“The Back Building”: An Architectural History of the Decatur House Slave Quarters 1

In 1980, Margaret Johnson Patterson Bartlett, great-granddaughter of First Lady Eliza McCardle Johnson and President Andrew Johnson, gave an oral interview at Harpers Ferry about the history of her family. Alluding that her ancestors wanted to keep certain family secrets hidden from the public, Mrs. Bartlett recalled when her father sold documents to the Library of Congress in 1904: “My daddy [Andrew Jo

James Buchanan is often regarded as one of the worst presidents in United States history.1 Many historians contend that Buchanan’s sympathy toward the South and reluctance to stop the first seven states from seceding led to the American Civil War, but less attention has been given to how his upbringing and earlier experiences shaped his views on slavery.2 Although Pe

On February 11, 1829, members of Congress convened to certify votes for President and Vice President of the United States as Andrew Jackson had recently defeated incumbent President John Quincy Adams after an acrimonious campaign.1 As the Adams administration came to an end, Secretary of State Henry Clay made plans to vacate his post in Washington and return to Ashland, his Kentucky

Built in 1818-1819, Decatur House was designed by the English architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe for Commodore Stephen Decatur and Susan Decatur. Latrobe had previously sent proposals and estimates to Decatur in June 1817, along with this advice: “If the house should be occupied by a foreign Minister, I would also recommend the addition of a slight one story-room, for a servant’s ha

Through research and analysis of written accounts, letters, newspapers, memoirs, census records, architecture, and oral histories, historians, museum professionals, and descendants seek to restore the voices of enslaved people. Although it is possible to construct certain details of an enslaved person’s life, it is often difficult to know about their physical appearance because it is extraordinarily rare to find im

Without photographs, paintings, or other visual representations of the Decatur House Slave Quarters from the antebellum period, it is difficult to know exactly what the space looked like while it was inhabited by free and enslaved workers. Unfortunately, the furnishings of antebellum slave quarters are poorly documented—even more so when examining urban environments rather than plantations. However, primary source ev

President William Henry Harrison’s famously brief month-long tenure at the White House makes it difficult to research the inner workings of the Executive Mansion during his administration, and an 1858 fire at his family’s home in North Bend, Ohio, destroyed many documents related to this particular period of Harrison’s life.1 However, obituaries and recollections reveal a fascinating individual who wo

Upon stepping into the White House China Room, visitors encounter tableware from nearly every presidential administration or first family. Tucked into one of the impressive glass display cases is a small, porcelain sugar bowl. To many viewers, the bowl may seem like an ordinary piece of White House tableware. But what if a bowl could tell a bigger story? A

On May 2, 1812, Captain Paul Cuffe arrived at the White House for a meeting with President James Madison.1 The internationally renowned sea captain and entrepreneurial maritime trader planned to discuss two pressing issues with the president: the transatlantic emigration of African Americans to Africa, and the growing hostilities between the United States and Great Britain. Cuffe not only became “one of th

The First Baptist Church of the City of Washington D.C. was founded in 1802, shortly after Washington D.C. became the federal seat of government.1 For Baptists in early America, religious liberty was a pillar of the faith, but one that did not fully extend to enslaved persons and free Black people within Baptist congregations. As a church just north

“Would it be superstitious to presume, that the Sovereign Father of all nations, permitted the perpetration of this apparently execrable transaction, as a fiery, though salutary signal of his displeasure at the conduct of his Columbian children, in erecting and idolizing this… temple of freedom, and at the same time oppressing with the yoke of captivity and toilsome bondage, twelve or f