Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library transforms Roosevelt’s life into a personalized, participatory journey where visitors don’t simply encounter history; they become part of the story.

From the earliest conversations about the Library, the question was: How do you make the life and legacy of someone who died more than a century ago relevant to audiences today? Our answer was to help visitors learn from Roosevelt, not simply about him, so that they might leave the experience inspired to live a more engaged and conscientious life.

We established a guiding principle that would shape every part of the exhibit: The visitor, or participant, would be the hero of the story, not Theodore Roosevelt. As they navigate the museum, participants travel through the chapters of Roosevelt’s life, absorb his values, and are prompted to reflect on their own sense of purpose.

At the center of this journey is the Trailblazer Compass, a personalized RFID-enabled wristband that participants wear throughout the Library, connecting their choices across galleries. They can use the wristband to participate in interactive activities, such as making their own cattle brand, creating presidential campaign materials, running their own presidency, and making a pledge of action. The Trailblazer system remembers their choices and builds on them, creating an experience that is uniquely their own. After crafting their slogan on the campaign trail, for example, participants are challenged to put those promises into action in the Presidency activity. In the final gallery, their choices reveal the role they might play in making the world a better place. A personalized message from TR encourages them to join others in carrying forth his legacy.

The Trailblazer Compass is one part of the Library’s larger storytelling ecosystem, with more than 60 media experiences woven throughout to create one continuous, participatory guest journey.

Across the museum, participants are invited to “walk in Roosevelt’s shoes,” stepping into the lives, places, and experiences that shaped him. AI-enabled photo stations peppered throughout the exhibits allow participants to see themselves in different chapters of Roosevelt’s life—from a cowboy in the Badlands, to a police commissioner in New York, to a war hero in Cuba, to president of the United States.

The TRPL’s Adventure Galleries take this idea even further, turning history into immersive, multisensory story worlds. Participants can enter Roosevelt’s childhood bedroom in the Roosevelt Museum of Natural History. Inspired by young Roosevelt’s insatiable curiosity about nature, they explore cabinets of curiosities filled with wonders from the natural world and bring a biodiverse ecosystem to life through a room-scale interactive display. Next, Roosevelt’s love story with his first wife, Alice, unfolds inside a moving, rumbling train car from the late 1800s.

In the galleries exploring Roosevelt’s years in the Badlands, participants take part in his life out west through engaging, embodied ranching activities and an immersive campfire. In another experience, the pivotal Battle of Kettle Hill comes to life as the Rough Riders charge across a projected landscape. Later, in the 14-minute immersive film "The River of Doubt," visitors are surrounded by the sights and sounds of Roosevelt’s harrowing Amazon expedition via eighteen projectors that cover the walls and floor with imagery.

One especially groundbreaking activity is the "Talk with TR" experience, developed with Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab. In this gallery, participants can have natural conversations with a lifelike avatar of Theodore Roosevelt, powered by an AI that was specially trained on his archive. This piece, in particular, not only makes his archive accessible to the masses but empowers visitors to explore his history through their own curiosity.

All of the Library’s exhibitions meet participants where they are by providing multiple points of connection within Roosevelt’s story for different audiences. Families can discover experiences together: Younger visitors can engage with history through photo opportunities, games, and activities like an animal scavenger hunt, while adults and history enthusiasts can dive deeper through artifacts and more historically rich interpretation. No matter where they begin, the hope is that all participants leave not simply knowing more about Theodore Roosevelt but inspired to carry forth his legacy of action.

Partners

Snøhetta

Future of StoryTelling

Local Projects

Dimensional Innovations

Cortina Productions

RLMG

Redglass Pictures

Electrosonic

Microsoft

JLG Architects

JE Dunn

Blue Rhino Studio

Split Rock Studio

B Morrow Productions

Beanstalk Builders

GMR Marketing

DGTL Workshop

LemonSlice

Vincent Lighting Systems

Arup

Golterman & Sabo

Winnienoah Productions

Studio Loutsis

Smart Monkeys

Scalable Display Technologies

The project brought together a multidisciplinary team of creative studios, media producers, technology partners, and fabricators to create an integrated, media-rich visitor experience.

Future of StoryTelling (FoST) — Executive Creative Directors and Storytellers; developed the Library’s storytelling strategy and Story Guide and oversaw the full interpretive exhibition, including all physical and media experiences, from development through fabrication and installation, encompassing more than 60 custom media experiences.

Local Projects — Exhibit Designer and Media Producer; led exhibition and experience design across the Library, including the design and production of complex interactive and immersive experiences such as the Roosevelt Museum of Natural History, Cuba, and The River of Doubt.

Cortina Productions — Lead Media Producer; produced major exhibition media, including Trailblazer, and collaborated with other media partners on interactive and linear content.

Richard Lewis Media Group (RLMG) — Media Producer; produced a range of exhibition media, including interactive experiences, animation, and linear content.

Redglass Pictures — Linear and Documentary Media Producer; produced documentary-focused exhibition content.

Electrosonic — Audiovisual Integration; provided audiovisual systems integration, including projection, LED, sound, programming, and installation.

Dimensional Innovations — Exhibit Fabrication and Integration; fabricated and integrated the exhibitions’ physical and interactive components.

Blue Rhino Studio — Scenic Fabrication; Split Rock Studio — Casework and Specialty Fabrication; B Morrow Productions — Props and Specialty Fabrication; Vincent Lighting Systems — Lighting Integration. Provided specialized scenic fabrication, casework, props, specialty fabrication, and lighting integration that brought the media and exhibit concepts into the physical gallery environment. These teams worked as Dimensional Innovations subcontractors.

Microsoft — Technology Partner across TRPL and for Talk with TR, working with GMR Marketing, DGTL Workshop, and LemonSlice on the AI-powered experience.