Annual Holiday Book Festival - Friday, December 6th

Nov 28, 2024 Washington, D.C. —

The White House Historical Association will hold its annual free holiday book festival on Friday, December 6, featuring authors of popular and award-winning Association titles available to sign books and meet attendees. Illustrator Dr. John Hutton will offer lessons on how to draw the presidents throughout the day and will sign his book How to Draw the Presidents and seven titles in the Association's popular children's series.

In addition, Artist Peter Waddell will be at work on one of his large-scale historical paintings and will sign his book An Artist Visits the White House Past, which features a series of his White House paintings. The public will also be greeted by President Thomas Jefferson (as portrayed by historical actor-interpreter Bill Barker of Monticello).

Remaining inventory of a limited number of popular titles will also be available at reduced prices­– while supplies last.

Since 1962, the White House Historical Association has produced award-winning books on subjects related to the history of the President's House—from its architecture, gardens, fine and decorative arts to the presidential families and those who have worked there over the years.

WHEN: Friday, December 6, 2024, 9:30 am - 3:30 pm

WHERE: The Carriage House, 1610 H Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006

The below authors will be available to sign books at the 2024 Book Festival. Titles are arranged by category.

Presidents and First Ladies:

Art Chadwick, First Ladies and Their Orchids: A Century of Namesake Cattleyas

American orchid grower and entrepreneur Art Chadwick’s book explores the history of first ladies of the United States and the cattleya hybrids that are named after them.

Melinda Dart, A Glimpse of Greatness: The Memoir of Irineo Esperancilla

This book captures the amazing experience of Dart’s grandfather, a Filipino American who served four presidents of the United States. Dart will also sign her article on Esperancilla, which appeared in the “Behind the Scenes” issue of White House History Quarterly.

Christi Harlan, 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.

Anita McBride, Diana Carlin, and Nancy Kegan Smith, U.S. First Ladies: The Legacies of America's History Making Women and Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America's History-Making Women. McBride is also available to sign First Ladies Makes History, a new award-winning children’s book by Anita McBride and Giovanna McBride and illustrated by John Hutton, that 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.

Robert Roncska, Beyond the Sea: Leading with Love from the Nuclear Navy to the White House and Healthcare

Roncska headed the US Pacific Fleet’s Submarine Squadron 7 and served in the White House as a naval aide to President Bush. In this book, Roncska 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 sign his article on the history of the White House Navy Mess, which appeared in the “Military Roles” issue of White House History Quarterly.

Jonathan Stolz, Presidential Vignettes: Stories About Those Who Have Held the Highest Office in the Land (Title will be offered as pre-signed)

This compendium of seventy-three stories details both acclaimed and unsung experiences of many of the men who have occupied the White House since the start of the republic.

Mary Jo Binker, If You Ask Me

This collection of excerpts from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s advice column published in Ladies Home Journal for twenty years, covers a wide variety of topics—everything from war, peace, and politics to love, marriage, religion, and popular culture. The collection of columns reveals 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, 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

Miller is the recipient of two James Beard Awards. His book Asian Heritage Chefs Cooking to the President’s Taste will be published by the White House Historical Association and released in 2025.

Mark Ramsdell, The White House in Gingerbread and Creating the Sweet World of White House Desserts

The White House in Gingerbread is the story behind each of the holiday gingerbread houses that White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland 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 mold making 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, Recipes from the President’s Ranch: Food People Like to Eat

Wendel’s book highlights his memories of “cheeseburger diplomacy” and cooking for President George W. Bush and his family.

Military History:

Anthony Knopps, The No-Fail Mission

Knopps will sign his book 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.

The White House Fine and Decorative Arts Collections:

William Allman, Lydia Tederick, and Melissa Naulin and photographer Bruce White, Furnishing the White House: The Decorative Arts Collection

This book is a richly illustrated and comprehensive history of White House decorative arts, composed by former and current White House curators. Allman will also sign Official White House China, which documents more than two centuries and features the elegant china used for official White House entertaining and private dining that survives as a touchstone of the American presidency. As this book conveys, assembled together, the presidential china in the White House comprises a museum collection of unequalled historic significance.

Wayne Smith, White House Renovation Souvenirs

Smith’s book 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’s Books:

Rocco Smirne, Rocco Keeps the Beat! Music at the White House, A White House Alphabet, Rocco Travels with the Presidents!, and Rocco at the White House Easter Egg Roll!

In Rocco Keeps the Beat! Music at the White House 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.

Gardens and Horticulture:

Mac Griswold, 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, A Garden for the President

Pliska 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.

Outside the White House Fence:

Bruce White, At Home in the President’s Neighborhood: A Photographic Tour

White 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, White House History Quarterly: “Street Scenes: A New York Pedestrian’s Chance Encounters with Presidential History”

Green has walked more than 9,000 miles of New York City since 2011 and, in that time, he has embraced numerous chance encounters with presidential history. Green details his expedition that has uncovered overlooked places such as the site where Chester A. Arthur took the Oath of Office and bodegas named for Barack Obama.

Fashion:

Christina Ewald, White House History Quarterly: “Worn at the White House: Princess Diana’s ‘Travolta Dress’ Is Celebrated, Auctioned, Exhibited, Replicated, and Preserved” 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”

Ewald’s article in White House History Quarterly focuses on a dress worn to the White House by Princess Diana to relate a different kind of a story that demonstrates how even a single event can forever associate an object with the White House.

Books and exclusive gifts are also available at shop.whitehousehistory.org.

For more information about this event, contact press@whha.org.