, in turn, motivated Obama.
According to the museum’s director, this work is at the very heart of what the museum wants to achieve. He says that becoming a place that inspires hope for a brighter future for the nation and represents change is born not from a single great figure, but from the cooperation of ordinary people.
“As he said in his farewell address, this is not about his ability to make change; it’s about all of us.” Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation and a longtime friend of the former First Family, told USA TODAY. “The purpose of the museum is to highlight the stories of ordinary people who believed in something bigger than themselves throughout our nation’s history, starting with the Declaration of Independence, and who made a difference in our country and ultimately in President Obama.”
Among the items in the museum are a plastic tiara made by the Obama administration for a literacy event for homeless black girls, a beret worn by a wounded U.S. Army Ranger in Afghanistan who Obama befriended, and a cape worn by a Girl Scout who pursued engineering after a White House science fair.
Some of Jarrett’s favorite items in the collection are the tchotchkes that President Obama kept from his 2007 campaign. They apparently include ancient Greek coins, a commemorative U.S. Marine Corps bracelet, and a silver globe the size of a marble. She remembered him taking each one out and telling her the story.
“Every single one of those things is a reminder of why he does the things he does,” Jarrett said. “They ground him, inspire him, and make him try harder to make the world a better place.”
The museum will be located on Chicago’s South Side, near where the Obama family lived, and will open on June 10th. This expansive campus includes a basketball gym, library, museum, a 70-meter-tall building with beautiful views of Lake Michigan, Jackson Park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, and the University of Chicago, where President Obama once taught constitutional law.
The four-story, 38,000-square-foot museum features hundreds of items. They include artifacts dating back to moments of major change in the nation’s history, including postcards from civil rights activists killed by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi, Obama-era items including the Nobel Peace Prize, and many items donated by ordinary Americans inspired by the president.
hope in the water
The museum’s entire exhibit is dedicated to recreating the enthusiasm felt across the country in 2007, when Obama first ran for president.
Items include a hand-painted Barack Obama rock, an Obama-O cereal box and a red, white and blue athletic swimsuit with Obama-Biden written on the front.
There’s little time to talk in swimming, Brittany Beauchamp, a former athlete in the sport, told USA TODAY. To show support for Obama at the pool, she and her teammates came up with a swimsuit.
“Our way to clearly express our support and be a little stylish while supporting was through what we wear,” the former UCLA swimmer said by phone from her native Hawaii.
Beauchan, now a teacher, attended the same high school on Oahu as the former president, Punahou School in Honolulu.
She fell in love with Obama because she saw in him a tendency to put groups above himself. That spirit is at the heart of being Hawaiian, Beauchan said.
Beauchamp held on to the suit, and when the Obama Museum opened, she moved to donate the piece to the Punahou College graduate as a thank you for the positive impact it had had on her life.
She says President Obama had a direct material impact on her life by expanding health insurance coverage and allowing her to attend graduate school.
But she decided to donate the suit to the museum, inspired by the deeper influence he had on her life: inspiring her to participate in civic life. That influence, she says, started with a swimsuit that got her talking to more people, including Obama critics.
“It’s important that people continue to be civically engaged, and they need to show up every day with that hope within their own communities,” Beauchamp said. “Although I have never met President Obama, he has been involved in my trajectory and life, and has played an important role in my decisions.”
princess for a day
Lauren Mimm is a former Obama administration official who decided to donate to the museum’s collection. The plastic tiara that can be seen from the Oval Office was donated by her.
The piece grew out of an event Mims organized in her White House role to improve the education of black girls. For this event, unincarcerated black girls dressed as princesses came to the Department of Education for a day of reading.
Mims, now a psychology professor at New York University, said that small moment crystallized for her the idea of being a president for all people.
“The Obama administration is everyone’s administration, and by that I mean everyone, not just a few, and this was an important moment that opened the door for girls who wouldn’t normally attend events like this,” Mims said. “It symbolized the essence of the Obama administration.”
Mims decided to donate the tiara as a reminder of that spirit and because she believes small moments like that can have a big impact on the lives of those they touch.
“Super Girls”
Sisters Emery and Avery Dodson from Oklahoma are among the young people who have experienced these White House events. Each participated in the White House Science Fair through their Girl Scout troop.
At the time, Emery said she had no idea how important it was to be in the same room as the president. She was about 6 years old.
“I think when he was talking and asking about it, I felt like I was picking off a scab on my arm,” Dodson, 17, said, referring to President Obama reviewing the group’s Lego robotic device that was used to turn the pages of a book.
But the rising senior, who hopes to study microbial engineering at Oklahoma State University, said the experience left an impression on the girls in the troupe.
“There’s a reason everyone in attendance today is planning on pursuing a truly prestigious career like this,” Dodson said, referring to careers in STEM fields.
Her older sister, Avery, who is currently attending the Colorado School of Mines, said she left a similar impression on her fellow Girl Scouts after attending a previous science fair hosted by President Obama.
“That’s what inspired me to become a mechanical engineer in the first place,” said Avery, a rising junior. “I remember being in a room with other people with complex robots and aspiring to all the things they accomplished. I hope to be able to do that one day, too.”
The sisters donated some of their White House costumes. Avery gave her a tiara, which is not currently on display at the museum, and Emery gave her a cape. The girls called themselves “Supergirls.”
His mother, Suzanne Dodson, said the family hopes the donated items will inspire others to do what they felt the former president did: inspire young people to dream big.
“Remembering that President Obama took the time to care for these girls should serve as an example to others,” Dodson said, adding that the former president’s actions were rare among leaders of this country. “If those in leadership are not willing to take the time to lead in this way, then the rest of us need to step up and be there to inspire and work with young people.”
