You Might Also Like
-
Article
Remembering My Mother in the White House
Through the vision of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the White House Historical Association was chartered on November 3, 1961, “to enhance understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the historic White House.” In 2011, the association celebrated the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary with exhibitions, publications, and special events, including a White House reception hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama on October 31, 2011. Caroline Kennedy, the daug
-
Article
Flight of the Madisons
The flight routes of President James Madison and First Lady Dolley Madison are not exact and much of the evidence of where they stayed is circumstantial. Many of the stops along the two routes of the Madisons are no longer in existence or are privately owned. Intense development of the region in the twentieth century greatly impacted the historic integrity
-
Article
Tensions in the Capital
President James Madison arrived back in Washington about 5:00 p.m. on August 27, 1814 and took up temporary lodgings at the F Street home of his brother-in-law, Richard Cutts. James and Dolley Madison had lived there during 1801-1809 when he was secretary of state. On August 28 Dolley Madison returned to Washington, disguised in another woman's clothing (as directed by her husband), dejected
-
Article
The Naval War of 1812
Britain's navy began its war in North Atlantic waters with a crushing advantage over the United States in numbers of both ships and sailors, but events were to prove that the U.S. Navy's pluck and resourcefulness would inflict punishing setbacks on its larger opponent.Wartime successes of the U.S. Navy included a victory by the USS Constitution ("Old
-
Article
The Octagon
On September 8, 1814, the Madisons moved into the Octagon, second in size only to the burned President's House, and the only private home in Washington with the requisite elegance and scale for grand entertaining. Designed by William Thornton, the Octagon was built in 1800-01 as a winter townhouse for Colonel John Tayloe III, a wealthy Virginia planter and horse breeder. An
-
Article
Introduction to the Transcription of the Washington Diary of Elizabeth L.C. Dixon
In November 1845, Elizabeth Lord Cogswell Dixon arrived for the “season” in Washington, D.C., with her family. Her husband, James Dixon, of Hartford, Connecticut, had been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Whig, ultimately serving two terms, in the Twenty-Ninth and Thirtieth Congresses (March 4, 1845–March 3, 1849). In addition to their two little girls—4-year-old Elizabeth (“Bessie”) and 1-year-old Cl
-
Article
The President and Washington During the War with Mexico
James Knox Polk was at home in Columbia, Tennessee, when he judged that it was about time to find out the results of the election. A dispatch from Washington was waiting for him at the post office. And the news of his presidential victory marked not only a change in his life, but marked, in retrospect, the start of the
-
Article
The Bad Boy
When James and Dolley Madison moved to the White House officially on March 4, 1809, they were accompanied by her son Payne Todd, child of her first marriage. Payne had turned 17 only a few days before and had lived with his mother and adoptive father in Washington already for nearly eight years, ever in the shadows of the prominent and highly social
-
Article
Lincoln in His Shop
In the summer of 1864, Kentuckian John Bullock called upon President Abraham Lincoln at the White House to make a personal appeal. The young Bullock took his seat in the reception area adjacent to Lincoln’s office alongside numerous other individuals, hoping for an opportunity to have but a few minutes with the nation’s leader. Uncertain if the president would even
-
Article
Good Neighbors: FDR, Major Gist, and Blair House
From its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth and into the early twentieth century, the historic preservation movement in the United States drew its leadership from private citizens, not government officials.1 An archival collection kept at Blair House, The President’s Guest House, records the pioneering alliance of Major Gist Blair, the last family descendant to live there, and President Franklin D. Ro
-
Article
The Burning of Washington
Shortly before Mordechai Booth fled the capital on Wednesday, August 24, 1814, he rode over to the President’s House to see whether anyone was still inside. Near the entrance he saw an American colonel who dismounted, walked to the front door, pulled hard on the bell rope, banged on the door, and shouted for the steward, Jean Sioussat, known as French Jo
-
Scholarship
Concerts during the Arthur Administration
During the administration of President Chester Arthur, the first East Room concert for specially invited guests took place, when the famous Canadian soprano, Emma Albani, sang in 1883. A great enthusiast of opera and song, President Arthur was also deeply moved by the Fisk Jubilee Singers’ colorful melding of blues, minstrel song and European-like hymns later during his term [see more be