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The Great Hall is a major feature of the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas. It’s located on Floor 4 and contains the entrance to the core exhibition.
The Great Hall takes up 7,686 square feet at the heart of the LBJ Presidential Library and features a wall with a gigantic engraved Seal of the President of the United States. Another wall displays portraits of every President and First Lady throughout history.
Archives
Looking up at the wall opposite the seal are the archives. It’s four floors of glass-enclosed red boxes holding about 45 million pages of historical documents from Lyndon B. Johnson’s (1908-1973) political career.
Mural
Underneath the library is a 50-foot long photo engraving mural by Naomi Savage (1927-2005). It consists of five etched magnesium plates each measuring eight by ten feet. The mural depicts LBJ at different stages of his political career: as a Congressman with President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945); as a Senator with President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972); as Senate Majority Leader with President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969); as Vice President with President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963); and then as President of the United States.
A Legacy of Liberty: LBJ and You
Behind the wall with the seal is A Legacy of Liberty: LBJ and You. It touches on how LBJ’s achievements as President still affect every American today.
The most important topic covered was civil rights, with a program from the inauguration of President Barack Obama as one of the artifacts. There’s also the world heavyweight championship belt that George Foreman won by beating Joe Frazier on January 22, 1973, in Kingston, Jamaica. Foreman donated the belt to the museum in 1983.
Other topics include the protection of the environment, with the formation of several national parks and the Wilderness Act of 1964; LBJ’s support for culture and the arts, with the creation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and other cultural programs; and the formation of Medicare and Medicaid.
Sculpture Terrace
Finally, the Great Hall opens onto the Sculpture Terrace, an outdoor terrace dotted with a few sculptures. There are also benches to sit and reflect.
