Museums and Mennonites

Last night, I was working at the desk in the room, and I turned around to see this:

It was easier to take my things out of that bag and move them to the other bag than it was to get him out of the bag. He's the kind of cat that follows the "If I fits, I sits" school of thought.

This afternoon, I got to use facetime to watch my friend, Lucas' senior piano and voice recital. Fortunately, I have friends with iPhones who don't mind getting looked at a little funny for holding their cell phone through the recital.

It was a new way to use Facetime for me.

Then, my aunt and uncle took me to Abilene, where Dwight D. Eisenhower has his home, and Presidential Library and Museum. I didn't really know much about Eisenhower, so this was quite interesting to me. After getting our tickets, we walked around the grounds for a bit.

Then, we took a tour of his boyhood home.

Six boys grew up in this little house. I sure can't imagine having that many boys in the house, but it happened. At one point, in addition to the six brothers and the two parents, their grandfather was living with them, too. That mean that nine people lived in this house, which had nine rooms after they added on two extra bedrooms and a kitchen.

The formal parlor, which Ida Eisenhower only opened on special occasions

The family Bible, opened to the page marking Dwight Eisenhower's birth

The front bedroom, which was used by the parents. The twin beds were put in after the father's death, when the sons (all moved out) hired a full time helper so that Ida could stay in the home until she passed away.

The piano in the family parlor that Ida Eisenhower, an accomplished pianist, had custom made for $600 after inheriting $1,000 from her grandfather. She tried to teach all six of her sons to play, but only two of them ever learned.

The family parlor

Two family photos taken twenty years apart.

After the house tour, we went to the museum, which was under construction.

Here is the exhibit of ladders

The history of power tools.

Then we got to the actual exhibit, where I learned something new. Dwight D. Eisenhower: The five-star general with Mennonite roots. Don't believe me? Here's a bit from the exhibit:

Now, I've never heard of the River Brethren, so I don't know what exactly they are or how they differ from regular Mennonites, but I find it strange that the man who would become one of the greatest generals in American history was raised by Mennonites.

My favorite part of the exhibit was the Mamie Eisenhower gallery. This included many of her dresses, as well as other things of hers. Oh, and did I mention that she was from Iowa?

I just love this picture of her. That parasol is fantastic with that hat.

Everyone keeps little pieces of their wedding cake in an unrefrigerated box, right?

Her wedding dress 

Her little pillbox hats

Her first inaugural ball gown. 

A little black dress

A Girl Scout uniform

No Girl Scout uniform is complete without a lovely little

Mamie and Ike

Ike would often end public appearances with "and, folks, here's my Mamie!" That's the cover of this Life magazine.

Of course, an Eisenhower museum is going to have a big focus on WWII. I learned about Mulberry Bay, where the army created an artificial harbor in a few days to prepare for D-Day.

A model of the artificial pier 

Map of the artificial harbor

There were also a few interesting pieces in the museum:

Straw boots, worn by German sentries in the winter, enabling them to stand for several hours in the snow.

A collection of uniforms worn by Americans during WWII, from women's factory coveralls to a sailor's uniform.

The table on which D-Day was planned

An inflatable dummy dropped out of planes to make the Germans believe they were being attacked.

Mamie is on the right side of this picture, but I would be interested to know who the woman in uniform is.

After the war, Eisenhower was president of Colombia University for a few years. Here is some of his academic regalia.

The Italians gave him this plumed hat.

And he actually wore it for them.

When you win a war, people like to give you things. Among these, swords are quite popular:

However, once you reach he rank of "president," you get even cooler things.

This is a walking stick, known as a swagger stick. Yes "swagger stick." See below, if you don't believe me.

Told you.

This is the most beautiful desk you will ever see. It is covered in mosaics. 

A vase commemorating Queen Elizabeth's coronation. 

There were a couple of quotes that hinted back to his pacifist mother (or maybe he felt he had spent too much time in war)

Once we finished at the museum, we went over to the library. The term Presidential "library" is deceiving. It's not really a library, but an archives. The Eisenhower library is quite large.

The main foyer. I'm pretty sure we would have little problem fitting the entirety of  the Bluffton archives in this room.

For some reason, the entrance had several of these seals with buffalo on it. I don't know why. Kansas. 

The most beautiful drinking fountain you will ever see.

They did, however, have a small exhibit on the archives itself.

A microfilm machine. It looks like some of the ones that I've used.

A sample archival shelf.

I thought Carrie might appreciate these. Especially "rust."

Eisenhower's copy of "A Yankee in King Arthur's Court." My history professor suggested that I read it this summer. Should have grabbed this copy while I was there... 

Saving more cake? Ew. Why is this a theme?

Then, we were done. The archives closed (while we were in there) and we were escorted out. We headed out, tired, but not without getting a couple of pictures with the statue I've seen pictures of.

Look, we're twins!