Federal money eyed for Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Supporters of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota are cheering new federal legislation to help build the library and to showcase artifacts of the 26th president, who as a young man hunted and ranched in the state during its territorial days.

Last week, North Dakota’s three-member, all-Republican congressional delegation announced the bill to “authorize funding for the Library’s continued construction and go towards ensuring the preservation of President Roosevelt’s history and legacy.” The bill’s Interior Department grant is for $50 million of one-time money, most of which “will go into creating the museum spaces in our facility,” said Matt Briney, the library’s chief communications officer.

The bill also enables and directs federal agencies to work with the library’s organizers to feature Roosevelt items in the library’s museum, he said.

In 2019, North Dakota’s Republican-controlled Legislature approved a $50 million operations endowment for the library, available after its organizers raised $100 million in private donations for construction. That goal was met in late 2020.

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