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  • Bio

    Julia Tyler

    Julia Gardiner was born to David and Juliana Gardiner in 1820 on Gardiner’s Island, New York.1 As the daughter of one of New York’s wealthiest and most prominent families, Julia received a private school education at Madame N.D. Chagaray Institute for Young Ladies and toured Europe with her family.2 Upon returning to the United States, Julia met President John

  • Bio

    Julia Grant

    On January 26, 1826, Julia Dent was born to parents Frederick and Ellen Dent in St. Louis, Missouri.1 One of seven children, Julia grew up at her family’s plantation, White Haven. There, she interacted with and was served by enslaved servants.2 From age ten to seventeen, Julia attended Misses Mauros’ boarding school in St. Louis, studying literature, history, philosophy, and other subj

  • Bio

    Elizabeth Monroe

    Elizabeth Kortright was born to Lawrence and Hannah Kortright in New York City on June 30, 1768.1 On February 16, 1786, she married James Monroe in New York, and together they had three children: Eliza (1786), James (1799), and Maria (1802).2 Very little is known about Elizabeth Monroe’s personal life; according to family tradition, James Monroe burned his wife’s letters after she died. Only a hand

  • Bio

    Ellen Wilson

    “I am naturally the most unambitious of women and life in the White House has no attractions for me.” Mrs. Wilson was writing to thank President Taft for advice concerning the mansion he was leaving. Two years as first lady of New Jersey had given her valuable experience in the duties of a woman whose time belongs to the people. She

  • Scholarship

    The Presidential Sweet Tooth

    As the holidays approach, thoughts inevitably turn to sugar plums, gingerbread, and all of the other delectable treats that season brings with it. Sweets signal the changing of seasons and the arrival of holidays, from cookies at Christmas to popsicles in the heat of summer. The same is true at the White House, where presidents and their families have enjoyed

  • Scholarship

    A History of White House Flowers and Florists

    April showers might bring May flowers, but White House florists keep the Executive Mansion in bloom year-round. Today the White House Chief Floral Designer and her staff have a flower shop in the basement of the mansion, beneath the North Portico. They create and maintain arrangements for display in the public and private rooms of the White House and design

  • Scholarship

    Music at Jimmy Carter’s White House

    “Country music is part of the soul and conscience of our democracy. It unfolds the inherent goodness of our people and our way of life. It captures our indomitable spirit and pulsates with the sorrows, joys, and unfailing perseverance of ordinary men and women who sustain our national vitality and strength.”1 – Jimmy Carter at the Country Music Association Concert at the Wh

  • Scholarship

    The Chandeliers of the East Room

    After ascending the staircase from the Ground Floor to the State Floor, the first room that visitors on a tour of the White House encounter is the East Room. As the largest room in the Executive Mansion, it has accommodated weddings, funerals, State Dinners, and much more, but during the nineteenth century it was primarily used as a reception space

  • Scholarship

    Nancy Syphax – Life and Legacy

    Nancy Syphax was a member of a prominent Washington, D.C. family that was considered to be among the “Black Elite” during the nineteenth century.1 Unfortunately, Nancy did not share the same status as most of her family. Instead, she worked as an enslaved house servant in the President’s Neighborhood at Decatur House for John Gadsby from at least 1836 until

  • Scholarship

    Harper’s Weekly Invites Its Readers Inside the White House

    Historians have previously discussed the wider impact of technological innovations that facilitated the emergence of the illustrated press in the mid-nineteenth century.1 Founded in 1857, Harper’s Weekly offered its readers not only the opportunity to read about the news but also visually bear witness to it for the next six decades. It covered politics, society, and war, as great scholarly at