Collection 'A Tempest in a Teapot'
First Lady Lou Hoover's invitation to Jessie L. DePriest to a White House tea party in 1929 created a storm of...
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In 1816 the naval war hero, Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr., and his wife, Susan, moved to the nascent capital city of Washington, D.C. With the prize money he received from his naval feats, Decatur purchased the entire city block on the northwest corner of today’s Lafayette Square. The Decaturs commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe, one of America’s first professional architects, to design and build a house “fit for entertaining.” In 1819, the house was completed—making it the first private residence in the President’s Neighborhood. Since then, the Decatur House and its history have been intertwined with that of the Executive Mansion. Notable White House figures such as Secretary of State Henry Clay, Secretary of State and future president Martin Van Buren, and Vice President George M. Dallas all lived at the Decatur House. Behind the house sits an urban slave quarters, one of the few remaining examples left in Washington, D.C. Today, the White House Historical Association’s National Center for White House History is located within the Decatur House, which has been a National Trust for Historic Preservation Historic Site since 1956.
A White House Painting in Decatur House Storage
Stephen Decatur in the President's Neighborhood
The Death and Legacy of Stephen Decatur
First Lady Lou Hoover's invitation to Jessie L. DePriest to a White House tea party in 1929 created a storm of...
Many people think of the White House as a symbol of democracy, but it also embodies America’s complicated past an...
In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy resolved to make the White House a “living museum” by restoring the historic integrity of the...
For more than two hundred years, Lafayette Square has been home to a wide variety of historical figures, from diplomats...
From its construction in 1792, until the 1902 renovation that shaped the modern identity and functions of the interior of the White...
Since the White House was first occupied by President John Adams in 1800, influential people and organizations—or those who hoped to...
For two hundred years, Decatur House has stood as a near neighbor to the White House across Lafayette Square. Stewart...
June 28, 1957: President Dwight D. Eisenhower - Islamic Center of Washington President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Remarks at Ceremonies Opening the Islamic...
WILLIAM ADAIR is a frame historian, conservator, and gilder in Washington, D.C. (WHH #54) WILLIAM G. ALLMAN served more than...
January 14, 1964: State Dinner for Italian President Antonio Segni was hosted by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Featured entertainment included Robert Merrill...
NUMBERS 1 THROUGH 6 (COLLECTION I) WHITE HOUSE HISTORY • NUMBER 1 1 — Foreword by Melvin M. Payne 5 — President Kennedy’s Rose Garden by Rachel Lambert...
The White House Historical Association partnered with local D.C. metropolitan schools to provide engaging field trip programs at the...