Please note that the following is a digitized version of a selected article from White House History Quarterly, Issue 50, originally released in print form in 2018. Single print copies of the full issue can be purchased online at Shop.WhiteHouseHistory.org No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All photographs contained in this journal unless otherwise noted are copyrighted by the White House Historical Association and may not be reproduced without permission. Requests for reprint permissions should be directed to rights@whha.org. Contact books@whha.org for more information. Š 2018 White House Historical Association. All rights reserved under international copyright conventions.
CONTRIBUTORS
the white house historical association Board of Directors
chairman Frederick J. Ryan Jr.
vice chairman and treasurer John F. W. Rogers
secretary James I. McDaniel
treasurer president
John T. Behrendt Stewart D. McLaurin John T. Behrendt, Jean Case, Henry A. Dudley Jr., president Cathy Gorn, Janet A. Howard, Knight Kiplinger, Stewart D. McLaurin Martha Joynt Kumar, Anita McBride, Jean Case, Henry A. Dudley Jr., Mike McCurry, Robert M. McGee, Roger B. Porter, Cathy Gorn, Janet A. Howard, Knight Kiplinger, Ann Stock, Ben C. Sutton Jr., Tina Tchen Martha Joynt Kumar, Anita McBride, ex Mikeofficio McCurry, Robert M. McGee, Roger B. Porter, David S. Ferriero, Carla Hayden, Tom Mayes, Ann Stock, Ben C. Sutton Jr., Tina Tchen Earl A. Powell III, Harry G. Robinson III, ex officio David J. Skorton David S. Ferriero, Carla Hayden, Tom Mayes, directors emeriti Earl A. Powell III, Harry G. Robinson III, John DavidH. J. Dalton, SkortonJeannine S. Clark, Nancy M. Folger, Elise K. Kirk, Gail Berry West
directors emeriti white house history quarterly John H. Dalton, Jeannine S. Clark, Nancy M. Folger, Elise K. Kirk, Gail Berry West
editor William white Seale house history quarterly vice president of publishing editor and executive editor William Seale Marcia M. Anderson
vice president of publishing and executive editorial and editor production director Marcia M. Anderson Lauren McGwin
editorial and production director senior editorial and production Lauren McGwin manager Kristin Skinner
senior editorial and production manager editorial and production manager Kristin Elyse Werling Skinner
editorial and assistant production manager Jeanine Marie Elyse Werling
consulting editor editorial assistant Ann Hofstra Grogg Jeanine Marie
consulting design editor Pentagram Ann Hofstra Grogg
editorial advisory consulting design
Mac Keith Griswold Pentagram Scott Harris editorial Anthony Pitch advisory Mac Keith Griswold Lydia Barker Tederick Scott Harris Anthony Pitch wishes to thank the editor Lydia Barker Tederick The Office of the Curator, the White House;
m at t h ew alg e o is a journalist, public radio reporter, and author, whose book Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip, was named one of the best books of 2009 by the Washington Post. His most recent book is Abe & Fido: Lincoln’s Love of Animals and the Touching Story of His Favorite Canine Companion. —page 46 c l i f f o r d k ra i n i k is an author, lecturer, appraiser, and independent historian specializing in nineteenth-century photography. He coauthored Union Cases: A Collector’s Guide to the Art of America’s First Plastics and is currently writing the biography of photographer John Plumbe. —page 6 pat r i c i a a . k r i d e r is thethe was first first executive executive director of the National director of the National First Ladies’ First Ladies’ Library Library in Canton, in Ohio, where Canton, Ohio, she where played shea major role played a major in developing role in the library’sthe developing firstlibrary’s website. She currently first website. She serves currently on the Ohio serves onSite the Ohio Committee Site for the National Committee for the First National Ladies’ First Ladies’ Library Library and on and the advisory on the advisory board of board the Calvin Coolidge of the Calvin Foundation. Coolidge —page 36 Foundation. —page 36
and Susan Sarna and Sophie Weston Sistrunk the editor wishes to thank of Sagamore Hill The Office of the Curator, the White House, and Susan Sarna, Sagamore Hill
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white house history quarterly
ph i li p lev y is a historian, archaeologist, and associate professor at the University of South Florida. He is the author of Where the Cherry Tree Grew: The Story of Ferry Farm, George Washington’s Boyhood Home and George Washington Written Upon the Land: Nature, Memory, Myth, and Landscape. —page 18 judith viggers nordin is president of the Arts Club of Washington. She was previously co-curator at the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, assistant dean of the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, and associate dean at the Corcoran College of Art+Design. —page 26 ant h o ny s . p i t c h is a former Associated Press journalist in America, England, Israel, and Africa, and author of non-fiction history books, including the History Book Club selection, The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion of 1814, and the award-winning, “They Have Killed Papa Dead!” —The Road to Ford’s Theatre, Abraham Lincoln’s Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance. He serves on the White House History Quarterly Editorial Advisory. —page 54
CONTENTS
BRUCE WHITE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL A SSOC IATION
This special carved stone swag of fruit and flowers crowns the North Door of the White House.
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President McKinley’s Family Homestead Family Homestead in Canton, Ohio: The in Canton, First Ladies Ohio National Historic Site
Foreword
willia m sea le
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From the White House to the Piedmont and Back: Theodore Roosevelt’s Intrepid Ride cliff o rd k rainik
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Finding the Lost World Washington World of Washington’s at Ferry Farm: A Childhood Historic Site at Ferry Reborn Farm p h ilip levy
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President James Monroe’s I Street Residence: Home of the Arts Club of Washington jud ith viggers no rd i n
patricia a . krider
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Harry Truman Ate Here: A Presidential Site in Frostburg, Maryland m at t h ew alg e o
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Washington Where Presidents Area Homes Lived inof the Washington, TwentiethD.C.: Century Before Presidents: Before and After andthe After White theHouse White House anthony s. pitch
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Reflections: Reflections Presidential Sites Summit stewart d. mclaurin
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FOREWORD
The Consummate PRESIDENTIAL SITE
w i t h t h i s r e l e a s e , we celebrate the fiftieth issue of White House History. We felt grown-up at the prospect of so venerable an age and decided to re-design the journal, not entirely abandoning the format we have used since the 1980s. We enlisted the aid and advice of Luke Hayman, partner in the distinguished Pentagram design firm in New York, and, thanks to Hayman and his colleagues, you hold here the first issue with a new look and a slightly new name, White House History Quarterly. We have selected for the cover the iconic view of the White House as the world knows it. This is to introduce also a new theme that will run through the journal, and that is presidential sites. Because the White House is the consummate presidential site, we consider it a sort of flagship for hundreds more, and the journal will be featuring these sites great and small. Some are obvious, some we rather smoke out of obscurity. This introductory issue is entirely about presidential sites. We explore one of the most interesting of them in recent years, Ferry Farm, childhood home of George Washington. You will find that it is mostly an archaeological project but has a lot to say about itself, including enough to accurately re-create the Washington house and even document that it was painted red. We go to Canton, Ohio, to visit
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President McKinley’s family home, where the president who introduced this nation to the world was a permanent guest of his wife’s kin. We follow Harry and Bess Truman from Independence, Missouri, in retirement, to a diner for lunch, alone and unguarded, on their way to visit the national capital once again. Judith Viggers Nordin invites us into James Monroe’s house, right around the corner from our offices on Lafayette Square, which has been occupied for a century by the Arts Club of Washington. We also accompany Theodore Roosevelt on a muddy, icy trip on horseback from the White House breakfast table fifty miles to the old hotel in Warrenton, Virginia, to gauge the prowess and fatness of his military subordinates. Noted historian Anthony Pitch brings the issue to a close with a tour of places where twentieth-century presidents lived in Washington before or after serving in office.
w i lli am s eale editor, white house history quarterly
white house history quarterly
B L A I R H O U S E / U. S . D E PA R T M E N T O F S TAT E
The White House
The White House (detail), oil on photograph, by John Ross Key, 1914 white house history quarterly
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