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The Myth of the Vanishing Indian
The White House Diplomatic Reception Room is perhaps best known for its scenic wallpaper, installed during the John F. Kennedy administration in 1961. The highly detailed panorama, designed by French artist Jean-Julien Deltil and produced by Jean Zuber and Company, depicts notable American places including Niagara Falls, Boston Harbor, West Point, and the Natural Bridge in Virginia. It is worth noting
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“The Back Building”
Built in 1818-1819, Decatur House was designed by the English architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe for Commodore Stephen Decatur and Susan Decatur. Latrobe had previously sent proposals and estimates to Decatur in June 1817, along with this advice: “If the house should be occupied by a foreign Minister, I would also recommend the addition of a slight one story-room, for a servant’s ha
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Eliza McCardle Johnson: Conflicting Memories and Vanishing Evidence of the Enslaved Past
In 1980, Margaret Johnson Patterson Bartlett, great-granddaughter of First Lady Eliza McCardle Johnson and President Andrew Johnson, gave an oral interview at Harpers Ferry about the history of her family. Alluding that her ancestors wanted to keep certain family secrets hidden from the public, Mrs. Bartlett recalled when her father sold documents to the Library of Congress in 1904: “My daddy [Andrew Jo
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The Mysterious Life of Susan Decatur
In his 1872 recollection Our Neighbors on Lafayette Square, Benjamin Ogle Tayloe reminisced about the residents of the square just north of the White House. He wrote, “Mrs. Decatur was the natural born daughter of Mr. Wheeler, an eminent merchant of Norfolk, and the proprietor of ironworks at Elk Ridge Landing, Maryland, where Mrs. Decatur was born, her mother an obscure wo
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A White House Worker Remembers President Kennedy's Assassination
President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy had developed a bond with White House doorman Preston Bruce. The slain President's brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, invited Bruce to walk with members of the Kennedy family to JFK's memorial service at St. Matthew's Cathedral. Here are some of Bruce's recollections:"My heart ached to see Mrs. Kennedy march up
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The Historic Decatur House
When Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr., and his wife, Susan, moved to the new federal city in 1816, they purchased land on the northwest corner of the President’s Park (today's Lafayette Square) with the prize money Decatur was awarded for his naval conquests in the War of 1812. The Decaturs commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe, America’s first professional architect and engineer, to desi
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White House Workers Timeline
The White House Historical Association has undertaken a research initiative called "Slavery in the President's Neighborhood." With this initiative, the Association seeks to tell the stories of the enslaved and free African Americans who built, lived, and worked at the White House, as well as the surrounding homes on Lafayette Park. While there are few written accounts of their experiences,
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African Americans in the White House Timeline
The White House Historical Association has undertaken a research initiative called "Slavery in the President's Neighborhood." With this initiative, the Association seeks to tell the stories of the enslaved and free African Americans who built, lived, and worked at the White House, as well as the surrounding homes on Lafayette Park. While there are few written accounts of their experiences,
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Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C.
Congress passed the Compensated Emancipation Act to end slavery in the District of Columbia and President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill into law on April 16, 1862. Three years later, after the Civil War ended and after the 1865 ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution officially abolishing slavery nationwide, African Americans in the District began to celebrate April 16 as a holiday.
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“A Charming Resort”
For nearly a century, the United States Marine Band’s Saturday afternoon public concerts on the south grounds of the White House from June to September were a fixture of cultural life in Washington, D.C. Performed largely in an era before radio, motion pictures, television and the internet, the concerts offered people a chance to sample free, high quality en
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Commodore Stephen Decatur: An Early American Naval War Hero
In President Theodore Roosevelt’s description of the capture of the HMS Macedonian by the USS United States in his 1882 book The Naval War of 1812, the future president wrote, “Commodore Decatur handled his ship with absolute faultlessness,” and explained how through Decatur’s bravery and fortitude, a “skillful crew, ably commanded,” was able to defeat their British foes. In this and other en
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Monuments to the American Revolution in Lafayette Park
In 1853, Clark Mills’ statue of President Andrew Jackson on horseback is in the center of Lafayette Park. The park’s four corners were later allocated for statues commemorating significant Europeans who assisted American forces during the American Revolution. In 1891 the first statue was erected, honoring the Marquis de Lafayette. Some feared the statue would impact the view of the White Hous