Please note that the following is a digitized version of a selected article from White House History Quarterly, Issue 56, originally released in print form in 2020. 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 2020 White House Historical Association. All rights reserved under international copyright conventions.
REFLECTIONS
As a New Year Begins in White House History . . . with this column in our last Quarterly, I paid tribute to our longtime editor Dr. William Seale. Since that time, Dr. Seale has passed away but he leaves an extraordinary legacy of scholarship and knowledge for the benefit of future generations of White House scholars and those interested in the history of the People’s House. I described him previously as my “White House history hero,” and indeed he always will be. Thanks to the generosity of philanthropist David Rubenstein, the Association’s David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History is a center for research, scholarship, education, digital resources, and public programing. Our national search for a new Senior Vice President and Director of the Rubenstein Center has resulted in the appointment of Dr. Colleen Shogan who joins us this month from a distinguished career at the Library of Congress. Dr. Shogan will become part of a dynamic team, giving leadership to this important part of our mission. A key initiative of the Rubenstein Center in 2020 will be programming and research focused on the history of enslaved persons in the President’s Neighborhood—those who lived and worked in what is now Lafayette Park to build the White House, as well as those who were
enslaved to our early American presidents, living and working in the White House. This very important initiative will be highlighted with a new section of our whitehousehistory.org website. On Presidents’ Day, February 17, 2020, at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, the Association will reveal the design for our 2020 White House Christmas ornament, which will feature President and Mrs. Kennedy. The ornament will go on sale that day in our Washington, D.C., shops and on our website. The White House Historical Association has recently registered its own official tartan with the Scottish Register of Tartans. The tartan design is a tribute to the eight Scottish stonemasons who traveled to Washington in 1794 at the request of the commissioners of the District of Columbia to embellish the Aquia, Virginia, sandstone selected by George Washington for the exterior of the house with the finest stone carving in eighteenth-century America. Thirty four American presidents, from James Monroe to Donald Trump, have claimed Scottish heritage. The five colors woven into the Association’s tartan represent the most fundamental colors associated with the architectural fabric of the White House itself. Three colors represent the
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iconic formal parlors on the State Floor: the Red Room, Green Room, and Blue Room. Evocative of the famous Bellangé suite purchased in 1817 by James Monroe and recently refurbished with the support of the White House Historical Association, the vibrant blue is inspired by that of draperies, upholstery, and carpet of the Blue Room. The green represents the Federal style Green Room, which, when decorated by President Monroe in 1818, became the first State Room to be named for the color of its textiles. Red symbolizes the color of the American Empire style Red Room, first furnished with bold red silks in 1845 during the James K. Polk administration. The gray represents the Aquia sandstone and the artistry of the Scots stonemasons. Finally, the white represents the white exterior of the of the White House, which was first whitewashed by the stonemasons to protect the porous Aquia sandstone, and later painted white, inspiring the name by which the house is known today. above Stewart McLaurin at the Dacha Navy Yard mural of Jacqueline Kennedy. opposite The White House Historical Association’s official tartan incorporates the iconic colors of the White House State Rooms and architecture.
WHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL AS SOCIATION
STEWART D. M C LAURIN PRESIDENT, WHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION