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Scholarship
Ida B. Wells-Barnett: Anti-lynching and the White House
Ida B. Wells-Barnett was an American investigative journalist, educator, and activist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.1 An African-American woman of “striking courage and conviction,” she received national recognition as the leader of the anti-lynching crusade.2 Wells-Barnett sought a federal anti-lynching law that would convict forms of “violence in which a mob, under the pretext of administering justice withou
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Scholarship
The Election of 1876
The morning of Monday, March 5, 1877 was cold and overcast as Americans anticipated the Inauguration of Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes after a long, tense, and disputed election. Hayes’ narrow win had only been decided three days earlier, defeating Democratic candidate and New York Governor Samuel Tilden by just one electoral vote, 185-184. The only caveat: Hayes was already the President of
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Scholarship
The Origins of the March 4 Inauguration
Today, Inauguration Day falls on an exact day and time—January 20 at noon. Every four years, either the president or the president-elect takes the Oath of Office. Since 1981, presidents have typically taken the Oath on the West Front of the United States Capitol Building.1 This public ritual demonstrates America’s commitment to democracy and signifies a peaceful transfer of power to c
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Scholarship
Daniel Webster's House
At the corner of H Street and Connecticut Avenue, the United States Chamber of Commerce Building sits where a three-and-a-half story brick house once stood. The house was built in 1828 by attorney Thomas Swann.1 Swann was born in Charles County, Maryland, and in 1787 he moved to Alexandria, Virginia, where he studied law, married Jane Byrd Page, and started a family.
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Olympian Wilma Rudolph Visits the White House
Wilma Rudolph was born on June 23, 1940, in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee. As a child, she suffered from several serious illnesses, including pneumonia, polio, and scarlet fever. She wore a leg brace until the age of nine. After recovering the use of her leg, Rudolph turned to sports. She excelled at basketball in high school, earning an All-American designation and setting a
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"Running Against the World"
The 1936 Summer Olympics were unlike any other. In Berlin, Germany, under the shadow of Chancellor Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime, an African-American track and field athlete rose to stardom: Jesse Owens.1 Owens’s record-breaking athleticism carried him from the cotton fields of the South to the White House and made him one of the most famous athletes in American history. Jame
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Scholarship
Enslaved Labor and the Construction of the U.S. Capitol
“Would it be superstitious to presume, that the Sovereign Father of all nations, permitted the perpetration of this apparently execrable transaction, as a fiery, though salutary signal of his displeasure at the conduct of his Columbian children, in erecting and idolizing this… temple of freedom, and at the same time oppressing with the yoke of captivity and toilsome bondage, twelve or f
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Scholarship
The First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C.
The First Baptist Church of the City of Washington D.C. was founded in 1802, shortly after Washington D.C. became the federal seat of government.1 For Baptists in early America, religious liberty was a pillar of the faith, but one that did not fully extend to enslaved persons and free Black people within Baptist congregations. As a church just north
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Scholarship
Paul Cuffe & President James Madison: The Transatlantic Emigration Project & the White House
On May 2, 1812, Captain Paul Cuffe arrived at the White House for a meeting with President James Madison.1 The internationally renowned sea captain and entrepreneurial maritime trader planned to discuss two pressing issues with the president: the transatlantic emigration of African Americans to Africa, and the growing hostilities between the United States and Great Britain. Cuffe not only became “one of th
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Scholarship
The History of Lafayette Park
Today, Lafayette Park sits just north of the White House, enclosed by H Street NW (north), Madison Place (east), Pennsylvania Avenue (south), and Jackson Place (west). This seven-acre public park is named after the famous French Revolutionary War hero, the Marquis de Lafayette. It has served as a graveyard, construction site, market, public space, and neighborhood throughout its 200-year history.
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Sugar, Slavery, and the Washington China
Upon stepping into the White House China Room, visitors encounter tableware from nearly every presidential administration or first family. Tucked into one of the impressive glass display cases is a small, porcelain sugar bowl. To many viewers, the bowl may seem like an ordinary piece of White House tableware. But what if a bowl could tell a bigger story? A
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Scholarship
White House Hostesses: The Forgotten First Ladies
First ladies hold a unique place in American history. The collection of first ladies' gowns and artifacts remains one of the most popular exhibitions, visited by millions of annual visitors at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C..1 First ladies are the focus of documentaries, podcasts, books, and scholarly works that examine their lives and contributions