“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
From the streets of Selma to the walls of the White House, Martin Luther King, Jr. worked tirelessly for the civil rights of African-Americans, and ultimately human rights for everyone. Enjoy this slideshow of photographs that document his influence on four presidential administrations.
Since Mrs. Kennedy began efforts to restore the historic integrity to the public rooms of the White House in 1961, every First Lady has taken an active interest in and supported the work of the White House Historical Association.
Join us as we enter our second half century of sharing the rich history of the White House with the people of America and begin to open new and exciting avenues of research, lecture and educational programs with the opening of the David M. Rubenstein Center for White House History at Decatur House in 2013.
View the audio slideshow message from White House Historical Association President Neil Horstman:
The reverse side of the 2011 Theodore Roosevelt ornament is a colorized scene of the family’s discovery of Archie’s hidden Christmas tree found in a seamstress’s closet in 1903.
The discovery of the tree, defying the president’s ban, was a popular Christmas illustration for a story that ran in Ladies Home Journal underscoring the simplicity of the Roosevelt family’s Christmas decorations and the president’s conservation ethic. Holly and candle motifs from that article inspired the design of the ornament’s gold plated brass frame.
Since 1981, the White House Historical Association has produced an annual White House Christmas ornament that celebrates the life and presidency of each United States President. Each year, careful consideration goes into the theme and design of each ornament and the one that best honors and reflects the president is selected.
The front of the 2011 Theodore Roosevelt ornament is a colorized reproduction of a Harper’s Weekly political cartoon by William A. Rogers that captured the anticipation associated with the Roosevelt family’s first Christmas at the White House in 1901.
Original cartoon by William A. Rogers as it appeared in Harper’s Weekly.
It reflects the excitement President Roosevelt and his lively young family brought to life at the White House. There had been no children in the White House for more than a decade so the caption noted, “I hear that there are some kids in the White House this year.” The similarity of the drawing of a jolly and rotund Santa Claus with his white flowing beard was popularized in later twentieth century advertising and reflects an evolution of the modern identity of Santa Claus from cartoonist Thomas Nast’s elf-like Santa in Harper’s Weekly in 1862, the Rogers 1901 version on this ornament, to artist Haddon Sundblom’s famous 1931 red-suited Santa for a Coca Cola ad campaign.
An 1893 depiction of an elf-like Santa in the St. Paul Daily Globe. Library of Congress.
The David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History at Decatur House.
The White House Historical Association announced a gift of $10 million from philanthropist and former White House aide David M. Rubenstein to establish an education and research institute for White House history.
The David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History will feature an innovative and digital and online resource center, interactive and immersive new educational experiences, and new programs to engage the community. Expected to be fully operational in 2013, the Center will be located at Decatur House, a National Trust site owned by the National Trust and operated by the White House Historical Association. Read more
Often called the People’s House, the White House has been toured by many Americans, but the rooms are so impressive and the décor so compelling that individual objects often get lost among all the glories. Seeing them singled out in an exhibition such as this, learning who created them, in what style, for what purpose and for which first family, adds interest to each item and makes it come alive.
The exhibition Something of Splendor: Decorative Arts from the White House, honoring the 50th anniversary of the White House Historical Association, opens at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. tomorrow (October 1, 2011–May 6, 2012). It is amazing to realize that before 1961 Congress did not appropriate funds to maintain an art or decorative arts collection at the executive residence. The government routinely provided funds for the furnishing and operation of the house, but appropriations to acquire and preserve appropriate, historically significant works of art and furniture for the public rooms were rare.
In the past Congress authorized the president to auction and sell worn or obsolete household goods from the White House and use the proceeds to furnish the White House as they saw fit. The most notable auction occurred in 1882 when President Chester A. Arthur cleaned out the White House selling off 30 barrels of china and 24 wagonloads of furniture and “junk.”
In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy initiated a three-part program to restore the historic integrity of the public rooms of the White House, acquire a collection of fine and decorative arts, and establish the White House Historical Association to research and publish books and educational materials interpreting the White House and its history. Every first lady since has taken an active interest in and supported the work of the association in the acquisition of historic furnishings and art work for the permanent White House collection, and the preservation of public rooms.
On a July afternoon in 1902, Theodore Roosevelt exchanged the sizzle of a Washington summer for the ocean breezes of Oyster Bay, New York, and forever transformed the nature of the presidential vacation. Theodore Roosevelt single-handedly invented the modern presidential vacation.
While earlier chief executives traveled with just a clerk or two, TR moved key White House staff members and a full support team to rented offices near Sagamore Hill, his home in Oyster Bay, N.Y. They set up communications links with the White House, making sure the vacationing president had the means to deal with any emergency and all routine business. This practice has been continued in one form or another by all succeeding presidents.
Always an exponent of the vigorous life, TR rowed a boat on Oyster Bay, took an axe to trees, rode horses, played tennis and led his children on cross-country obstacle races. In 1905 he used Sagamore Hill and the presidential yacht Mayflower, lying at anchor in Oyster Bay, to open peace negotiations that ended the Russo-Japanese War and earned the president the Nobel peace prize.
On his travels the president hunted bear, deer, elk and coyote. An incident involving a black bear led to a popular cartoon image and the creation of the Teddy Bear. TR’s exploration of Yellowstone, Yosemite and other natural wonders resulted in the protection of millions of acres of wilderness and wildlife preserve.
In the president’s second term, First Lady Edith Roosevelt bought a small, quite plain clapboard house in the woods near Charlottesville, Virginia, only a few hours by train from Washington. The Roosevelts named the place Pine Knot, and used it as a bird-watching haven and hunting lodge. Pine Knot, a reporter commented, is the least pretentious house ever occupied by a president while in office.
On Tuesday, July 12, the White House Historical Association hosted a group of 51 high school students at the National Center for White House History at Decatur House as part of the annual Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference. Facilitated by the Freedom Forum, this program aims to inspire and equip students in the nation to pursue journalism and media careers. Representing each state and the District of Columbia, these students spent the morning learning about the relationship of the press and the executive branch.
From left: Moderator Jack Marsh of the Freedom Forum, White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest, Carl Leubsdorf of the DallasMorning News and Susan Page of USAToday field questions.
Educators from the Newseum began with an interactive lesson about the press and the presidency, focusing on the role media plays in shaping the president’s image. Bill Bushong presented an illustrated overview of the history of press at the White House. Jack Marsh, of the Freedom Forum, moderated a discussion with veteran journalists Susan Page and Carl Leubsdorf about their personal experiences in the field and were later joined by Josh Earnest, principal deputy press secretary for President Obama. After touring the White House, the students returned for a discussion with Mike McCurry about his experience as Press Secretary to President Bill Clinton.
Mike McCurry, press secretary to President Bill Clinton, engages in a Q&A session with student participants.
