Photos, films, and documents found at Jimmy Carter Presidential Library

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The Jimmy Carter Presidential Libary holds 27 million pages of documents- including half a million photos, and thousands of objects, films, videos, and audiotapes.

For Ph.D. student James Hicks, it’s the perfect place for him to do research. President Carter was the last President to gift his collection to the National Archives and Records Administration.

“It’s a remarkable resource. There is so much information to wade through. It’s a remarkable level of transparency,” said Hicks.

The archive is considered to have the most intensive collection of constituent mail.

Dr. Meredith Evans, the director of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, has been able to source her own letter from the archives. She wrote to the President when she was 4 years old. Her mother was able to transcribe her wish.

The letter reads,” Meredith writes Dear President Jimmy Carter, My birthday is March 18 and I would like to come to your house for my party. Here is the money to help you be President. my sister Monique gave me the dollar- enclosed is a dollar and a penny, a drawing of the White House, and a picture with her signature.”

Decades later, she was named director. She now works to preserve the letters, writings, and recordings of the man she wrote to as a child.

“When I first met him, we had a conversation about it and it was so joyful and we laughed about it. He’s always been for the people and I think that resonates when I look at my letter, I know that it’s here and he’s such a thoughtful person,” said Evans.

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