Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum

08/27/2026

Local schools are back in session this week. Wishing everyone a great school year!

Photo of the classroom at Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech where Grace Goodhue Coolidge taught, 1902-1905.

We will be hosting a panel program on Grace Coolidge and deaf education on November 5. It will livestream and be recorded. More info to come!

08/26/2026

Happy National Dog Day!
There were many pets in the Coolidge family but white Collie Rob Roy is a fan favorite.
Photo of Calvin Jr., President Coolidge, Rob Roy, First Lady Grace and John Coolidge at the White House in 1924

08/26/2026

It is move in week at Amherst College!

President Coolidge graduated in 1895 and his son John in 1928.

Photo of Stephen Brown on left, John Coolidge on right sitting on the porch railings of Mrs. Lindsay's Rooming House in Amherst, Massachusetts. fall 1924.

Stephen and John became friends as children through their fathers' friendship. Stephen's father, Dr. Edward Brown was the medical examiner for Hampshire County, a family physician and close friend of President Coolidge. Stephen and John were college room mates and Stephen was a groomsman at John's wedding in 1929. Dr. Stephen Brown would later serve as Amherst College physician and on staff at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.

This is a favorite photo of one of our tour guides, who was a pediatric patient of Dr. Stephen Brown.

08/19/2026

The 19th amendment granting women the right to vote was ratified on August 18, 1920. On November 2, 1920, Grace Coolidge voted in her first Federal election and her husband was on the ballot for Vice-President of the United States.

This photo was staged for the press of Massachusetts Governor and Vice Presidential nominee Calvin Coolidge and Grace Coolidge standing on the sidewalk outside City Hall in Northampton putting their ballots into the box. Clarence D. Chase, the City Clerk is seated at the table.

08/17/2026

Join us tonight for the Presidential Doodler virtual program!

Join us for a fun virtual program on Monday August 17 at 7PM EST.

Celebrating America's 250th with Presidential Doodler Heather Rogers
Join us for an evening with the Presidential doodler, Heather Rogers! She'll share trivia and doodles about some figures from early American history.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. To register for the Zoom link to participate live or receive the recording, go to https://forbeslibrary.libcal.com/event/16579773

This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.
This program is sponsored by the Coolidge Museum in partnership with the Friends of the Ashland Public Library.

08/13/2026

Join us for a fun virtual program on Monday August 17 at 7PM EST.

Celebrating America's 250th with Presidential Doodler Heather Rogers
Join us for an evening with the Presidential doodler, Heather Rogers! She'll share trivia and doodles about some figures from early American history.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. To register for the Zoom link to participate live or receive the recording, go to https://forbeslibrary.libcal.com/event/16579773

This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.
This program is sponsored by the Coolidge Museum in partnership with the Friends of the Ashland Public Library.

08/11/2026

President Calvin Coolidge became the first U.S. President to appear in a sound motion picture when DeForest Phonofilm recorded him giving a speech on the White House lawn on August 11, 1924. This speech about fiscal responsibility is also considered the first campaign sound ad. Thank you to The The Library of Congress for preserving and digitizing this piece of history.
For more info see their blog post and the film at https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2016/11/silent-cal-not-so-silent/

08/04/2026

"The New President"
Photo from August, 1923. Grace and Calvin Coolidge pose with American flag, Presidential flag and Massachusetts flag in their suite at the Willard Hotel where they have lived as Vice President. The black armband on President Coolidge is in honor of recently deceased President Harding.

08/03/2026

103 years ago today Calvin Coolidge became President!

This image is of a painting by Guido Boer of Calvin Coolidge taking the oath of office from his father, John C. Coolidge, following President Harding's August 2, 1923 death. The news was sent to Vermont via telegraph and driven out to Plymouth Notch in the middle of the night. On August 3, 1923 at 2:47 AM in the Coolidge farmhouse sitting room, John Coolidge administered his son the oath. No photographs exist of the 2:47AM ceremony. Coolidge in his autobiography says present were "my father and myself, there were present my wife, Senator (Porter) Dale, who happened to be stopping a few miles away, my stenographer [Erwin C. Geisser], and my chauffeur [Joseph McInerney]." Dale's memoirs also mention that reporter Joe Fountain, Herbert P. Thompson, the commander of Springfield (VT) American Legion Post, and labor union official L. L. Lane were also there with him. Since Coolidge's father was a state not Federal official, Justice Adolph A. Hoehling Jr. of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia administered the oath a second time, on August 21, 1923. The painting is displayed in the Coolidge Museum and is on permanent loan from Amherst College