800 West Sam Rayburn Drive
Bonham, TX 75418
phone: 903-583-2455
fax: 903-583-7394
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Dr. Don Carleton
phone: 512-435-4515
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Dr. Patrick Cox
phone:
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H. G. Dulaney
phone:
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Kim Burpo
phone:
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Heather Trent
phone:
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The Sam Rayburn Library and Museum is located in Bonham, Texas, four blocks west of the business district on U. S. Highway 56. It was established in this North Texas town of 7,000 people by Speaker Sam Rayburn who made this community his home for more than half a century. As he explained to a friend, I have a lot of valuable books and I won t want them to be scattered. I want to keep them together in the community which I have served all these years. I want my books and papers here where people have been so fine to me. Thus the dedication of the library on October 9, 1957, climaxed a long-cherished dream of the Speaker, whose political career began in the Texas House of Representatives and did not end until he had served as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives for forty-eight and one-half years and its Speaker
for over seventeen years.
The Sam Rayburn Library and Museum serves to educate the public about the life and contributions of Sam Rayburn (1882-1961) through the exhibition of photographs, original letters, political cartoons, art, furniture, and personal memorabilia relating to important events in his life and times. In addition, the library and museum house a number of artifacts that were originally part of the furnishings of the White House and Capitol in Washington, D. C. These include the white marble Speaker s rostrum that stood on the dais of the House of Representatives from 1857 to 1950 and a massive crystal and silver chandelier originally placed in the White House during the administration of Ulysses S. Grant.
Sam Rayburn s personal library makes up the bulk of the extensive book collection. The collection is kept current through the acquisition of books that mainly relate to Mr. Rayburn s career or to personalities, issues, and events with which he dealt during his years of public service. The library also contains Rayburn s official papers on microfilm. The originals of most of Rayburn s official papers are stored in the Center for American History in Austin.
The library was dedicated on October 9, 1957. It is administered by the Sam Rayburn Foundation, a non-profit trust set up in 1949 to build, operate, and maintain the institution for advancement of education and the promotion of the general welfare. The Library became a unit of the University of Texas at Austin in January 1991. It is administered by the university s Center for American History.
Along with books and papers, the library has over 100 oral histories from Mr. Rayburn s friends, relatives, and colleagues. The archives also houses some 40 or more films of Sam Rayburn s interviews and speeches and a collection of tape recordings and typewritten speeches.
Access: General Public, Students, Scholars
Appointment required: False
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