Collection 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,...
Main Content
How Long? 2 minutes
Our interest in the surroundings of the White House extends in this issue to include both public and private places, all except one of which survives today. Elizabeth Smith Brownstein’s longtime interest in Civil War Washington has naturally attracted her to the Willard, the capital’s most revered and venerable grand hotel. Observers in Lincoln’s time thought it rivaled the White House and Capitol as the hive of political activity.
Saint John's Church, “The Church of The Presidents,” has been a box seat looking upon the White House stage. Richard F. Grimmett has sketched several of the most significant parishioners from a long and distinguished line. A few doors away lived the orator Robert G. Ingersoll, whose name is no longer a household word but was indeed that in the 1870s and 1880s, when he occupied a now-vanished row house in Lafayette Square, as Steven Lowe relates.
Neil W. Horstman, president of the White House Historical Association, introduces and describes the organization's renaissance of historic Decatur House in its new life as our history center.
Caroline Kennedy, who spent part of her childhood in Lafayette Square, recalls the devotion her parents had for the park and the square.
We will revisit the neighborhood in future issues.
In 1821-1822, Susan Decatur requested the construction of a service wing. The first floor featured a large kitchen, dining room,...
Since the James Madison presidency, St. John’s Church has been an important part of the life of Lafayette Square an...
In 1816, Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr. and his wife Susan moved to the nascent capital city of Washington, D.C. With...
In this special episode of The 1600 Sessions, financier and philanthropist David Rubenstein interviews White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin...
Today, the celebration of Halloween conjures images of costumed trick-or-treaters, sweets, and jack-o'-lanterns; but there was a time when All...
For more than two hundred years, Lafayette Square has been home to a wide variety of historical figures, from diplomats...
The White House observance of Christmas before the twentieth century was not an official event. First families decorated the house...
From the beginning of its construction in 1792, until the 1902 renovation that shaped the modern identity and functions of the interior...
Since the White House was first occupied by President John Adams in 1800, influential people and organizations—or those who hoped to...
For more than a century, thousands of Americans have gathered in Lafayette Park across from the White House to exercise...
For two hundred years, Decatur House has stood as a near neighbor to the White House across Lafayette Square. Stewart...
January 14, 1964: State Dinner for Italian President Antonio Segni was hosted by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Featured entertainment included Robert Merrill...