Sometimes I don't know where my head is.  We have a funeral exhibition
regarding President Nixon; we are currently re-vamping it so that we can
"celebrate" his fifth death anniversary this coming April.  Things we
have considered adding to the display is the jacket he was wearing when
he had his stroke, his hospital bracelet; I'm still squeamish about
showing the death certificate but people are fascinated by these kinds of
documents.

We have a variety of material related to the funeral proceedings,
photographs, taped eulogies & video of it all, news clippings, letters
from foreign dignitaries as well as national political figures.  School
children drawings and letters, as well as construction paper cards with
drawings of the funeral were sent to us by the teachers or principals of
these schools.  Mourners left placards and home-made posters at the front
of the building along with religious candles; someone sent a teddy bear
with its "bear-a-gram" note.  Another left a different teddy bear
strapped in a child's seat with sympathy notes and drawings and
pinwheels.  We even got a pair of boxer's gloves with a poem written on
both gloves!  Lots of poems  from other mourners.  People who had had
dealings with Senator Nixon and who still retained news clippings from
the 50s sent them to us as well, just to show how much they treasured
their association with him.  We really didn't get negative things; a few
funny cartoons, but most of it was uplifting.  We need to decide how much
of the tribute books, memory books and other items can be safely
displayed.  From the Bronx, New York to Pearl City, Hawaii, we've got a
lot to sort through.  And the protocols followed for Presidential
funerals is another ball of wax; we have all that material as well, and
we need to explain it to the public.

The funniest story I heard during the funeral was that there was an older
lady in the neighborhood, up in arms, and very concerned about the
Marines shooting off the cannons (for the salute) they brought out by the
fountain because it would spook her horses (she lives across the street).
 We had to give her fair warning about this part of the proceedings so
that she would be prepared to calm the horses down.  The neighbors were
very gracious about the extra added traffic and throngs of people who
descended on us.  Some of the neighbors even had coffee and other goodies
they made for the people who were waiting for hours in line to pay their
respects to the President.  It was surreal.  Now we are going to try to
bring in that same "surreal" feeling to our exhibit so that people
viewing the display can experience what it was like to be here during
those days.  After the visitors view the funeral display, they can then
walk out to the gardens where they can see the President's resting place,
alongside his wife Pat.

O
Olivia S. Anastasiadis, Curator
Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace
18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard
Yorba Linda, CA  92886
(714) 993-5075 ext. 224; fax (714) 528-0544; e-mail:  [log in to unmask]

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