2024 Holiday Book Festival

Save the date for the 2024 Holiday Book Festival hosted by the White House Historical Association!

Since 1962, the White House Historical Association has produced award-winning books on many subjects related to the history of the President's House—from its architecture, gardens, fine and decorative arts to the presidents and first ladies who lived there over the years. Our titles appeal to history buffs and art lovers, connoisseurs and curious amateurs, scholars and tourists, adults and children. We are pleased to invite you to meet the authors of these award-winning books at our Holiday Book Festival on December 6, 2024.

Highlights of Author Lineup:

Diana Carlin, Anita McBride, and Nancy Keegan Smith will be signing their groundbreaking book Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America's History-Making Women.

Dr. Robert Roncska headed the US Pacific Fleet’s Submarine Squadron 7 and served in the White House as a naval aide of President Bush. He will be signing his book Beyond the Sea: Leading with Love from the Nuclear Navy to the White House and Healthcare.

Christi Harlan, writer and communications consultant in Washington, D.C., will be signing her book about Jimmy Carter: Mr. President, The Class Is Yours: Jimmy Carter's Sunday School Lessons in Washington, D.C.

Jonathan Stolz will be signing his book, Presidential Vignettes: Stories About Those Who Have Held the Hightest Office in the Land.

Art Chadwick, American orchid grower and entrepreneur, will be signing First Ladies and Their Orchids: A Century of Namesake Cattleyas, which explores the history of First Ladies of the United States and the cattleya hybrids that are named after them.

Melinda Dart compiled and edited this memoir of her grandfather, A Glimpse of Greatness: The Memoir of Irineo Esperancilla, which captures the amazing experience of a Filipino American who quietly served his family, his country and four presidents of the United States.

President Thomas Jefferson (as portrayed by interpreter Bill Barker) will welcome guests to the festival at the Historic Decatur House Carriage House, 1610 H Street Northwest Washington, D.C. He will also sign his book, Becoming Jefferson.

Artist and illustrator Dr. John Hutton will provide drawing lessons from his popular book How to Draw the Presidents and sign the series of award-winning children’s books he illustrated, which were published by the Association.

Artist Peter Waddell will be at work on one of his large-scale historical paintings and will be signing his book An Artist Visits the White House Past, which features a series of his White House paintings.

The First Ladies

First Ladies Makes History, a new award-winning children’s book by Anita McBride and Giovanna McBride and illustrated by John Hutton, will be officially launched at the book festival. This title is a unique book that explains who the first ladies of the United States are and what they do.

Diana Carlin, Anita McBride, and Nancy Kegan Smith will be signing their groundbreaking book Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America's History-Making Women.

Mary Jo Binker will sign If You Ask Me, a collection of excerpts from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s advice column published in Ladies Home Journal for twenty years. Covering a wide variety of topics—everything from war, peace, and politics to love, marriage, religion, and popular culture—these columns reveal Eleanor Roosevelt’s warmth, humanity, and timeless relevance. Binker will also sign a collection of her articles published in White House History Quarterly.

Culinary History

Adrian Miller, winner of two James Beard Awards, will be signing his three books—The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, and Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue. His book Asian Heritage Chefs Cooking to the President’s Taste published by the White House Historical Association will be released in 2025.

Mark Ramsdell will be available to sign two books he co-authored with Chef Roland Mesnier. The White House in Gingerbread is the story behind each of the holiday gingerbread houses Mesnier and Ramsdell created for display in the White House State Dining Room. Creating the Sweet World of White House Desserts is the story of the stunning desserts created for White House State Dinners, formal events, and family celebrations. Mesnier’s secrets of moldmaking and sugar work are revealed along with recipes adapted for home kitchens. Ramsdell will also sign his recent article for White House History Quarterly, in which he recounts his memories of marching in President Kennedy's Inaugural Parade.

Matthew Wendel will be signing Recipes from the President’s Ranch: Food People Like to Eat, his memories of “cheeseburger diplomacy” and cooking for President George W. Bush and his family.

Military History

Robert Roncska headed the US Pacific Fleet’s Submarine Squadron 7 and served in the White House as a naval aide to President Bush. He will be signing his book Beyond the Sea: Leading with Love from the Nuclear Navy to the White House and Healthcare. In this book, he presents a roadmap that leaders can adapt to any industry, empowering readers to create high-quality relationships and elevate their organization’s performance beyond expectations. Roncska will also be signing his article on the history of the White House Navy Mess, which appeared in the Military Roles issue of White House History Quarterly.

Anthony Knopps will sign The No-Fail Mission which profiles ten American servicemembers who earned the Presidential Service Badge. The stories speak to the stress, exhilaration, and yes, even the humor, which comes with being connected to this “beating heart” of American Democracy.

Presidential History

Christi Harlan, writer and communications consultant in Washington, D.C., will be signing her new book about Jimmy Carter: Mr. President, The Class Is Yours: Jimmy Carter’s Sunday School Lessons. For the first time, the fourteen known recordings of President Carter’s Sunday School lessons are transcribed with the historical context of the issues confronting the president outside the church walls—from the collapse of the toxic Love Canal to the near meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the 444-day captivity of hostages in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

The White House Fine and Decorative Arts Collections

Authors William Allman, Lydia Tederick, and Melissa Naulin and photographer Bruce White will be available to sign Furnishing the White House: The Decorative Arts Collection, a richly illustrated and comprehensive history of White House decorative arts.

William Allman will also be signing copies of Official White House China.

Wayne Smith will be signing White House Renovation Souvenirs, which delves into the field of collecting relics and souvenirs made with salvaged material from the White House. The hundreds of photos and images, along with stories and renovation history, provide collectors with the tools and information they need to build a fascinating and truly unique collection.

Children

Rocco Smirne will be available to sign Rocco Keeps the Beat! Music at the White House, his fourth book on White House history. Rocco takes us on a musical journey to explore how music has been used to welcome and entertain thousands of people at the White House for more than two hundred years. Rocco writes about the Marine Band, special performances, and many of the presidents’ favorite instruments and styles of music. Some presidents liked quiet music and others liked Rock and Roll, but Rocco always keeps the beat and reminds us that music has the power to connect people all over the world. Rocco will also be signing A White House Alphabet, Rocco Travels with the Presidents!, and Rocco at the White House Easter Egg Roll!.

Gardens and Horticulture

Art Chadwick, American orchid grower and entrepreneur, will be signing First Ladies and Their Orchids: A Century of Namesake Cattleyas, which explores the history of first ladies of the United States and the cattleya hybrids that are named after them.

Mac Griswold will be signing her book I’ll Build A Stairway to Paradise: A Life of Bunny Mellon. Bunny Mellon’s most celebrated work―the White House Rose Garden, designed during the presidency of John F. Kennedy―demonstrated how formal restraint and the sparing use of color could be deployed to maximal effect. Griswold―who knew Mellon personally―delves into her subject’s closely guarded personal archives to construct an unrivaled portrait of a woman as complex and multifaceted as the gardens and homes on which she left her mark.

Jonathan Pliska will sign his award-winning A Garden for the President, which explores not only the relationship between the White House and its landscape but also the evolution of its design; the public and private uses of the grounds in peace and wartime; and the cultivation of the grounds with a focus on the specimen trees, vegetable and ornamental gardens, and conservatories.

At Work in the White House

Melinda Dart will sign A Glimpse of Greatness: The Memoir of Irineo Esperancilla, which she edited. The book captures the amazing experience of her grandfather, a Filipino American who served four presidents of the United States. Dart will also be signing her article on Esperancilla, which appeared in the “Behind the Scenes” issue of White House History Quarterly.

Outside the White House Fence

Bruce White will sign At Home in the President’s Neighborhood: A Photographic Tour which presents a contemporary view of the president’s neighborhood as the president sees it, from the White House to the surrounding parks, Washington’s historic homes and hotels, neighborhood landmarks, government and commercial architecture, and city streets.

Matt Green, known for his nearly 10,000 mile, thirteen-year walk of every block of New York City, will be signing his White House History Quarterly article “Street Scenes: A New York Pedestrian’s Chance Encounters with Presidential History.”

Fashion

Christina Ewald will sign two fashion articles published in White House History Quarterly: “Worn at the White House: Princess Diana’s ‘Travolta Dress’ Is Celebrated, Auctioned, Exhibited, Replicated, and Preserved,” the story of what happened to Princess Diana’s dress after her famous White House dance with John Travolta, and “Two Iconic Kennedy Dresses Re-created: The Exhibition of First Ladies’ Clothing and a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Process of Re-creating Historical Fashion.”

Presigned

Presidential Vignettes by Jonathan L. Stolz, a compendium of seventy-three stories, details both acclaimed and unsung experiences of the presidents who have occupied the White House since the start of the republic. Readers will discover how presidents’ parents, illnesses, occupation, and close friends became an underpinning for their activities when governing the country.