Florida Atlantic: Patriotism on Display

The Alan B. and Charna Larkin American Presidential Study at Florida Atlantic brings to life the words of each one of the country's 45 presidents.

The 1,500-square-foot-space, on the third floor of the S.E. Wimberly Library on the Boca Raton campus, displays personally signed letters from every U.S. president dating back to George Washington. The collection – along with funding to design, develop and maintain the space – was donated by benefactor Charna Larkin to the university's Department of History within the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters. The new space also will serve as a historical archive of the Alan B. and Charna Larkin Symposium on the American Presidency, which Larkin and her family established in 2003 in memory of her husband, Alan.

"Alan loved history and he had compiled an amazing collection of signed presidential letters," Larkin said. "He would love to have known that all these letters were on display at Florida Atlantic as a way to encourage students to learn more about the presidency."

The study is open to the public during designated hours and serves as a site for classes and public lectures. A digital component is also in the works to provide links to all presidential libraries and homesteads as a platform for student research.

"The Larkin American Presidential Study is a dynamic environment for educational classes and engagement activities," said Linda Golian-Liu, Ed.D., dean of the libraries. "Thanks to the generous support of the Larkin family, this space invites visitors to engage directly with the words, decisions and legacies of U.S. presidents."

The Larkin Symposium on the American Presidency has attracted thousands of attendees to campus since 2007 to hear prominent speakers such as former U.S. President George W. Bush, Laura and Barbara Bush, Madeleine Albright, David McCullough, Joe Scarborough and others. The symposium also has supported research that has resulted in several books about the American presidency, which are currently on display at the Wimberly Library.

"We are so thankful to Charna Larkin and her family," said Michael Horswell, Ph.D., dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters. "Her dedication to fostering intellectual growth and nurturing of our faculty and staff initiatives across the university has resulted in impactful outcomes for hundreds of staff, faculty and students, as well as thousands of community patrons."

For more information, visit library.fau.edu/special-collections/larkin.