A long line of visitors had already queued when the doors opened at 6 p.m. at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, where Rosalynn Carter lay in public repose Monday night in Atlanta.
They navigated a maze to view Rosalynn Carter’s casket. The maze was for crowd control, but it was also meant to tell a story.
Mourners made their way quietly past the reflecting pool before being ushered into the building. Rather than entering the main lobby, ushers directed them first through the bookstore and auditorium.
Next they walked through the museum, where the former first lady’s words greeted them. “Kindness is the connection that links us all together,” one plaque read.
They saw awards that the Carters won and a replica of the Oval Office. But mostly, they saw Mrs. Carter. Dozens of photos lined the walls. Of her in a wedding dress. In a Carter Center vest holding babies in war-torn countries. She and her husband.
The ushers encouraged visitors to linger and reflect.
Then they were finally in the lobby, her casket in full view.
Mourners made their way past the closed casket, guarded at head and foot by members of the Georgia State Police Honor Guard. A spray of sunflowers, pale and bright pink roses, and Monarch butterflies decorated the casket.
Walking by, some visitors dabbed tears from their eyes.
Earlier Monday, the Carter family motorcade departed Plains, Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter’s hometown. The motorcade stopped at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, where pallbearers carried the former first lady’s remains to a hearse. Together, the motorcade made a stop at Georgia Southwestern State University, her alma mater.
Then the motorcade made the roughly 140-mile drive north to Atlanta, arriving at the library and museum grounds shortly after 3:15 p.m. A bit more than two and a half hours later, the public visitation began.
Roads had been closed for hours around the Carter Presidential Center, which houses the library and museum and the nonprofit Carter Center on a large wooded lot just east of the city center.
Mourners parked at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and took buses to the site.
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Shuttle Bus #5 had a hard time navigating the less than three-mile trip. Part of it was traffic, but because it was the driver’s first trip, most of it was because he was just lost.
That mattered little to Phylena Houde and her mother, Linda Jones. They had the first two seats on the bus. They have loved the Carters since at least ‘76. A confused driver wasn’t going to bother them much.
“I was working at a university in Denver in ‘76 and he came to make a speech. I told my colleagues that I was going to see the next president of the United States,” said Jones, who was visiting her daughter from San Antonio. “He was always such a good man, so it is my honor to pay my respects to his wife.”
As the bus rolled along, Houde’s memories were more recent. In 2015, she surprised her daughter and son with a trip to Plains and Maranatha Baptist Church, where the former first couple worshipped together for decades and taught Sunday school.
“My son was always doing reports on President Carter and I asked him why and he said he was his favorite president,” Houde said. “We got to the church and we were able to take a picture with him and Mrs. Carter. They were so gracious. So it felt apropos to come here tonight to honor her. And I wanted my mom here because it feels historic.”
Finally, after getting loud directions from nearly everyone on the bus, the driver found his way to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. They filed out of the bus to quietly pay their respects.
Many others joined them.
“I have been tracking the Carters since I was 12 and the unfolding story of her life was amazing,” said Marvin Bynes, a retired principal. “It is a great Georgia story of how they rose so high, yet remained so humble. It was touching to walk through and see her at the end. The end of her story.”
Mary Clinkscales has been to the library and museum many times.
Before retiring in 2011, she spent 40 years working with patients with mental illness. Music was a form of therapy for her patients, who formed a band called the Mellow Tones. She says Rosalynn Carter was present for their first concert about 20 years ago, and that the group was invited to play at the library many times after.
The former first lady’s advocacy for people with mental illness was always something Clinkscales admired. Her patients had to deal with a lot of stigma. “It meant a lot for someone on that level, of that stature, to be an advocate for them,” she said.
Clinkscales joined others visiting the library Monday night. She left feeling inspired. “I have a role to play still,” she said.
