White House History

The David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History

Established by the White House Historical Association in 2010, the National Center is a research and educational institute that conducts ongoing educational programs for students, teachers, scholars, and the general public on the history of the White House and the President’s Neighborhood.

Public Programs

In partnership with Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, the Association hosted a virtual Decorative Arts in the White House Symposium. Originally slated as an in-person event in May 2020, the symposium was converted to a virtual program that aired October 1, 2020. Nearly 400 people attended. In May 2020, the Rubenstein Center coordinated a private colloquium with the First Ladies Initiative of American University in preparation for hosting the First Ladies Symposium slated for May 2021. The Rubenstein Center also initiated White House History Live, a monthly virtual program. Nine episodes were hosted on the Facebook Live platform in 2020, which generated more than 285,000 views. The series will continue in 2021.

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The Slavery in the President’s Neighborhood research initiative was launched in February 2020. A new landing page on the Association’s website features an interactive timeline, an index of identified enslaved persons who worked at the White House, a virtual tour of the Decatur House Slave Quarters, and new scholarship on the enslaved African Americans who built and maintained the White House. The website launch coincided with the “White House History with David M. Rubenstein” program Slavery in the President’s Neighborhood: A Conversation with Dr. Lonnie Bunch III, at St. John’s Church on February 5.

WHITE HOUSE HISTORY with David M. Rubenstein

!1 Slavery in the PRESIDENT’S Neighborhood

A Conversation with Dr. Lonnie G. Bunch III

February 5, 2020

Dr. Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and David M. Rubenstein discuss the history of slavery in the President’s Neighborhood at St. John’s Church, February 5, 2020.

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History and Education

The annual Teacher Institute became a virtual event for the first time in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The screen shot below captures the welcome to educators on the first day of the institute. The 2020 White House History Teacher Institute was conducted virtually from July 6 to 10 with two-hour interactive sessions each day and content delivered by Rubenstein Center educators, Master Teachers, partner organizations, and guest speakers. The virtual Institute was a resounding success drawing 195 total registrants. Educators from more than twenty-eight different states participated, and fifty-nine educators interacted with different aspects of our content that included education materials, findings from historians, and digital library images. The digital content provided will reach more than 16,000 students across the country during the 2020–21 school year.

Additionally, the Education Team launched eighteen weeks of White House History Wednesday with educational content that was featured on Twitter. These tweets highlighted new and updated Classroom Resource Packets that paired fun “Anywhere Activities” to be used by educators in all learning environments, whether they be virtual, in-person, or hybrid. The team presented at state and national educational conferences and partnered with local and national organizations to increase the reach of WHHA’s educational resources through the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The White House Historical Association received a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant as part of the CARES Act to enhance the White House Experience app. The grant of $191,710 supported the creation of short educational videos about the Public Rooms of the White House, a 360-degree tour of the White House, a desktop version of the mobile app for teachers, and the integration of foreign languages. Only 14% of grant applications were funded in this nationwide competition.

The Digital Library continued to add resources to its collection. There are now 22,480 digital assets in the collection with the more than 4,000 items added in 2020. The White House Experience app has been downloaded more than 82,000 times and usage is expected to increase with the inclusion of the app’s barcode on the White House tour boarding pass.

The White House 360 Virtual Tour provides users with detailed floor plans and interactive models, allowing users to understand the relationship between rooms. The tour allows users to navigate through the Public Rooms including the State Dining Room (below).

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