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Hoover's Retreat: Rapidan Camp
Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, 100 miles from Washington, Camp Rapidan served President Herbert Hoover and First Lady Lou Henry Hoover as a vacation retreat and also a rustic resort center for entertainment of important guests. Rapidan Camp lay 2,550 feet above sea level, and its fresh air drifting through elm, beech and oak trees provided a refreshing difference
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The Fireside Chats: Roosevelt's Radio Talks
“The president wants to come into your home and sit at your fireside for a little fireside chat,” announced Robert Trout on the airwaves of CBS in March 1933. It was the first of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous radio talks addressing the problems and successes of the Great Depression, and later, World War II. President Roosevelt had not originally planne
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The Washington Collection at Tudor Place
The Washington Collection is comprised of manuscripts and more than two hundred objects, making Tudor Place one of the largest public repositories of items owned by Martha and George Washington. Of particular note is a letter written from Philadelphia on June 18, 1775, by George Washington to Martha Washington at Mount Vernon upon his assuming command of the Continental Army. This significant
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Picketing the White House
In the second half of the nineteenth century Americans headed west to seek greater opportunities for themselves and their families. As settlements and territories emerged, new residents actively participated in creating the political systems they lived under. In fact, it was in these sparsely populated areas that the women’s suffrage movement quickly gained momentum. Near the turn of the ce
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An Ex-Beatle at the White House
On November 16, 1974, President Gerald Ford’s son Jack, a fan of rock n’ roll, met former Beatle George Harrison backstage after a concert in Salt Lake City. Jack, who was studying forestry at Utah State University, befriended Harrison and invited him and several other guests to visit the White House. On December 13, 1974, keyboardist Billy Preston, sitarist Ravi Shankar, saxophonist Tommy Scot
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A Country Evening in the East Room
President Richard Nixon and First Lady Patricia Nixon instituted many changes and improvements to the White House during their time in Washington, D.C. The Nixons had a major outdoor lighting system installed to illuminate the Executive Mansion at night; the first lady oversaw several room restoration projects and a dramatic expansion of the White House collection; and the president
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The Chandeliers of the East Room
After ascending the staircase from the Ground Floor to the State Floor, the first room that visitors on a tour of the White House encounter is the East Room. As the largest room in the Executive Mansion, it has accommodated weddings, funerals, State Dinners, and much more, but during the nineteenth century it was primarily used as a reception space
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The Diplomatic Reception Room's Historic Wallpaper
After the destruction of the White House by the British in 1814, the Executive Mansion was reconstructed with a servants’ hall directly below the Elliptical Saloon (today’s Blue Room). In 1837, President Marten Van Buren repurposed the servants’ hall as a furnace room in order to provide heat for the building, a significant milestone in White House technology. By the time of The
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The Art of John Singer Sargent in the White House
American artist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) is the creator of two major paintings currently on display in the White House Collection. Both are striking, but one of them puzzles visitors perhaps more than any other item in the building. Although his parents were American, Sargent was born in Florence, Italy, and spent most of his youth abroad. He trained as
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The Red Room in the Polk White House
Today’s State Floor of the White House has rooms designated by color (Green, Blue, and Red), purpose (State Dining Room and Family Dining Room), and directional orientation (East Room), but this was not always so. During the early administrations, each president used the rooms of the State Floor differently. John Adams, whose residence in the White House lasted only fo
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John F. Kennedy at Gettysburg and Antietam Battlefields
In December 1960, as the country anticipated the centennial commemoration of the American Civil War, President Dwight D. Eisenhower asked the country to observe the upcoming anniversaries, “all to the end of enriching our knowledge and appreciation of this momentous chapter in our Nation’s history and of making this memorable period truly a Centennial for all Americans.”1 Many American families and ci
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Calvin Coolidge's Indelible Vacation to the Black Hills
The first vacations of President Calvin Coolidge were not very different from those of past presidents. Many commanders in chief returned home to briefly relax while fulfilling their presidential duties. President Coolidge often did the same in the early years of his administration. After two vacations along the east coast, however, the president decided to spend a summer in the