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Scholarship
The White House Social Secretary: Job Description and Work Culture
What are the responsibilities of the social secretary?The social secretary works with the first lady in the overall planning, arrangement, coordination and direction of all official and personal social events given by the president and his family. This includes the form and wording of invitations, the compiling of guest lists, the setting of menus, the seating, the choice of
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Scholarship
Landscapes & Gardens
John Adams was the first president to occupy the White House in 1800; one of his first additions was a vegetable garden.In 1801, Thomas Jefferson was active in planning improvements for the Executive Mansion (White House) garden, including a stone wall around the house. He also directed the planting of numerous trees between 1802 and 1806.While the White House was being rebuilt
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Article
Installing a Ventilation System
Social functions at the Ulysses S. Grant White House attracted so many visitors that the Red, Blue, and Green parlors became extremely hot and stuffy. For this reason, a special ventilation system was added to circulate the air. Exactly how the system worked is not known, but it was operated from the ceiling by a pair of long tasseled cords-like
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White House Improvements in the 1850s
The 1850s saw many improvements and expansions to the mansion's existing conveniences. By this time many Americans who had gaslight wondered how they had ever lived without it. President Zachary Taylor ordered an enlargement of the gas system into the White House's offices, family quarters, and basement. Millard Fillmore determined that the house should be comfortable in any season and
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White House Plumbing Installation
President John Quincy Adams was an avid gardener who expanded the White House garden to two acres. An iron garden pump with "nine spout holes" was attached to a well at the Treasury building and provided water for the grounds. The Committee on Public Buildings discussed piping running water into the house in 1829 for fire protection, not convenience. President James
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Introduction to the Transcription of the Washington Diary of Elizabeth L.C. Dixon
In November 1845, Elizabeth Lord Cogswell Dixon arrived for the “season” in Washington, D.C., with her family. Her husband, James Dixon, of Hartford, Connecticut, had been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Whig, ultimately serving two terms, in the Twenty-Ninth and Thirtieth Congresses (March 4, 1845–March 3, 1849). In addition to their two little girls—4-year-old Elizabeth (“Bessie”) and 1-year-old Cl
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The President and Washington During the War with Mexico
James Knox Polk was at home in Columbia, Tennessee, when he judged that it was about time to find out the results of the election. A dispatch from Washington was waiting for him at the post office. And the news of his presidential victory marked not only a change in his life, but marked, in retrospect, the start of the
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Good Neighbors: FDR, Major Gist, and Blair House
From its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth and into the early twentieth century, the historic preservation movement in the United States drew its leadership from private citizens, not government officials.1 An archival collection kept at Blair House, The President’s Guest House, records the pioneering alliance of Major Gist Blair, the last family descendant to live there, and President Franklin D. Ro
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Dumbwaiters in Place of Servants
When Thomas Jefferson entertained informally, he ordered five small serving stands to be placed at strategic points around the room. These "dumbwaiters" were small tables, equipped with shelves placed at varying heights. Some might hold salads and wine; others would accommodate cutlery and serving utensils. Servants brought in hot food, but did not remain in the room during the meal.
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Lighting the White House
Designed to be lit in the way common to the world at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the President’s House in 1800 had natural light streaming in through windows that stretched 14 feet high and 5 feet across. The first family and residence staff pulled tables and chairs close to the windows so they could read and write, or sew and po
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Computers at the White House
The Jimmy Carter administration began the task of automating the White House with computers. Initial uses included assembling databases, tracking correspondence, developing a press release system, and compiling issues and concerns of Congress. In 1978, the West Wing was equipped with a Hewlett Packard 3000, which was connected to terminals in the office of senior and mid-level staff. By the end of
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Article
Electricity Use Expands
By the 1920s electric vacuum cleaners were cleaning the White House carpets, and an electric refrigerator was humming in the kitchen. Warren G. Harding had the house's first radio set installed in his study in 1922 on the second floor. To further advance the use of electricity, Calvin Coolidge celebrated the holiday season of 1923 by lighting the first National Christmas Tree