The Working White House: Handbooks

Handbooks such as these would have provided guidelines for service and etiquette. One of the authors, Robert Roberts, an African American, served as butler and majordomo in the household of Massachusetts Senator and Governor Christopher Gore. Tunis G. Campbell, an African American preacher and abolitionist, worked as a hotel steward in New York and Boston.

Credit: Left: Pullman's Palace Car Company Car-Service Rules, 1893. Newberry Library. Right: Lewis Hotel Training Course by Clifford Lewis, 1941. Lewis Hotel Training School.

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The Decatur House Slave Quarters

In 1821-1822, Susan Decatur requested the construction of a service wing. The first floor featured a large kitchen, dining room, and laundry; while the second floor contained four rooms designated as living quarters. By 1827, the service wing was being used as an urban slave quarters. Henry Clay brought enslaved individuals to Decatur House, starting a trend that was solidified by
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The White House Social Secretary

For more than one hundred years, White House Social Secretaries have demonstrated a profound knowledge of protocol and society in Washington, D.C. The position had its beginnings in the Theodore Roosevelt administration when First Lady Edith Roosevelt hired an executive clerk. From the intricacies of ceremony planning to routine office work, the social secretary must possess unfailing tact in
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'A Tempest in a Teapot'

First Lady Lou Hoover's invitation to Jessie L. DePriest to a White House tea party in 1929 created a storm of protest and indignation. This traditional act of hospitality toward the wife of the first black man elected to Congress in the twentieth century created a political crisis for the president and first lady. This collection explores the "tempest" from the
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The Working White House

For more than two centuries, the White House has been the home of American presidents. A powerful symbol of the nation, it is a uniquely private and public space. Since John and Abigail Adams first moved into the “President’s House” in November 1800, hundreds of individuals have worked behind the scenes to help the White House fulfill its roles as a seat
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White House Military Social Aides

The White House Military Social Aides have played an important role in many different White House events and functions. They have assisted the President with diplomatic protocol at State events, at annual meetings with the leaders of Congress and the Federal Judiciary, and at other significant social events. Military Social Aides play the role of assistant hosts at the White
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The Historic Stephen Decatur House

In 1816, Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr. and his wife Susan moved to the nascent capital city of Washington, D.C. With the prize money he received from his naval feats, Decatur purchased the entire city block on the northwest corner of today’s Lafayette Square. The Decaturs commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe, one of America’s first professional architects, to design and buil
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The White House Behind the Scenes

While the presidency is often in the eye of the public, those who ensure operations at the White House run smoothly on a day-to-day basis often carry out their work behind the scenes. Furthermore, some of the president's most intimate relationships play out behind the walls of the Executive Mansion. In this collection, pull back the curtain on some of
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David M. Rubenstein

David M. Rubenstein is co-founder and co-chairman of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest and most successful private investment firms. Established in 1987, Carlyle now manages $369 billion from twenty-nine offices around the world. Mr. Rubenstein is chairman of the boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Gallery of
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Slavery and Freedom in the White House Collection

The White House Collection and the Atlantic World Jennifer L. Anderson, Mahogany: The Costs of Luxury in Early America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012). Vernon C. Stoneman, John and Thomas Seymour, Cabinetmakers in Boston, 1794-1816 (Boston, MA: Special Publications, 1959). Sarah Fling, “Sugar, Slavery, and the Washington China,” White House Historical Association, https://www.whitehousehistory.org/sugar-slavery-and-the-washington-china.Hannah Boettcher and Ronald W. F
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Lonnie G. Bunch III

Lonnie G. Bunch III is the fourteenth secretary of the Smithsonian; he assumed his position June 16, 2019. As secretary, he oversees twenty-one museums, twenty-one libraries, the National Zoo, numerous research centers, and several education units and centers. Two new museums—the National Museum of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum—are in development. Bunch was the foundi
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1862 Emancipation Petitions

The Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln “Civil War Washington” website has posted the 1862 Emancipation Petitions, providing widespread access to these primary documents. To meet the requirements of the D.C. Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862, slave owners filed a petition with the District government that stated their loyalty to the Union, listed the number and
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19th Century White House Staff

For most of the 19th century, the structure of the White House staff remained generally the same. At the top was the steward, a federal employee who was bonded; the Congress created this position to safeguard the silver and furnishings in the house. The steward was on the government payroll. He functioned as the manager of the house. The job