Aikman, Lonnelle. The Living White House. Washington, D.C.: The White House Historical Association, 1996.
Cunliffe, Marcus. The American Heritage History of the Presidency. New York: American Heritage Publishing Company, 1968.
Dowd, Mary-Jane M., compiler. Records of the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital - Record Group 42 Inventory No. 16. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992.
Freidel, Frank. The Presidents of the United States. Washington, D.C.: The White House Historical Association, 1995.
Freidel, Frank and Pencak, William, ed. The White House: The First Two Hundred Years. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1994.
Furman, Bess. White House Profile. New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1951.
Garrett, Wendell, ed. Our Changing White House. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1995.
Jensen, Amy LaFollette. The White House and its Thirty-Five Families. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971.
Kirk, Elise K. Music at the White House: A History of the American Spirit. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1986.
Kirk, Elise K. Musical Highlights from the White House. Florida: Krieger Publishing Company, 1992. Klapthor, Margaret B. The First Ladies. Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association, 1995.
Klapthor, Margaret B. Official White House China, 1789 to the Present. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1975.
Kloss, William et al. Art in the White House: A Nation's Pride. Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association, 1992.
Leish, Kenneth W. The White House. New York: Newsweek, 1972.
Ryan, William and Guinness, Desmond. The White House: An Architectural History. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1980.
Seale, William. The President's House: A History. Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association, 1986.
Seale, William. The White House: The History of an American Idea. Washington, D.C.: The American Institute of Architects Press in association with the White House Historical Association, 1992.
Seale, William. The White House Garden. Washington, DC: White House Historical Association, 1996.
Singleton, Esther. The Story of the White House. New York: The McClure Company, 1907.
Smith, Marie. Entertaining in the White House. Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books, 1967.
Spillman, Jane Shadel. White House Glassware: Two Centuries of Presidential Entertaining. Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association, 1989.
West, J. B. Upstairs at the White House. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc. 1973.
The White House: Resources for Research at the Library of Congress. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1992.
The White House: An Historic Guide. Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association, 1995.
U.S. Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion. Report of the Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1952.
First Ladies Biographies:
Anthony, Carl Sferrazza. First Ladies. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1990.
Barzman, Sol. The First Ladies. New York: Cowles Book Company, Inc., 1970.
Bassett, Margaret. American Presidents and Their Wives. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1969.
Boller, Paul F., Jr. Presidential Wives: An Anecdotal History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Brown, Margaret W. The Dresses of the First Ladies of the White House. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1952.
Caroli, Betty Boyd. First Ladies. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
The First Ladies: Martha Washington to Hillary Clinton. New York: Crescent Books, 1992.
Gerlinger, Irene Hazard. Mistresses of the White House. New York: Samuel French, 1950.
Gutin, Myra G. The President's Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.
Holloway, Laura Carter. In the Home of the Presidents. New York: United States Publishing Company, 1875.
Holloway, Laura Carter. The Ladies of the White House. New York: United States Publishing Company, 1870; Philadelphia: Bradley and Company, 1882.
Klapthor, Margaret B. The First Ladies. Washington: White House Historical Association, 1995.
Mayo, Edith P., Meringolo, Denise D. First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image. Washington: Smithsonian Press, 1994.
Mayo, Edith P. The Smithsonian Book of the First Ladies: Their Lives, Times and Issues. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1996.
McConnell, Jane and Burt. Our First Ladies. New York: Crowell, 1957.
Means, Marianne. The Women in the White House. New York: Random House, 1963.
Melick, Arden D. Wives of the Presidents. Maplewood: Hammond, Inc., 1972.
Prindville, Kathleen. First Ladies. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1932.
Randolph, Mary. Presidents and First Ladies. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1936.
Sadler, Christine. America's First Ladies. New York: MacFadden, 1963.
Smith, Nancy Kegan, ed. Modern First Ladies. Washington: National Archives and Records Administration, 1989.
Whitton, Mary O. First First Ladies, 1789-1865. New York: Hastings House, 1948.
Woolfall, Lila GA. Presiding Ladies of the White House. Washington: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1903.
White House Staff Publications:
Braisted, Rear Admiral William c. and Bell, Captain William Hemphill. The Life Story of Presley Marion Rixey Surgeon General, U.S. Navy 1902-1910. Strasburg, Virginia: Shenandoah Publishing House, Inc., 1930. [White House physician during McKinley and Roosevelt administrations]
Butt, Archie. The Letter of Archie Butt. Ed. Lawrence F. Abbott. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1924. [White House Military Aide, 1908-1912]
Butt, Archie. Taft and Roosevelt; The Intimate Letters of Archie Butt Military Aide. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc., 1930, 2 vols.
Carpenter, Liz. Ruffles and Flourishes. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1970.
Crook, Colonel William H. Memories of the White House. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1911. [White House employee, 1865-1911]
Crook, Colonel William H. Through Five Administrations. ed. Margarita Spalding Gerry. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1910.
Fields, Alonzo. My 21 Years in the White House. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1961. [White House butler and Maitre d', 1931-1953]
Hoover, Irwin Hood. 42 Years in the White House. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1934. [White House Usher, 1891-1933]
Jaffray, Elizabeth. Secrets of the White House. New York: Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, 1927. [White House Housekeeper, 1909-1925]
Keckley, Elizabeth. Behind the Scenes. New York: G.W. Carleton & Co., 1868. [Mrs. Lincoln's seamstress and friend]
Lincoln, Anne H. The Kennedy White House Parties. New York: The Viking Press, Inc., 1967. [Assistant Social Secretary and White House Housekeeper during the Kennedy Administration]
McIntire, Vice-Admiral Ross T. and Creel, George. White House Physician. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1946. [Physician for Franklin D. Roosevelt]
Merriman Smith's Book of Presidents: A White House Memoir. ed. Timothy G. Smith. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1972. [UPI reporter]
Nesbitt, Henrietta. White House Diary. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1948. [White House Housekeeper, 1933-1945]
Parks, Lillian Rogers and Leighton, Frances Spatz. My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House. New York: Fleet Publishing Corporation, 1961. [White House seamstress, 1929-1960]
Smith, Ira R.T. and Morris, Joe Alex. "Dear Mr. President. . ." The Story of Fifty Years in the White House Mail Room. New York: Julian Messner, Inc., 1949.
Starling, Colonel Edmund W. and Sugrue, Thomas. Starling of the White House. New York: Simon & Shuster, 1946. [Secret service agent, 1914-1944]
West, J.B. and Kotz, Mary Lynn. Upstairs at the White House. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc., 1973. [White House Usher, 1941-1969]
Presidential and White House Recipes and Menus Bibliography:
Cannon, Poppy and Brooks, Patricia. The Presidents' Cookbook. New York: Bonanza Books, 1967.
Erwin, Jane. The White House Cookbook. Follett Publishing, 1964.
Fields, Alonzo. My 21 Years in the White House. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1961.
Haller, Henry with Aronson, Virginia. The White House Family Cookbook. New York: Random House, 1987.
Jaffray, Elizabeth. Secrets of the White House. New York: Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, 1927. (includes selected menus, 1909-1917)
Kimball, Marie. The Martha Washington Cook Book. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1940.
Kimball, Marie. Thomas Jefferson's Cook Book. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1976.
Klapthor, Margaret Brown. The First Ladies Cook Book. New York: Parents' Magazine Press, 1982.
Rhodes, Susie Root and Hopkins, Grace Porter, Eds. The Economy Administration Cook Book. New York: Syndicate Publishing Co. Rysavy, Francois. A Treasury of White House Cooking. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1972.
Smith, Marie. Entertaining in the White House. Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books, 1967.
The American Heritage Cookbook. New York: American Heritage Publishing Company, 1964.
Treasury of White House Recipes. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973.
Verdon, Rene. White House Chef Cookbook. New York: Doubleday, 1968.
Entertaining at the White House:
Baldridge, Letitia. Of Diamonds and Diplomats. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1968.
Fields, Alonzo. My 21 Years in the White House. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1960. (includes selected menus, 1941-1952).
Helm, Edith. The Captains and the Kings. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1954.
Hoover, Irwin Hood. Forty-Two Years in the White House. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1934.
Jaffray, Elizabeth. Secrets of the White House. New York: Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, 1927. (includes selected menus, 1909-1917).
Smith, Marie. Entertaining in the White House. Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books, 1967.
White House Gardens and Grounds Bibliography:
Kramer, Frederick L. The White House Gardens: a History and Pictorial Record. New York: Great American Editions Ltd., 1973.
Lewis, Ethel. The White House: an Informal History of its Architecture, Interiors and Gardens. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1937.
McEwan, Barbara. White House Landscapes: Horticultural Achievements of American Presidents. New York: Walker & Company, 1992.
Seale, William. The White House Garden. Washington: White House Historical Association, 1996.
White House Christmas Bibliography:
Menendez, Albert. Christmas at the White House. Westminister Press, 1983.
Rosenbaum, Alvin. A White House Christmas. The Preservation Press, National Trust For Historic Preservation, 1992.
The David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History awards research fellowships annually. These fellowships support new research related to the White House, its occupants, workers, staff, and/or its fine and decorative arts collections. Early career scholars, as well as doctoral candidates and students, are encouraged to apply.
Colleen Shogan
became the eleventh archivist of the United States in May 2023. Most recently, Dr. Shogan served as senior vice president and director of the David M. Rubenstein Center at the White House Historical Association. She previously worked in the United States Senate and as a senior executive at the Library of Congress. Dr. Shogan was the vice chair of
The White House Historical Association has established an endowed position, the Marlyne Sexton Chair in White House History, in honor of Marlyne Sexton, cabinet member on the National Council for White House History. The endowment will provide financial support for the Chair in perpetuity.
The National Council on White House History was established in 2017 and is made up of 115 members
Decatur House
8:00-8:45am
Light Breakfast
8:45-9:00am
Transition to the Carriage House
9:00-9:15am
Welcome
Stewart McLaurin, President, The White House Historical AssociationPaul Edmondson, President and CEO, The National Trust for Historic Preservation
9:15-10:30am
Preserving Presidential Sites
This panel will discuss the many challenges of preserving the residences of American presidents, along with how interpretations of those spaces (
The Hugh S. Sidey Scholarship in Journalism at the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication was established in 2006 at Mr. Sidey's alma mater, Iowa State University, by the White House Historical Association and Mr. David M. Rubenstein. To keep alive Hugh Sidey's legacy of reporting on the presidency, the scholarship will support aspiring journalists at the Greenlee School. Undergraduate students
Few symbols of American democracy inspire a greater sense of awe than the White House. For more than two hundred years, the residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has provided a stage for some of the most momentous decisions in American and world history. Since the completion of the White House in 1800, every president of the United States, beginning with John Adams,
Journalists carry the weight of many. All lives, as parts of society, connect directly with those who discover, interpret and bring news to the masses. The very nature of journalism is fraught with the concurrent potentials to strengthen and weaken democracy. As the United States' federal governmental structure shifts to emphasize presidential importance, pressure upon journalists to deliver news—truthful, in
Presidents have a tendency to be idolized for their perceived successes—Ronald Reagan for his role in felling Communism and realization of the GOP economic model—and demonized for their perceived failures—Carter for his handling of the Iranian hostage crisis and skyrocketing inflation rates—or simply forgotten in mediocrity. Before these impressions are etched in stone, their every move is follo
Today, the face of news seems to change more rapidly than headlines floating across a cable news program's ticker. Reporters young and experienced alike face an unstable job market and an uncertain future as the journalism industry struggles to find a viable business model. However, some things still hold true. The presidency remains, as Hugh Sidey said in his 2004 book "
When Hugh Sidey said, "The cauldron of the presidency reveals unknown strengths in a person, just as it exposes hidden weaknesses," he was describing the nature of the President of the United States, an office of which he developed an intimate relationship over nearly half a decade of reporting. Hugh Sidey was a forerunner of modern American journalism who helped