Hayes Presidential offers free admission, activities for Presidents’ Day
Celebrate Presidents’ Day with free admission and activities on Monday, Feb. 16, at the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, America’s first presidential library.
Hayes Presidential will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and offer a day-long celebration that will be centered around the America 250 – Ohio Celebration’s February theme of Ohio Works: Innovation, Industry and Business.
Visitors can take a free, self-guided tour of the museum and sign up for a free tour of the first floor of the Hayes Home.
Hayes Home tours will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis, and no advance reservations are taken. The first tour is at 9:15 a.m., and the last tour is at 4:30 p.m. Attendees must check in at the museum front desk to get their tour time and tickets.
The research library will be closed for the holiday.
There will be a variety of events and activities in the museum, including scavenger hunts and crafts themed on innovation and invention, a presidential photo station, gallery talks in the special exhibit “Inside President Hayes’ Library,” presidential trivia and story time. Visitors can also vote for their favorite Ohio invention, and results will be announced in the afternoon.
This annual celebration also honors America’s semiquincentennial, happening throughout 2026. Hayes Presidential has several events and exhibits planned throughout the year for the nation’s milestone anniversary.
The Presidents’ Day Celebration is sponsored by the Knight-Baldwin Charitable Fund.
The schedule of events is as follows:
- 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – The museum is open for self-guided tours.
- 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Craft activities and scavenger hunt in the museum.
- 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Voting for the favorite invention. There will be a designated ballot area.
- 9:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. – Tours of the Hayes Home first floor. Tours last about a half hour. Attendees must check in at the museum front desk to get their tour time and tickets.
- 10:15 a.m. – Gallery talk in the special exhibit “Inside President Hayes’ Library.” For details on the exhibit, visit https://www.rbhayes.org/news/2025/09/25/general/special-exhibit-examines-president-hayes-love-of-reading/.
- 11:30 a.m. – Story time
- 1 p.m. – Presidential trivia in the history lab in the lower level
- 1:30 p.m. – Story time
- 2:15 p.m. – Gallery talk in the special exhibit “Inside President Hayes’ Library.” For details on the exhibit, visit https://www.rbhayes.org/news/2025/09/25/general/special-exhibit-examines-president-hayes-love-of-reading/.
- 3 p.m. – Presidential trivia in the history lab in the lower level
- 4:30 p.m. – Winner of the election for favorite invention is announced.
Hayes Presidential is America’s first presidential library and the forerunner of the federal presidential library system. It is partially funded by the state of Ohio and affiliated with the Ohio History Connection. Hayes Presidential is located at Spiegel Grove on Buckland Avenue.
For information, call 419-332-2081, or visit rbhayes.org. Like Hayes Presidential on Facebook and follow on Instagram at rbhayespres and on Bluesky at rbhayespres.bsky.social.