Thomas Jefferson's White House
Read Digital EditionForeword, William Seale"A Well-Ordered Household": Domestic Servants in Jefferson's White House, Lucia StantonJefferson's White House Dinner Guests,...
Outfitting Jefferson Today
Bill Barker at Colonial Williamsburg
Bill Barker, one of Colonial Williamsburg’s star interpreters, specializes in being Thomas Jefferson. Some Williamsburg costumes are generic, while others, like Barker’s are specific to the characters, for he actually is an actor playing the role of Jefferson in a whole repertoire of historical speeches and Q & A sessions with visitors to the re-created city. Curators, specialists in eighteenth-century costume, study portraits, early manuscript store orders, a whol library of prints and even drawings to document the designs. Tailored to what is known about Jefferson’s taste in clothes, Barker’s costumes follow the highest standards of authentic textile and construction.
President Jefferson ordered costly textiles for upholstery and curtains, but took little interest in fine fabrics for his clothes. Bill Barker represents Jefferson here in a blue linen frock coat, walking with a lady in the garden of the colonial Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg. Costumes and characters blend with the re-created colonial period scene to kindle the twenty-first century visitor’s imagination.
Barker demonstrates Jefferson’s great ability in the saddle, taking a brief ride, bootless, in a quite unequestrian frock coat of gray silk trimmed in white and gray and wool breeches.
The need for evening clothes inspired Williamsburg’s costume department to create this fine 1770s style coat of satin-weave silk, embroidered with gold metal threads. The breeches are of figured aqua colored silk.
Barker’s Jefferson booted for a ride and wearing a red linen waistcoat designed upon the one Jefferson is shown wearing in John Trumbull’s 1818 panoramic painting The Declaration of Independence, which hangs in the U.S. Capitol.
Barker represents Jefferson the president, in a Federal period styled wool coat, with a waistcoat of pink silk, and silk breeches woven hard-surface, much like taffeta.
You Might Also Like
-
-
Sharing White House History about Thomas Jefferson
The White House Historical Association and presidential libraries, historic homes, and museums have a shared goal of providing access to...
-
Bio Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia to Jane and Peter Jefferson. His father was a Virginia...
-
Collection Presidential Inaugurations
In April 1789, George Washington took the oath of office in New York City. Constitutional guidelines for inaugurations are sparse, offering...
-
Collection Fourth of July at the White House
It was President Thomas Jefferson who first established the traditions of a Fourth of July celebration at the White House....
-
Collection "The President's Own"
On July 11, 1798, Congress passed legislation that created the United States Marine Corps and the Marine Band, America's oldest professional musical...
-
Collection White House in Bloom
The White House Grounds began as approximately 85 acres of land chosen by George Washington and was refined and cultivated by...
-
Collection The Presidents
Biographies & Portraits
-
White House History Table of Contents
NUMBERS 1 THROUGH 6 (COLLECTION I) WHITE HOUSE HISTORY • NUMBER 1 1 — Foreword by Melvin M. Payne 5 — President Kennedy’s Rose Garden by Rachel Lambert...
-
About Our Authors
JAMES ARCHER ABBOTT is the Executive Director of the Lewes Historical Society in Lewes, Delaware. His publications include JANSEN, JANSEN...
-
U.S. Presidential Visits to Domestic Mosques
June 28, 1957: President Dwight D. Eisenhower - Islamic Center of WashingtonPresident Dwight D. Eisenhower's Remarks at Ceremonies Opening the Islamic CenterMr....
-
White House History Quarterly Advisors
Bill BarkerVeteran historical actor-interpreter Bill Barker is widely recognized as the nation’s foremost interpreter of Thomas Jefferson. After portraying Th...
