Hayes Family Travels Inspire Exhibit
Tales of Travels From the President's Attic

A new exhibit at Fremont's Hayes Presidential Center is inspired by the travels of 19th president Rutherford B. Hayes and his family.

Family Caught the Travel Bug
Hayes enjoyed traveling -- he was the first United States president to travel to the West Coast while in office, and after his beloved wife, Lucy, died, Hayes filled the void of her loss with travels. His children and grandchildren caught the travel bug as well, as evidenced by their numerous steamer trunks and travel journals that are in the Hayes Presidential Center's collections.

Inspired by this unique global archive, Hayes Presidential Center has created Tales of Travels from the President's Attic. The exhibit continues through Jan. 27, 2013, at Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, made possible through the generosity of Croghan Colonial Bank.

Recalls Adventure of Travel a Century and More Ago
Tales of Travels from the President's Attic takes a look at travel when it was a luxury few people could afford and when the risks were very real. Visitors can see what early tourists like Rutherford and Lucy Hayes saw when they visited the Yosemite Valley nine years before it was designated a national park, what a 19th-century hunting party encountered on the Great Plains or what the barely-explored lands of Alaska looked like three decades before it became a state.

Dozens of Steamer Trunks
A focal point of Tales of Travels from the President's Attic is a collection of dozens of travel trunks left by the Hayes family in the attic of the Hayes Home. From leather to wood, small to large, camel-back to square, the trunks tell the story of various trips and illustrate the evolution of travel.

Photos, Clothing, Souvenirs, Journals and Home Movies
Along with these big precursors of the suitcase, the exhibit showcases travel photos, clothing, souvenirs and journals dating from the late 19th century to the to mid-20th. A video component of the exhibit plays 20th-century home movies of the Hayes family's travels to France and Scotland.

Planning Your Visit
Hayes Presidential Center is at the corner of Hayes and Buckland avenues in Fremont. Click here for more information about visiting Hayes Presidential Center to see Tales of Travels from the President's Attic.