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Scholarship
Spies, Lies and Disguise
“This trip of ours has been very laborious and exciting. I have had no time to think calmly since we left Springfield. There is one reason why I write tonight. Tomorrow we enter slave territory. Saturday evening, according to our arrangements we will be in Washington. There may be trouble in Baltimore. If so, we will not go to Washington, un
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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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Scholarship
Gracy Bradley's White House
On November 24, 1831, Andrew Jackson, Jr. married Sarah Yorke. President Andrew Jackson, a devoted father, wanted to give his son’s new bride a wedding present. In March of 1832, he purchased what he thought would be most helpful for a young woman setting up her own domestic household for the first time – an enslaved woman named Gracy Bradley.1
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Scholarship
Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker, a free African-American man living in a slave state in the eighteenth century, never knew the weight of iron shackles or the crack of an overseer’s whip. A native of Baltimore County, Maryland, his experience diverged from those of most African Americans living in the early United States. He received a formal education during his youth, maintained hi
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Scholarship
The Slave Quarters at Decatur House
Nestled in the heart of Washington, D.C., Lafayette Park attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. From school groups to tourists, protesters to foreign dignitaries, many are drawn to the most prominent building on the square—the White House. Yet few fully realize just how much the neighborhood has changed since 1800, when President John Adams first moved into th
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Scholarship
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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Scholarship
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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Scholarship
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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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 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