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William Seale - In Memoriam 1939–2019
Dr. William Seale, whose contributions to the programs and publications of the White House Historical Association for more than forty years were instrumental in shaping the Association’s study and dissemination of White House history, passed away on November 21, 2019, following a long illness. His unique approach to the study of history through biography, architecture, landscape, and cultural context expanded the pu
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Construction of the White House
In 1791, working with George Washington, artist and engineer Pierre Charles L'Enfant prepared a city plan for Washington, D.C., reserving eighty-two acres for a "President's Park."L'Enfant's original design for a "President's Palace" was approximately four times the size of the present White House. James Hoban substantially reduced the house's scale in the final approved design.The White House was
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White House Tour
Following a competition for the design of the President's House in the spring of 1792, Irish architect James Hoban was commissioned to build a home and office for the President of the United States. With guidance from President George Washington, Hoban employed craftsmen brought from as far away as Scotland and oversaw a free and enslaved labor force that constructed one
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Irish Roots
Born in a thatched cottage on the estate of the Cuffe family, Earls of Desart at Cuffesgrange, near Callan in County Kilkenny, Ireland, James Hoban rose from journeyman carpenter and wheelwright to become the architect of the world's most famous house. Little is known of the Hoban family's connection to the Cuffes, other than that Hoban's father Edward worked as
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The White House, Lafayette Square and African Americans
To imagine what it was like here when the White House was being constructed in the 1790s, erase everything else you see now on and around Lafayette Square. The park was a field—muddy or dusty, depending on the weather. Enslaved workers who were building the White House were housed in temporary shelters—each about 10 feet wide and 10 feet long—lined
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Special Spaces
Read Digital Edition Foreword, William SealeA Special Space Lost and Found: Images of Abraham Lincoln's White House Stables, Clifford Krainik and Michele KrainikSecret Spaces at the White House? William SealeA Room of Their Own: The Solarium, Mary Jo BinkerCaroline Harrison's 1891 Music Room: The First Lady Makes the Green Room Her Own, Keith D. MacKayIn a White House Passageway: Evidence Survives
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James Hoban: Architect of the White House
Read Digital EditionForeword, William SealeImagining James Hoban, William BushongWhite House Irish Counterparts, Desmond GuinnessThe Second City in British Dominions: Dublin in the Later Eighteenth Century, Holger HoockGeorge Washington's Bow Window, Edward Lawler Jr.James Hoban: Builder of the White House, William SealeFour Places in Dublin, photography by Bruce M. WhiteBuy NowSubscribe to White House History
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Inaugural Views
Read Digital EditionForeword, William SealeStamps, Parks, and a President: Franklin D. Roosevelt Approves Ten Postage Stamps to Celebrate National Park Year, Robert GroggJames Hoban's 1792 Designs for the President's House, Andrew McCarthyThe First Red Room: Illuminated by Candlelight with the Computer's Eye, David RamseyInaugural Prints at Blair House, Candace ShiremanReflections: Partners in Education, Stewart D. McLaurinBuy NowSubscribe to White House History
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The Truman Renovation
Read Digital Edition Foreword, Robert L. BreedenReality and Illusion: The White House and Harry S. Truman, William P. O'BrienTempest in a Teapot: Truman's Failed Attempt at an Office Addition, Elizabeth Beard GoldsmithLorenzo Simmons Winslow: Architect of the White House, 1933-1952, William B. BushongPictures of the Operation: Abbie Rowe Photographs, the White House Renovation, Clay BauskePresident Truman's Televised Tour, Rex W.
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The Hoban Stamp
In 1981, Irish artist Ron Mercer created a timeless portrait of James Hoban for a postage stamp, and the American designer Walter D. Richards, renowned for his American Architecture Series, rendered the White House. On September 29, 1981, First Lady Nancy Reagan, Postmaster General William F. Bolger, and Ireland's ambassador to the United States Sean Donlon, participated in a dedication ceremony announcing the
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Hoban and Irish Washington, 1790-1831
In 1816, Irish-born author David Baillie Warden described half the population of Washington, D.C., as being Irish noting that the Irish laborers could easily be identified for their lack of familiarity with the English language. His population estimate was an exaggeration, but his observation that Irish immigrants stood out because of distinctive accents and colorful speech patterns was more accurate.
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