Over her 20 years as First Lady, NY Senator, and finally Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton has been honored with many awards. Yesterday, she received another. Through all of those years, she has also had a public office in which to keep and display them.
When she was preparing to vacate her office at the State Department, I was wondering where on earth she was planning to put all of these medals and awards. As she is planning (this is one thing we know for certain) to write another book, it seems logical for her to have a Library/Museum where she can display publicly her work and all of the honors she has received.
As the woman who has come closest to having smashed that hard glass ceiling (which she still might do), and as a New Yorker, she certainly deserves a special place in Seneca Falls. So let’s roll out this idea. Why wait? She needs a place for her honors, and she needs it now.
I think it’s a splendid idea. How do we get this ball rolling?
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I am hoping this attracts people who know how to do fund raising.
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That would be awesome!
On a side note, my copy of The Secretary (an advanced copy I snagged off eBay) came today. I have perused it some, and it looks very interesting. The bits and pieces I read were like peeking in a window on HRC as SoS.
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Great!
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Is it allowed if you will share some interesting pieces here and there? Or write a review with facts after you finished? I for one would read it gladly.
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I will gladly reveal and share – I’m not an official reviewer in anyway. In fact, the copy is marked not to be sold, but that didn’t stop someone from letting me give them $20 on eBay. 😉
I thought it was going to be sometime next week when I got it, but I was surprised to find it in my mailbox yesterday. Now, I’m going to stuff this in my purse and drag it along while I do my weekend mommy chauffeuring duties.
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OMG you are so luckehhh!!! Do share… I cant wait to hear what all is in it…
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and the speculation continues
Hillary and the rest: The Fix’s ranking of the 2016 Democratic primary field (Washington Post blog)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/02/15/hillary-and-the-rest-the-fixs-ranking-of-the-2016-democratic-primary/
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A Hillary library/museum!? What a brilliant idea!
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Here is the larger context for this great idea.
All of correspondence, press releases, photographs, drafts of policy proposals, media interactions, state gifts, clothing and other three-dimensional objects she donated, and all forms of documentation covering the life of Mrs. Clinton from her birth on October 27, 1947 up until noon on January 20, 2001 are already preserved, stored, and partially-processed for access by the public, media, historians, etc. at the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum (WJCPL) in Little Rock, Arkansas. I am not certain where similar items from her terms as U.S. Senator (2001-2009) and as Secretary of State (2009-2013) are currently being stored. However, these things, even papers in the digital age, accumulate at an astounding rate for a public figure like herself and certainly would have been sent as time went along to an off-site storage facility with state-of-the-art preservation technology. In some regard it would make great sense if this mass of material was organized along with the her pre-First Lady and First Lady papers and materials at the WJCP. However, as you wisely point out, in writing her memoirs covering, I assume, not just her years as SOS but as US Senator, she will be drawing on this material and it may also be that it has been archived at a private facility accessible to her home in New York. I’m not sure what federal regulations dictate the archives of a US Senator and SOS, but I know that the materials of a President and First Lady in their post-White House years are considered private property and it is at their discretion to donate the materials to the private foundation arm of a presidential library and museum, where they can be held indefinitely before becoming part of the permanent federal, public collection. It is also possible that a museum, new or old, which establishes itself within the parameters of security and proper lighting, temperature, etc. guidelines for preservation can be loaned objects indefinitely from a presidential library or other National Archives (which is the umbrella organization for the presidential libraries) facility. And certainly digital copies of documents can be obtained and made a permanent part of a non-presidential library. So there are ways to create a collection for a bona-fide HRC Museum. And certainly, since New York has been her home state for the thirteen years since she served in these two official roles, it would be ideally located there, whether in New York City or in an area closer to her personal home. Whew – sorry for such lengthy detail but I wanted to provide you with any potentially helpful information I knew.
I would also have to add that this website which you’ve so well-maintained with such discipline for every detail assiduously chronicles HRS’s every day better than any single source on the Internet. It serves as a necessary source of direct information, without overbearing editorializing. In fact, this very website may prove to end up providing the ideal template for a future HRC Library and Museum.
One last thought. It will certainly be a challenge, if HRC is elected President, to determine the appropriate archive and museum to chronicle her entire life. It is impossible and would be futile to separate her years as First Lady from the record of her husband’s presidency yet if she goes on to become President it will serve the dual purpose of providing everything about her per-presidential life and career. While a temporary museum and archive holding her materials from 2001-2016 might be best, if elected, it would only be logical (and cost-effective) to build a second presidential library and museum adjoining that of her husband’s.
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Thank you so much for explaining all of that. This is exactly the kind of information we need. Having no curatorial background or experience, or fund raising experience either, for that matter, I was hoping like-minded folks with the knowledge and skills sets required for such a project might chime in. Great information!
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I will help you in any way I can.
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Thank you so much!
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echoing that.. Great info Carla.
What you say about this site makes great sense; still4hill has totally done a superb job of e-chronicling Hillary Clinton’s SoS work.
I think even if she gets elected and serves as President, her years of service to women and children throughout the world (regardless of her capacity) deserves featuring in Seneca.. simply because it fits. Now, if it can be housed in an existing facility for the time being, that would be just fine.
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Got some reading done this morning. ..so far the most interesting details describe her first day at State and how much more open to communicating with staff than her predecessors. Also, she got woken up inn Japan by an earthquake at 4:30am and described the bed as feeling like someone dropped quarters into it!
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Hillary Clinton to speaking circuit
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/hillary-clinton-to-speaking-circuit-87749.html
This means she is doing well… So glad to that she is getting out on the speaking circuit soon.
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[…] Hillary Clinton Deserves a Library/Museum Now! […]
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I’m in and I recommended this page on my wall.
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Thank you!
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