{"id":715121,"date":"2026-06-20T07:46:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T07:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/715121\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T07:46:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T07:46:20","slug":"surprise-barack-and-michelle-obama-greet-first-visitors-to-new-chicago-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/715121\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise! Barack and Michelle Obama greet first visitors to new Chicago center"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama surprised the first 100 visitors to walk through the doors of the new Obama Presidential Center<\/a>, personally greeting them Friday.<\/p>\n

The Obamas, joined by former \u201cReading Rainbow\u201d<\/a> host LeVar Burton, also read \u201cWhere the Wild Things Are\u201d to 25 school children at the Chicago Public Library branch inside the center. When the former president read Maurice Sendak\u2019s line about being \u201cking of all the wild things,\u201d Michelle Obama interjected with, \u201cAlthough there were no kings,\u201d to applause.<\/p>\n

Later, awed guests shook hands with the Obamas against the backdrop of a colorful, 38-foot-tall painting depicting a map of Chicago stretching to the ceiling, inspired by Carl Sandburg\u2019s 1914 poem about the city: \u201cstormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

\n Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama greet the first group of visitors at the official opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)\n <\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama greet the first group of visitors at the official opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)<\/p>\n

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\"Sonya<\/p>\n

\n Sonya Hankerson, from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., hugging the statue of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as she visits the Obama Presidential Center on the official opening, Friday, June 19, 2026 in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)\n <\/p>\n

Sonya Hankerson, from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., hugging the statue of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as she visits the Obama Presidential Center on the official opening, Friday, June 19, 2026 in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was perfect. It was great,\u201d said 18-year-old Houefa Agassounon from Chicago after the surprise visit from the Obamas. \u201cI was literally crying. I asked for a hug and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

She wrote a letter to the Obama Foundation last year, asking if she could be there when it opened. She said meeting the Obamas was a bonus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just the greatest thing of my 18 years of life,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

\n Former President Barack Obama greets the first group of visitors at the official opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)\n <\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama greets the first group of visitors at the official opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)<\/p>\n

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\"Former<\/p>\n

\n Former President Barack Obama, left, and former first lady Michelle Obama read to school children on opening day of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in John Lewis Plaza, Friday, June 19, 2026, in Chicago. (Win McNamee\/Pool Photo via AP)\n <\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama, left, and former first lady Michelle Obama read to school children on opening day of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in John Lewis Plaza, Friday, June 19, 2026, in Chicago. (Win McNamee\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

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The Juneteenth<\/a> opening followed a star-studded dedication ceremony<\/a> where the Obamas gave rousing speeches to an audience including three former presidents, their former first ladies, and a host of politicians, A-list celebrities, musicians, athletes and others. Thousands more joined the livestream from a nearby park.<\/p>\n

A weekend of events<\/a> is planned for the sprawling campus on Chicago\u2019s South Side near where the Obamas lived and began his political career. It is adjacent to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in the lakefront park, and not far from the University of Chicago.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the general public are sold out through the end of November. But those lucky enough to score them for the first day got the unexpected thrill of meeting the Obamas themselves.<\/p>\n

The campus includes a towering museum that covers the political and personal realms of the nation\u2019s first Black president and first lady, while public spaces include a branch of the Chicago Public Library, a playground and athletic center, basketball courts and a picnic area with grills.<\/p>\n

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The tower\u2019s design is meant to depict four hands coming together in solidarity. Wrapped around one side are 5-foot tall concrete capital letters, an excerpt of Obama\u2019s 2015 speech<\/a> commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march. It begins, \u201cYou are America.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama poses for a photograph after reading to school children on opening day of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in John Lewis Plaza, Friday, June 19, 2026, in Chicago. (Win McNamee\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama poses for a photograph after reading to school children on opening day of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in John Lewis Plaza, Friday, June 19, 2026, in Chicago. (Win McNamee\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

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Read More<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama surprised the first 100 visitors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":715122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,8833,308286,157,308285,793,5630,5629,306297,68577,25248,6377,3,111,795,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-715121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-barack-obama","tag-carl-sandburg","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-public-library","tag-general-news","tag-il-state-wire","tag-illinois","tag-juneteenth","tag-maurice-sendak","tag-michelle-obama","tag-national","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}