Woodrow Wilson’s birthday honored at Presidential Library

STAUNTON –  It was a grand birthday remembrance of America’s 28th president on Monday at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum.

Visitors saw exhibits for free and dined on cake on the Staunton native’s 153rd birthday.

They got a chance to not only learn of Wilson’s accomplishments that included creation of the Federal Reserve System, but to see where he spent the first 11 months of his life.

The manse where Wilson was born includes a kitchen with an impressive wood-fired stove that was the site for seven to eight hours of meal preparation a day, said intepretor Veronica Watts.

And late next month, a basement area of the museum will pay homage to Wilson’s duty as a war president. The basement exhibit will include a World War I trench and bunker.

“Wilson has been very neglected as the commander-in-chief,’’ said Don Wilson, the president and CEO of the library and museum.

Don Wilson said the exhibit will show the difficult war decisions Woodrow Wilson faced.

“It was a terrible time. He was reluctant and didn’t want to go with it,’’ said Wilson, who said the sinking of the ocean liner Lusitania by a German U-boat and the near collapse of France and England forced the president’s hand.

The centennial of many of the late president’s accomplishments are coming up, including the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913.

Wilson faced many of today’s problems in his time, including a health crisis and monetary crisis, said Don Wilson.

“There was no national banking system,’’ he said.

Wilson’s presidency is getting more attention.

Historian John Milton Cooper Jr.’s has just published a well-received biography of Wilson.

And in the next year or two, Pulitzer Prize winner Scott Berg’s biography of Wilson will be finished.

And as time as progressed, Wilson’s private side has been revealed.

A documented public reserve contrasts with the private man who enjoyed watching Princeton University practice football while he was the university president, and exchanged letters with students there.

Copies of the letters to Princeton students were donated to the Wilson library from a Maryland family four years ago.

“He was very warm to his family,’’ Don Wilson said.

Woodrow Wilson was also a powerful orator, loved music and movies.

While the economy is still flat, there is renewed visitation at the museum and library.

Don Wilson said 2009 has included a 15-percent increase in visitation, with many of the visitors enjoying day trips from such locations at Northern Virginia.