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Uriah Levy's Gift to the Nation
For nearly twenty seven years, a full-length bronze sculpture of Thomas Jefferson was displayed at the center of the North Lawn in front of the White House. It was a feature that dominated the view from Pennsylvania Avenue and appeared prominently in engravings, paintings, and photographs of the period. The work of well-regarded French sculptor, Pierre-Jean David d’Angers (1788–1856), the stat
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Nell Arthur's Memorial Window
Stained glass, a medieval art, was revisited in the historically retrospective nineteenth century. The art was a prominent feature of two significant renovation projects in Washington, D.C., during the presidency of Chester Alan Arthur (1881–85). Saint John’s Church in Lafayette Square engaged Lorin, a studio based in Chartres, France, to create stained glass windows for its new pictorial glazing prog
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Sports & Recreation
The White House tennis court, first built in 1902 behind the West wing, was moved to the west side of the south lawn in 1909 to make way for the expansion of Executive office space.A heated indoor swimming pool was built in 1933 for Franklin D. Roosevelt's therapy as he was disabled by poliomyelitis. During President Nixon's first term, this space in
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John and Abigail Adams: A Tradition Begins
John and Abigail Adams had a wealth of experience in establishing and living in official houses prior to their move into the new President's House in Washington, D.C., in 1800. Adams had represented the United States in diplomatic missions to Europe during the Revolution, and in Paris and London in the 1780s when Abigail Adams joined him. They lived and
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President Eisenhower: The Painter
The only true response to art is to look with an eye like that of a child: unprejudiced, unbiased, clear, and uncommitted. When it is the art of a celebrity, this ideal, always almost unobtainable, becomes progressively difficult. Can we see the work in the dazzle of the artist’s aura? When the paintings of Noel Coward come to auction, th
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John Tyler and Presidential Succession
Just after midnight on April 4, 1841, William Henry Harrison died after only thirty-one days in office. At daybreak on April 5th, Vice President John Tyler received a knock on his door in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he was visiting family. Fletcher Webster, the son of Secretary of State Daniel Webster, delivered the news of the president’s death. By dawn on April 6th
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First Ladies and Cherry Blossoms
Every spring, the National Cherry Blossom Festival commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,020 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo, Japan, to the city of Washington, D.C. This cherished tradition has deep historic ties to the White House and the nation’s first ladies, beginning with First Lady Helen Herron Taft.For over twenty years, writer Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, known fo
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Abraham Lincoln's Cabinet
On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office and became the sixteenth President of the United States. While he had no way of knowing the extent challenges ahead, a pall hung over the celebrations as the nation hovered on the brink of civil war. To lead the nation during the looming crisis, Lincoln appointed a group of opinionated, stubborn,
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Lighting the Menorah: Celebrating Hanukkah at the White House
Throughout the history of the United States, all the nation’s presidents have been Christians.1 In modern times, to celebrate the holidays, starting in early December the White House is decorated with brightly ornamented Christmas trees, garlands festooned over mantels and doorways, and the eighteenth-century crèche, a gift to the White House collection in 1967, gloriously displayed in the East Roo
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Eleanor Roosevelt's White House Portrait Session
In 1949, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt sat for her portrait in Douglas Chandor’s New York studio. Seventeen years later, The White House Historical Association purchased the portrait for the White House Collection. First Lady Lady Bird Johnson invited more than 250 guests to the February 4, 1966, presentation of the portrait, including friends, family, and former associates of Mrs. Roosevelt. Enjoy the flickr sl
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The Solarium
The Solarium on the Third Floor has been called the “The Camp David of the White House.”1 With its floor-to-ceiling windows and its panoramic view of the Washington Monument and the Mall, the Solarium has been from its inception the retreat of first families. Here they find a cozy place where they can escape from their public roles and enjoy the
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"Proud Housewife": Mamie Eisenhower Collects for the White House
Every presidential family that resides in the White House leaves a mark on the building and its traditions. The extent of a family’s influence on the physical White House depends usually on its length of residence and its inclinations to take the trouble to make changes. History plays a part as well. While major additions to the White House an