Diversity in White House Art: Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Lawrence, one of the twentieth century’s most celebrated Black artists, is remembered for his vivid portrayals of the Bl...
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Sarah Fling
Sarah Fling came to the White House Historical Association in 2019 as a graduate public history fellow before joining as a historian in 2021. She received her bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Pittsburgh and her master’s degree in Public History from American University. Sarah specializes in material culture and nineteenth-century women’s history.
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Spanish Influenza in the President's Neighborhood
When Americans consider threats to democracy during President Woodrow Wilson’s administration, they usually think of the bloody world conflict th...
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Diversity in White House Art: Simmie Knox
On June 14, 2004, the official portraits of President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton were unveiled in the East Room...
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George DeBaptiste
President William Henry Harrison’s famously brief month-long tenure at the White House makes it difficult to research the inner wo...
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Betty Ford: Activist First Lady
Betty Bloomer Ford was not a politician. She was a dancer, a model, a wife, and a mother. She never...
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The First Ladies and Slavery
Most Americans do not associate the first ladies with slave ownership. In fact, it may be surprising to learn that...
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Material Culture at Decatur House
Without photographs, paintings, or other visual representations of the Decatur House Slave Quarters from the antebellum period, it is difficult...
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Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1818 along the Eastern Shore of Maryland. During his childhood, the wife of one...
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Harriet Lane
Most Americans have never heard of Harriet Lane, but at the time of her uncle James Buchanan’s presidency, she wa...
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“Kitchen Genius”: Dolly Johnson at the White House
Cuisine is a central part of life at the White House. From State Dinners and diplomatic receptions to private meals...
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The Enslaved Households of President Zachary Taylor
Born in 1784, Zachary Taylor grew up on a plantation in Virginia. His father, Richard Taylor, was an officer in the...
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Philip Reed
Often, the accomplishments and contributions of enslaved people are lost to history—undocumented, ignored, or forgotten by successive generations. One of...