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The collection of fine art at the White House has evolved and grown over time. The collection began with mostly presidential portraits, commissioned or purchased by Congress, or donated by presidential descendants. In the era before photography, some presidents invited painters to set up studios in the White House to record significant events and paint their likeness. In the late
An issue about the White House and the West naturally draws one’s attention to the expansionism experienced during Jefferson’s administration. While the glow of new, cheap land way out there somewhere reverberated in the average citizen’s mind, natural curiosity made him or her wonder also what the West was like. People knew it was different, and might have s
In our own time thoughts about “the West” have been rather vividly colored by popular culture imagery depicting the rugged individual in mortal conflict with a violent and unyielding terrain. But for many artists and writers of the nineteenth century the West was more an ideal destination than a specific locale. As the nascent United States began to expand westward from
TEACHER'S TEXT:Most young children know the White House as the place where the president of the United States lives and works. The image of the building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. is so widespread, and its history so enduring, that the building itself has come to symbolize American leadership. Journalists will write, "according to the White House . . ."
TEACHER'S TEXT:The White House lends itself to an exploration of colors and shapes. The rooms that visitors see on the first floor are rectangles, squares and ovals. There are also arches and a semi-circular porch. Bold colors are represented in the paint, wallpaper, draperies and furniture upholstery of the rooms. To illustrate this point, three rooms are actually known
Timeline of Events:August 29, 1814: Faced with a British demand to surrender 21 merchant ships, naval and ordinance stores and cotton, flour, tobacco and wines from the city warehouses or face attack from a squadron of seven ships, Alexandria's mayor and council bowed to the inevitable and agreed to the British demand—for they had no reliable defenses or defenders.August 30, 1814: A wa
