John and Abigail Adams: A Tradition Begins
John and Abigail Adams had a wealth of experience in establishing and living in official houses prior to their move...
Saving the Washington Portrait
How Long? 2 minutes
Many Washington residents, fearing the rumored British attack, had packed what they could on wagons or set out on foot into the countryside on August 22, 1814. Although the town was in a state of pandemonium, the first lady remained calm and directed the rescue of valuable documents, silver, and the full-length 1797 "Lansdowne portrait" of George Washington by artist Gilbert Stuart.
The Madisons' enslaved manservant Paul Jennings, the steward John (or French John) Souissat and the gardener John McGraw had a hand in taking down the portrait by taking the painting from the wall and breaking the frame. When two New Yorkers—Jacob Barker, a financier, and Robert G. L. De Peyster, a merchant—arrived at the White House to see if they might assist the first lady, Mrs. Madison entrusted the portrait, silver, and state papers to them. On their escape route through Montgomery County, Maryland, Barker and De Peyster placed the Washington portrait in a farmer's barn for safekeeping; then, as Mrs. Madison had instructed, they deposited the cabinet documents and silver at the Bank of Maryland in Baltimore. When the Washington portrait was reinstalled in the White House, within the stone walls that President Washington had overseen, the portrait became integral to the history of the executive residence, not only for its subject but also the moment when Dolley Madison saved it in the "Second War of Independence."
Dolley Madison Saves the George Washington portrait, 2010.
You Might Also Like
-
-
Monuments to the American Revolution in Lafayette Park
In 1853, Clark Mills’ statue of President Andrew Jackson on horseback is in the center of Lafayette Park. The park’s four...
-
Hoover Easter Egg Rolls
The annual White House Easter egg roll was a well-established tradition when President Herbert Hoover took office, and the Hoovers...
-
Splendor and Scrutiny of White House Tableware
When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau attended a State Dinner at the White House o...
-
Sicilian Salvador Catalano
Few people today know the story of a Sicilian-born sailor named Salvadore Catalano who became an early American naval hero....
-
Civil War Veterans Visit the White House
In May 1865, at the close of hostilities, a Grand Review throughout Washington, D.C., exhibited parading Union troops from the...
-
History in White House Silver
One of the most interesting collections of silver of which this country can boast is at the White House. I...
-
The American Protective League and White House Security During World War One
The United States remained neutral during the early years of World War I, from the outbreak of hostilities in August, 1914,...
-
Rescue of the Papers of State During the Burning of Washington
In August 1814, British forces occupying the Chesapeake Bay began to sail up the Patuxent River in Maryland. Fearing an attack...
-
Picketing the White House
In the second half of the nineteenth century Americans headed west to seek greater opportunities for themselves and their families....
-
April 6, 1917
At eight o’clock on the morning of April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson and his wife Edith “threw responsibilities to the wind...
-
Official White House China: From the 18th to the 21st Centuries
The house in which the President of the United States lives has always had a great fascination for American citizens...