Historic Desk Loaned to President Carter

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Summary

President Jimmy Carter selects the "Resolute desk," on loan to the Smithsonian and displayed in National Museum of History and Technology's "We the People" exhibit, for the Oval Office. The desk, which is sometimes known as the Hayes desk, was fashioned from timbers from the British ship HMS Resolute and was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes. It has been used by Chief Executives since 1880, but "gained national prominence when President Kennedy's son, John, was photographed crawling through its trap door." After Kennedy's assasination, the desk was circulated around the country as part of a fundraising effort for the Kennedy Library, and was transferred to the SI on February 12, 1964.

Subject

  • Carter, Jimmy 1924-
  • National Museum of American History (U.S.) (NMAH)
  • National Museum of History and Technology (U.S.)

Category

Chronology of Smithsonian History

Notes

Torch, 3/1977, p. 2

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

1977

Topic

National Collections

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