Bill makes presidential library official home for Theodore Roosevelt artifacts; authorizes funding

The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora could receive up to $50 million in federal grants and an official artifact designation by a bill authored by North Dakota U.S. Sen. John Hoeven.

The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Act allocates grant funding to be administered by the Interior Department to the library to acquire and preserve artifacts relating to Roosevelt’s life. 

Hoeven’s bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent last week and is under consideration in the U.S. House. 

In an interview, Hoeven said authorizing the library to be an official destination for Roosevelt memorabilia is key.

“That’s really important because that means this library is, in statute, a repository for all these different artifacts that we’re going to want to display now and in perpetuity,” Hoeven said.

The bill follows the same format that allowed federal grant funding for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, he said.

The grants may not be used for the maintenance and operations, Hoeven said, but can be used as part of the library’s endowment or to cover construction costs.

The bill also requires the library’s foundation to secure $100 million in private funding before the federal grants become accessible.  

Robbie Lauf, executive director for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, said the library reached that fundraising goal with more details coming as part of the library’s opening weekend.

Hoeven said he’s confident the bill will pass the U.S. House and be signed into law, but probably not before the library opens to the public on Saturday. 

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library aims to be ‘heart of intellectual programming’

“It’s really going to be an incredible national asset,” Hoeven said. He added a visit to Medora by President Donald Trump this week, along with all the library’s opening weekend events, should bring national and international attention to western North Dakota.

Trump will tour the library on Wednesday during his visit and is expected to deliver remarks at the Burning Hills Amphitheatre, the same location used for the Medora Musical.

Lauf praised North Dakota’s federal delegation in Congress for pushing for the grant funding and official Roosevelt artifact designation over the past few years.

“It is a big deal for us to be able to collect the globally significant heritage items and, without that kind of stamp of approval, it’s more difficult. Unquestionably, that is just as important as the funding,” Lauf said.

Hoeven also supported federal legislation that was signed into law in 2020, allowing the library’s foundation to buy 93 acres of land in Billings County from the U.S. Forest Service. The library foundation acquired the land in 2022.

North Dakota Monitor reporter Michael Achterling can be reached at [email protected].