Woodrow Wilson Library strives to tell whole story of a complicated legacy - WHSV

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STAUNTON, Va. (WVIR) - The Woodrow Wilson Birthplace Foundation in Staunton was created as a shrine to the 28th president of the United States. Now, it’s more complicated than that. Their new mission as an educational center has grown to include both the good and bad.

The official tour used to start at the front door with Wilson’s family. Not anymore.

“So the tour now starts here in the basement of the manse,” said Robin von Seldeneck, the president and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Museum and Library.

She says it’s so visitors can learn about the troubled side of the story first. “We think that this is key story that must be told,” she said.

This is one of the ways the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum is telling a more complete story of Wilson.

“We didn’t really give you the full story when we first started here, but we are obligated to tell you a more full story now,” stated von Seldeneck.

Warts and all. They aren’t just sharing Wilson’s legacy of the 8-hour workday, worker’s comp, the Federal Reserve, women’s suffrage, and vision for world peace.

“We also must acknowledge the less-than-great things, specifically racism, that Wilson embraced,” said von Seldeneck.

The library is working with counterparts in Washington D.C. to maintain an open and even-handed dialogue.

“We don’t want to just be talking about the negative of the mistakes and the atrocities of his presidency, nor do we just want to glorify him and talk about the positives,” said Elizabeth Karcher, executive director of the President Woodrow Wilson House.

“We’ve come very far, but we so much farther to go,” said von Seldeneck.

The key, they both say, is listening.

“Listening to community members, listening to historians that maybe have not been included in the past,” said von Seldeneck.

“To open our doors, and open our minds to the perspective of other people,” stated Karcher.

Right now, von Seldeneck says they are talking about partnering with other presidential libraries to host a symposium on racial reckoning with various post-Civil War presidents.

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