An Artist Visits the White House Past: Paintings By Peter Waddell

William Seale

The White House Historical Association

A celebrity for his heroics in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812, Commodore Stephen Decatur built his home in 1818 within sight of the President's House with prize money awarded to him by Congress for his military victories. He commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe, America's first professional architect, to create a home "fit for fine entertaining" and the resulting three-story square townhouse constructed with red brick in the Federal fashion is known as Decatur House today. Stephen Decatur's time in the fine house was cut short in 1820 when he was mortally wounded in a famous duel in nearby Bladensburg. After his death, his widow Susan Decatur rented the house to such prominent figures as Henry Clay, Martin Van Buren, and Edward Livingston, and ultimately sold it to John Gadsby. In 1872, General Edward Beale purchased the house and created a fashionable Victorian home. In 1956, Marie Beale, the last owner, bequeathed the house to the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and in 2011 the White House Historical Association became a co-steward of the historic site. This volume chronicles the history of the house and its occupants in four parts-a biography of Stephen Decatur and his naval accomplishments by James Tertius de Kay; an architectural history by Michael Fazio; a study of the fine and decorative arts collection by Osborne Mackie; and an essay on the evolution of the house from private home to historic site by Katherine Malone-France. An essay by Jessie Kratz, Historian at the National Archives and Records administration introduces a collection of documents that tell the story of enslaved persons who lived and worked in the house during the time after Decatur's death and before Beale's purchase.

The Stephen Decatur House: A History

History

James Tertius de Kay and Michael Fazio

Osborne Phinisy Mackie

Katherine Malone-France

Americas

The successful and thought-provoking Italy in the White House: A Conversation on Historical Perspectives, hosted by the White House Historical Association's David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History in March 2016, the first in a series of planned symposia to highlight the White House in an international context, created a solid framework for subsequent events with other countries in the future. Throughout the day, scholars Barbara Faedda, Campbell Grey, Meredith Levin, Mortimer Sellers, and Richard Guy Wilson shared historic insights and revealed the profound connections between Italy and the United States as viewed through White House history. Included in the printed symposium proceedings are their papers, which illustrate how the philosophical and architectural ideals that date back to the Roman Republic are reflected in the White House we know today. CONTENTS INCLUDE: "Italy in the White House: A Conversation on Historical Perspectives" by Campbell Grey "Liberty and Republican Government in America: New Rome" by Mortimer Newlin Stead Sellers "Thomas Jefferson and the Italian Influence on the White House" by Richard Guy Wilson "The Historical Impact of Italy and Italian Culture on Life in the White House" by Meredith J. Levin "An Italian Perspective on the U.S.-Italy Relationship" by Barbara Faedda 112 pages with color plates Quality Paper Cover

Italy in the White House: A Conversation on Historical Perspectives

Richard Guy Wilson

Campbell Grey

Mortimer Newlin Stead Sellers

Meredith J. Levin

Barbara Faedda

For five years, the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge, part of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative, invited 8 to 12-year-olds across the nation to create a healthy, affordable, original, and delicious lunch recipe. Winners representing all U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia were selected each year to attend a Kids' "State Dinner" at the White House hosted by Mrs. Obama and more than 270 of their winning appealing and creative recipes are compiled here and represent the "farm to table" ideal of health conscious America taken one step farther: "From farm to State Dining Room table." Introduced with a letter from Former First Lady Michelle Obama.

The White House Kids’ “State Dinner” Cookbook: Winning Recipes from the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge

Completed in 1800 in the new City of Washington, the White House, like its European predecessors, would be a home and office for the president of the United States, and the setting for state functions and ceremonies. With this book, Official Residences Around the World, the White House can be seen in a global context. This survey of official residences and offices of some fifty nations, is a unique look at their histories, architecture, and uses. Many of these official residences are designated for heads of state-elected presidents and hereditary royal families with ceremonial roles. Others are designated for heads of government-prime ministers and chancellors with executive power. These national landmarks represent nearly one thousand years of building and renovating beginning with Prague Castle in the twelfth century. The thirteenth century marked the beginnings of Austria's Hofburg, Monaco's Prince's Palace, Morocco's Royal Palace, and the Moscow Kremlin's stone walls. In the fourteenth century work began on Latvia's Riga Castle while the fifteenth century brought the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. Bute House in Edinburgh and 10 Downing Street in London, date to the seventeenth century while Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace) was built in the eighteenth century. Many more residences date to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and building continues in the twenty-first century with an entirely new Presidential Palace in Estonia and another in Japan. Over the centuries, many of these edifices have endured the ravages of fire, war, and mother nature; some like the White House have been rebuilt, expanded, and renovated. From the Arg in Afghanistan to the Presidential Palace in Vietnam, each chapter reveals the rich history and the ongoing aspirations of a nation.

Official Residences Around the World

Abby Clous-Radigan

When considering the design of the President’s House yet to be built in the emerging Federal City of Washington, President George Washington asked after a young Irish builder he had learned of while visiting in Charleston, South Carolina. Soon James Hoban appeared in Washington’s Philadelphia office with his credentials. By 1792, Hoban was at work on the building site, having won the competition for the design of the President’s House. Washington had placed him in charge of the entire project, with all carpentry, stonemasonry, and brickwork under his supervision. The resulting structure, accomplished in time for President John Adams to take residence in November 1800, fulfilled Washington’s vision and is today one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. Yet of the millions of people who know the White House are likely to find Hoban’s work more memorable than his name. With this anthology, the world’s most knowledgeable scholars on James Hoban introduce us to him, presenting the story of his life, influences, and work. The essays are followed by an illustrated catalog of nearly 100 images of historic Dublin, Irish Country Houses, the White House, and sites known to James Hoban in America. This is the second book in a series on the design and construction of the White House published but the White House Historical Association; it follows A White House of Stone: The First Ideal in American Architecture, which focused on the work of the Scottish stonemasons. The third book in the series will focus on the enslaved people who built the White House.

James Hoban: Designer and Builder of the White House

Stewart McLaurin

Since 1962, the celebrated spaces and rich history of the White House have been portrayed for the public in this continually updated guidebook. This twenty-fifth edition, opens with a letter from First Lady Jill Biden, and offers an intimate room-by-room tour of the interior of the house, with photographs and descriptions. New to this edition are the photographs of the Second Floor Private Quarters taken during Barack Obama's presidency. The guide also includes a walking tour of the exterior so that visitors viewing the White House from the streets of Washington, D.C., as well as armchair tourists at home, can enjoy the house that belongs to all the American people. For more information about our publications, please contact books@whha.org. Awards: Next Generation Indie Book Award Independent Publisher Book Award IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award USA Book News Best Book Award National Indie Excellence Award International Book Award

The White House: An Historic Guide

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Books by The White House Historical Association