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2022 National History Day Resources
The White House Historical Association (WHHA) offers many different resources for students working on National History Day projects.
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Art, Artists, and the White House
Read Digital EditionForeword: "A Changing Portrait of America" by Marcia Mallet AndersonThe Official White House Portraits of President and Mrs. Barack Obama: David Rubenstein’s Conversation with the Artists, Robert McCurdy and Sharon Sprung Introduction by Stewart McLaurin The Peales in the White House: America’s First Family of Artists by Carol SoltisWhen Harry Met Pablo: The Strange True Story of t
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The White House Social Secretary
The White House Historical Association began an oral history project in 2010 under the guidance of Maria Downs, the Association’s public affairs director and the White House Social Secretary during the Gerald Ford administration. Ms. Downs recognized that important insights into White House history were slipping away with the passing of social secretaries. They rarely wrote or spoke of their ex
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The White House Social Secretary: Job Description and Work Culture
What are the responsibilities of the social secretary? The social secretary works with the first lady in the overall planning, arrangement, coordination and direction of all official and personal social events given by the president and his family. This includes the form and wording of invitations, the compiling of guest lists, the setting of menus, the seating, the choice of
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The First Ladies Symposium Schedule
May 6, 2021This program will be virtual9:00-9:15amWelcome and Overview Jill Biden, First Lady of the United StatesAnita McBride, Director of American University’s First Ladies Initiative and White House Historical Association Board MemberFrederick J. Ryan Jr., Chairman, Board of Directors, White House Historical Association Sylvia Burwell, President, American University9:15-10:35amFirst Ladies and GenderIntroduced and moderated by Colleen Shogan, Se
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The First Ladies Symposium Contributors
Jill BidenJill Tracy Jacobs Biden was born on June 3, 1951, in Hammonton, New Jersey. Growing up in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, she graduated from Upper Moreland High School in 1969. She attended the University of Delaware, receiving a bachelor’s degree in English in 1975. That same year, she met Senator Joseph R. Biden of Delaware. On June 17, 1977, they were married in New York Ci
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Marlyne Sexton Endowment for White House History
The White House Historical Association has established an endowed position, the Marlyne Sexton Chair in White House History, in honor of Marlyne Sexton, cabinet member on the National Council for White House History. The endowment will provide financial support for the Chair in perpetuity. The National Council on White House History was established in 2017 and is made up of 115 members
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Remembering Hugh Sidey (1927-2005)
We live in a time filled with skepticism and cynicism – about the motives of elected officials, about the integrity of corporate executives, about the behavioral lapses of celebrities. At the same time, there are those who lift our spirits and whose lives serve as a beacon of that which is good and inspiring. Hugh Sidey was such a beacon. As hi
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Colin Powell
On August 10, 1989, President Bush announced his appointment of General Colin Powell as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Powell became the architect of Operation Desert Shield, a staging operation that moved American and international forces and materials to the Middle East to launch Operation Desert Storm. As President Bush’s trusted advisor, Powell helped shape a global alliance that ex
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E. Frederic Morrow at the White House
E. Frederic Morrow was the first African American to serve in an executive position on a president’s staff at the White House. Morrow was a minister’s son who had graduated from Bowdoin College and was employed by the National Urban League and the NAACP before entering Army service during World War II. After the war, he obtained a law
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Marian Anderson Performs at the White House
One of the most memorable performances in White House history was Marian Anderson’s rendition of Schubert’s "Ave Maria" as the culmination of a gala "Evening of American Music" presented by Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in 1939. The entertainment was planned for a state visit by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England. Anderson’s powerful voice soared that evenin
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President Truman and Civil Rights
Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball on April 15, 1947 signaling a historic step forward in the movement to end segregation. However, a less conspicuous event of greater significance to African Americans was President Truman’s controversial 1948 executive order desegregating the military and banning discriminatory hiring practices in the federal government. Issued in an election year, the executive or