"A Unique Privilege"
On June 11, 1945, nearly two months into his presidency, Harry Truman wrote to his daughter Margaret: “you evidently are just finding ou...
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The Christmas Eve West Wing Fire of 1929
On Christmas Eve 1929 the White House experienced its most powerful fire since the British torched the Executive Mansion 115 years earlier....
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Foreword; White House History (Number 36)
Surrounding the President of the United States are clouds of relatives, moving about close and distant, that are ever marked...
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Remembering My Mother in the White House
Through the vision of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the White House Historical Association was chartered on November 3, 1961, “to enhance understanding, ap...
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The Association's Decatur House on Lafayette Square
In the year 2011 the White House Historical Association entered its fiftieth year. Established during the administration of President John F....
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White House Thanksgiving Turkeys in the Roaring '20s
First families received turkeys as gifts long before the 1920s. Horace Vose, the “Poultry King” of southwestern Rhode Island, first sent...
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Nellie Arthur in the White House
Nellie Arthur, daughter of President Chester Arthur, did not like the White House when she first took residence there in 1881....
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James Madison's Brother Willey
"I am much at a loss how to dispose of Willey,” James Madison wrote to his father on December 8, 1779. “I can...
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A Brief History of the Presidential Seal
The Presidential Seal is synonymous with presidential authority and executive power. However, there were many different iterations, modifications, and alterations...
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The Locomotive Tea Set
The Statue of Liberty that stands in New York Harbor is surely the largest gift from France to this country....
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Stage Struck
Two leading ladies appeared at Washington’s National Theatre on the evening of July 2, 1886. On stage was Nellie McCartee, the st...
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Presidents' Day at the White House
Just how does the president celebrate Presidents’ Day? Throughout the more than 200-year history of the White House, presidents themselves ha...