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A Special Space Lost and Found Images of Abraham Lincoln's White House Stables
The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., has often been referred to as “The Nation’s Attic” for its vast holdings of historic memorabilia. if that assessment is accurate, then the Photographic Division of the Library of Congress must be considered “The Nation’s Family Album.” With holdings of more than 10 million photographs and negatives, the Library of Congress clearly stands as th
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Remembering My Mother in the White House
Through the vision of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the White House Historical Association was chartered on November 3, 1961, “to enhance understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the historic White House.” In 2011, the association celebrated the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary with exhibitions, publications, and special events, including a White House reception hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama on October 31, 2011. Caroline Kennedy, the daug
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The Naval War of 1812
Britain's navy began its war in North Atlantic waters with a crushing advantage over the United States in numbers of both ships and sailors, but events were to prove that the U.S. Navy's pluck and resourcefulness would inflict punishing setbacks on its larger opponent.Wartime successes of the U.S. Navy included a victory by the USS Constitution ("Old
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Introduction to the Transcription of the Washington Diary of Elizabeth L.C. Dixon
In November 1845, Elizabeth Lord Cogswell Dixon arrived for the “season” in Washington, D.C., with her family. Her husband, James Dixon, of Hartford, Connecticut, had been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Whig, ultimately serving two terms, in the Twenty-Ninth and Thirtieth Congresses (March 4, 1845–March 3, 1849). In addition to their two little girls—4-year-old Elizabeth (“Bessie”) and 1-year-old Cl
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The President and Washington During the War with Mexico
James Knox Polk was at home in Columbia, Tennessee, when he judged that it was about time to find out the results of the election. A dispatch from Washington was waiting for him at the post office. And the news of his presidential victory marked not only a change in his life, but marked, in retrospect, the start of the
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The Bad Boy
When James and Dolley Madison moved to the White House officially on March 4, 1809, they were accompanied by her son Payne Todd, child of her first marriage. Payne had turned 17 only a few days before and had lived with his mother and adoptive father in Washington already for nearly eight years, ever in the shadows of the prominent and highly social
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Lincoln in His Shop
In the summer of 1864, Kentuckian John Bullock called upon President Abraham Lincoln at the White House to make a personal appeal. The young Bullock took his seat in the reception area adjacent to Lincoln’s office alongside numerous other individuals, hoping for an opportunity to have but a few minutes with the nation’s leader. Uncertain if the president would even
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Good Neighbors: FDR, Major Gist, and Blair House
From its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth and into the early twentieth century, the historic preservation movement in the United States drew its leadership from private citizens, not government officials.1 An archival collection kept at Blair House, The President’s Guest House, records the pioneering alliance of Major Gist Blair, the last family descendant to live there, and President Franklin D. Ro
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The White House Collection: Reminders of 1814
When the President’s House was consumed by fire in 1814, furnishings purchased over twenty-five years by the United States government for Presidents George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison were lost. Among them were the eighteenth-century objects from the two residences occupied by President Washington in New York in 1789 and 1790 and from the Philadelphia home in wh
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History in White House Silver
One of the most interesting collections of silver of which this country can boast is at the White House. It was begun by President James Monroe in 1818, after the war with Great Britain, and has grown over the years, remaining in continuous use by the Presidents and a constant parade of guests. Considering the duration of its service at s
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Slavery, Freedom, and the Struggle to Keep a Family Together
Although President Thomas Jefferson owned hundreds of enslaved men, women, and children in his lifetime, he brought only a handful with him to the White House. In need of additional help, he hired the labor of an enslaved man named John Freeman from Dr. William Baker, the Maryland physician who owned him. The practice of hiring out enslaved workers in
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Pathbreakers: Oscar Stanton DePriest and Jessie L. Williams DePriest
Shelley Stokes-Hammond prepared these biographical sketches as part of a project for a graduate documentation course at Goucher College where she received a Master of Arts in Historic Preservation in 2011.In March 1929, Oscar Stanton DePriest became the first African American to serve in the United States Congress since George H. White of North Carolina left the House in 1901. DePriest was