The Roosevelt Presidential Library has opened near a park in North Dakota: what makes this place special

The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, a museum complex dedicated to the life of the 26th US president, opened in Medora, North Dakota, in early July. Located adjacent to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the complex combines a museum, archives, and park, offering visitors the opportunity not only to learn about Roosevelt's biography but also to see the places that helped the 26th president cope with personal tragedy. Travel & Leisure.

1884 was a year of profound loss for Theodore Roosevelt. He was a member of the New York State Assembly at the time, still 25 years away from becoming president. On February 14, he lost two of his closest loved ones in one day: his wife, Alice, and his mother, Mitty. This happened just two days after the birth of his first daughter, whom he also named Alice, in memory of the mother she never got to know.

Having suffered this blow, Roosevelt declined to run for reelection and retreated to North Dakota, where he had come the previous year to hunt buffalo. There, he took up cattle ranching. Roosevelt settled in an area now known as the Badlands of North Dakota—a rugged landscape of bluffs, hills, and variegated rock outcrops, where the rocks range in color from white to reddish.

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Living away from the cities helped him recover. Over the course of two years, he mastered survival skills, embraced the American West, and developed a serious interest in conservation. He would later write in his memoirs: "I always said I wouldn't have become president if it weren't for my experience in North Dakota."

That's why the Badlands were chosen as the site for the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library—a 9-square-meter museum complex that opened in early July in Medora, North Dakota. It's located adjacent to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, where his ranch remains.

"It's an invitation to adventure," said library director general and Roosevelt scholar Ed O'Keefe.

The complex combines a museum, an archive, and an open park space. Outside, a roughly one-and-a-half-kilometer-long paved trail winds through the Badlands. Along the trail are observation decks, open educational areas, and a suspended net for lounging and admiring the surrounding landscape. Visitors can also climb to the 12-meter-high roof, planted with native steppe grasses. The building itself blends into the landscape: compacted earth from the surrounding area and local timber were used in its construction.

Inside, multimedia exhibits and extensive archives cover every stage of Theodore Roosevelt's life: his childhood in New York City, where he grew up sickly; his studies at Harvard and his interest in natural history; his early steps in politics; his years in Dakota; his return to the East; his participation in the Spanish-American War and service in the Rough Riders; his presidency; his trips to Africa and later to the Brazilian Amazon, where he nearly died of tropical fever.

Among the most valuable exhibits is Roosevelt's diary with the entry "the light has gone out of my life," written after the death of his wife and mother.

Senior Collections Curator Sue Sarna said that before the library opened, Roosevelt's letters, photographs, and manuscripts were scattered among 30 institutions and historical sites across the country—including the Library of Congress, Harvard University, the National Park Service archives, as well as family archives and memorial sites associated with his name.

"One of the key areas of our work is collaborating with the Theodore Roosevelt Center and Microsoft to bring all of these materials together digitally for the first time, making it possible to see his life in its entirety in one place," she explained.

The interactive exhibit "Manage Your Own Presidential Campaign" allows visitors to interact with a digital version of Roosevelt, created using artificial intelligence, and learn about his time in the White House. Other rooms are dedicated to Roosevelt's service in the Spanish-American War. The museum also features a recreation of the Elkhorn Ranch, where visitors can gather around a campfire and listen to stories of life in the West.

Particular attention is given to the 26th president's views on environmental conservation. As president, Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act of 1906, which gave the head of state the authority to declare federal lands and waters national monuments to preserve natural resources, as well as sites of cultural and historical significance. This law became the basis for the creation of national parks, including the Grand Canyon and Acadia.

"Nature was his way of recuperating," O'Keeffe noted. "He found peace in it, and his decisions created places that everyone can now go to."

While exploring the exhibits, visitors can save their favorite quotes, images, and ideas using a digital bracelet, creating their own map of Roosevelt's life and views—a kind of personal journey through his biography.

The library has become one of the venues for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States: historical presentations and lectures will be held there all summer.

"The documents show how seriously Roosevelt took civic responsibility. For him, it wasn't just words, but concrete actions. He constantly wrote about how everyone should participate in society—voting, serving, and being a good neighbor," Sarna concluded.

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