Collection The White House Social Secretary
For more than one hundred years, White House Social Secretaries have displayed a profound knowledge of protocol and society in...
Main Content
Born in Paris in 1781, the charming Jean Pierre Sioussat was known as “French John.” Jefferson had appointed him doorkeeper, “an office of greater dignity than that of a mere hall porter,” as White House chronicler Esther Singleton noted in 1907. Sioussat advised Dolley Madison on the evacuation of the White House during the War of 1812.
For more than one hundred years, White House Social Secretaries have displayed a profound knowledge of protocol and society in...
For more than two centuries, the White House has been the home of American presidents. A powerful symbol of the...
The White House Historical Association and the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project present this collaboration in an effort to open a...
The occupational culture and management of the 19th-century White House reflected the social climate and ethnic composition of Washington, D....
In the day-to-day life of the White House, interactions between the first family and the residence staff have varied widely....
Perhaps the most significant change for the White House and its workers during the past several decades has been that...
"Every day is wash-day at the White House,” housekeeper Elizabeth Jaffray recalled. The three maids assigned to the laundry when Ja...
When a new president moves in, he and his family bring along their own tastes, preferences, and customs. The new...
Family connections among the White House residence staff run strong, and it is not unusual for workers in the Executive...
Every occupational group, whether doctors, teachers, or factory workers, has its own distinctive culture. Each group possesses special skills, language,...
To Alexander Woollcott, the White House was the “best theatrical boarding house in Washington.” To his hostess, First Lady Eleanor Roos...
Every effective politician understands the importance and tone of public contact. From the first, presidents, as the nation’s chief ma...