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Scholarship
"Mourn Columbia!": The Death and Legacy of Stephen Decatur
At the time of his death in 1820, Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr. was one of the most revered public figures in the United States. He was a highly decorated military hero and a leader in Washington, D.C.’s elite social circles. Some of his contemporaries had even suggested Decatur as a potential candidate for president.1 His violent and unexpected death, th
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Scholarship
John Gadsby: Hotelier and Slave Owner in the President's Neighborhood
For nearly four decades until 1836, John Gadsby was the premier hotelier of Alexandria, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. He leased and operated the City Hotel and Tavern in Alexandria, as well as, the Indian Queen in Baltimore, and ended his career in Washington, D.C. with the Franklin House and the highly esteemed National Hotel. His hotels were considered state
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Scholarship
The Enslaved Households of President Martin Van Buren
While many tend to think that slavery was strictly a “southern” issue, this system of racial captivity and exploitation existed across the British colonies in a variety of forms during the eighteenth century. It thrived across North America, survived the American Revolution, and persisted through the creation of the Constitution. That said, individual states began adopting policies of gradual emancipation as e
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Scholarship
The Enslaved Households of President Zachary Taylor
Born in 1784, Zachary Taylor grew up on a plantation in Virginia. His father, Richard Taylor, was an officer in the Continental Army and a southern planter. About six years later, Colonel Taylor purchased Springfield plantation and moved his family to Louisville, Kentucky, and by 1800, Taylor had expanded his slaveholdings to twenty-six enslaved people.1 Zachary Taylor lived at his father’s pl
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Scholarship
White House Christmas Traditions
Few first ladies enjoyed Christmas as exuberantly and creatively as did Pat Nixon. During the five holiday seasons she spent in the White House, Mrs. Nixon introduced traditions that continue to the present day. She set a standard for festooning the Executive Mansion during the holidays that every first lady since has honored and built on. For most of the
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Scholarship
The Enslaved Household of President John Quincy Adams
Of the first seven U.S. presidents, John Quincy Adams (JQA) and his father John Adams were the only two who did not bring enslaved people into the White House. At least, that’s the story that most people know.1 In John Quincy Adams’ case, the truth may be more complicated. Although his long fight against Congress’ “gag rule” later earned him
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Scholarship
The Enslaved Households of President John Tyler
Born to an affluent family in 1790, John Tyler spent most of his life in Charles City County, Virginia. He was raised on the Tyler family plantation, Greenway, and primarily lived there until his marriage to Letitia Christian in 1813.1 His father, John Tyler Sr., served as a representative in the Virginia House of Delegates, governor of Virginia, and eventually judge of
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Scholarship
The Life and Presidency of John F. Kennedy
The White House Historical Association’s 2020 Official White House Christmas Ornament honors John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth president of the United States. The youngest president since Theodore Roosevelt, Kennedy took office in January 1961, at age 43. Before his vibrant presidency was cut short by an assassin’s bullet on November 22, 1963, he had reinvigorated the American spirit. His legacy lives on in his
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Scholarship
The Formerly Enslaved Household of the Grant Family
Women are often overlooked in history for their role in the institution of slavery. First Lady Julia Dent Grant, wife of President Ulysses S. Grant, was a steadfast slave mistress for more than half of her life—an often forgotten part of her identity. Though Grant himself grew up in an abolitionist family in the free state of Ohio, his ma
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Scholarship
Plantations & Politics
Speaking before the United States House of Representatives in 1825, congressman James K. Polk described American slavery as “a matter which required the utmost caution.”1 He viewed slavery as a fundamental part of southern culture and economics, while at the same time regretting that this “common evil” had been “entailed upon us by our ancestors.”2 While publicly conflicted over the morality of owning en
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Scholarship
The Williams Family
In 1818, John Gadsby was assessed and taxed for owning thirty-six enslaved individuals in Baltimore—including two young women named “Maria” and “Kezia.”1 These names also appear twenty-six years later in a property inventory taken after Gadsby’s death. Maria Williams is listed along with her children Martha, Mary Ellen, and James; Keziah Williams, with her children Mary and William.2 But how did thes
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Scholarship
Andrew Jackson's Cabinet
On March 10, 1829, President Andrew Jackson moved into the White House. Fifteen years earlier, the British had burned the White House during the War of 1812. Presidents James Madison and James Monroe oversaw the rebuilding of the Executive Mansion, but presidents made important changes and updates to the building over the next several administrations. John Quincy Adams, Jackson’s predecessor, established the so