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Scholarship
Seances in the Red Room
Death plagues us all: it is the only certainty in life and plays an integral role in the human experience. When a loved one perishes, it is their survivors who are left to pick up the pieces. In a time of mourning, grief-stricken loved ones turn to a plethora of coping mechanisms, and over time the way we mourn has
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Scholarship
An Author and a President
Two of the nineteenth century’s most prominent American men, Ulysses S. Grant and Samuel Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, developed an unlikely friendship extending from the White House to Grant’s deathbed. The steely, quiet demeanor of the former Union Army general contrasted sharply with the jocular nature of the celebrated author. Nevertheless, over the year
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Spanish Influenza in the President's Neighborhood
When Americans consider threats to democracy during President Woodrow Wilson’s administration, they usually think of the bloody world conflict that became World War I. As the war was ending in 1918, another often-forgotten adversary arrived in the United States: an outbreak of the Spanish influenza, a deadly pandemic which significantly impacted global populations, including Washington, D.C. Scientists estimate that th
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A Celebration for Veterans
At the end of World War I, over 200,000 wounded soldiers returned home to the United States. To help these veterans cope with their physical and psychological injuries, post-war presidents hosted annual garden parties at the White House. These events took place on the South Lawn and included wounded veterans from local military and naval hospitals. The veterans, along with their
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Betty Ford: Activist First Lady
Betty Bloomer Ford was not a politician. She was a dancer, a model, a wife, and a mother. She never expected to be in the political limelight—in fact, after divorcing her first husband she began dating Gerald Ford, who kept his intentions of running for Congress a secret.1 Moreover, Betty Ford certainly never anticipated becoming First Lady of the Un
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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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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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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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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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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
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Ulysses S. Grant's Cabinet
On March 4, 1869, Ulysses S. Grant took the oath of office and became the eighteenth President of the United States. His inauguration was a joyful occasion—many Americans celebrated Grant as the military hero that defeated the Confederacy. After Andrew Johnson’s dismal administration, Americans welcomed Grant’s election as an opportunity to restore the glory and honor of the presidency.The Gr
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Diversity in White House Art: Greta Kempton
Greta Kempton (born Martha Greta Kempton) was born in 1903 in Vienna, Austria. She discovered painting early on, completing her first painting at the age of nine—a portrait of her sleeping governess. Kempton studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and the Vienna National Academy of Design before emigrating to the United States in 1926 with her young daughter, Daisy. In