A Visit To The White House

Few Have Been Able To Enjoy

By Shannon Hicks

As 2000 winds to a close, so does the observation of the 200th anniversary of the White House. Just in time to continue the celebration comes The White House: Its Historic Furnishings & First Families (Abbeville Press and White House Historical Association, October 2000, 320 pages, 295 illustrations, 260 in full color, $60).

Abbeville Press is touting the tome as “the most comprehensive survey ever published of the decorative arts in the President’s House,” and The White House very well could be. For anyone who enjoys White House history or American history in general, and for anyone who appreciates decorative arts, The White House should be on the list of things to buy the next time you’re at the book store. The White House is also for anyone who wants to go beyond the free public tours of the White House and do more than glimpse into the Vermeil Room, the Library, or any of the dining rooms (East, Green, Blue, Red, and State).

While many spent so much of the year focusing on the arrival of a new millennium, 2000 was also significant in Washington, DC, for the fact that this year has been the bicentennial of the removal of the seat of government from Philadelphia and into the District of Columbia.

George Washington was among those who envisioned the importance of the move and its imminent implications when he passed the Residence Act of 1790. Signed on July 1, 1790, Residence Bill S-12 established a permanent seat of the government of the United States and provided suitable buildings for “the accommodation of Congress, and of the President, and for the public Offices of the government of the United States.”

Just over one year later, on November 1, 1800, the second President of the United States, John Adams, entered the unfinished building at what is now 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. His baggage was unloaded and his office prepared.

That evening, after several business meetings and his dinner, President Adams walked with a single candle up small winding stairs to his bedroom to sleep. The house’s double-armed grand stairway connecting the principal floor with the chambers above had not yet begun construction.

A few weeks later Abigail Adams joined her husband, and since that autumn, every President and his family have resided at the White House.

The White House — the revered home of the American Presidents for two centuries, a seat of government, a ceremonial center, and a historic building and museum — may seen to be an unchanging and unchangeable icon. Its 18th century builders would certainly recognize the house today, even with its 19th century porticoes and 20th century wing extensions. Yet interior changes have been nearly constant.

According to White House Historical Association, rooms, walls, and furnishings have been renovated, redecorated, and adapted to meet the needs and convenience of the First Family throughout the history of the house. The association should know; its mission is to document the White House’s past. For this reason, it makes sense that Abbeville Publishing Group worked hand-in-hand with WHHA in co-publishing The White House.

White House curator Betty C. Monkman has written an excellent book that should not only be used for the exquisite reference source it is, but also read cover to cover for its enjoyment factor alone. The book is interesting in its presentation of what is behind the doors many Americans are not privy to venture beyond.

In addition to the presentation of a magnificent collection, Ms Monkman’s writing also offers facts and insightful anecdotes that demonstrate how some treasures reflect historic figures, while other decorative choices were direct clashes with the politics of the time they were brought into the museum.

Ms Monkman thoroughly knows her subject matter. She has worked in the White House curator’s office since 1967. She was named curator in 1997. (The position had been initiated by Jacqueline Kennedy and made permanent in 1964 by an Executive Order from Lyndon B. Johnson.)

She planned and curated the first exhibition on the White House in 1992 and continues to work closely on other exhibits at the White House Visitor Center. She has written a number of articles on White House decorative art and has lectured on the subject throughout the country.

As Ms Monkman writes in her Preface, “The objects in the [White] House resonate with meaning, imparting inspiration and a glimpse into past presidential lives and significant White House events for each new first family. They are also evidence of changes in the nation’s taste and technology, its styles of decoration, and an increasing interest in the country’s history and its cultural heritage.”

Sumptuous color photographs by Bruce White add to the depth of what could be construed as a catalogue raisonne for the museum that is the White House. Mr White, a White House photographer, is a former staff photographer from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His specialty — and it shows in The White House — is shooting art and architecture. Complete rooms with their furnishings are shown in large photos, including the infamous Lincoln Bedroom, as are hundreds of individual items in smaller, more detail-oriented pictures.

The book opens with a Foreword, a collection of short ones, actually, written by First Ladies Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, Rosalyn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush and Hilary Rodham Clinton. Wendell Garrett offers the Introduction, and then it is on to the meat and bones of the book, the writing by Ms Monkman.

Ms Monkman has broken her coverage of the White House collection into eras, following not only who was residing in the home and when, but the artistic periods that are found within the collection, including Jacobean and Federal. She also explains the historic importance of some of the pieces, although in-depth descriptions are also found in the book’s “Catalog of Illustrated Objects,” in which William Allman offers measurements, White House reference numbers, provenance, marks (if any), condition, and miscellaneous notes on every single piece of furniture, silver, centerpiece, etc, photographed as an individual item.

A short chapter on “Important Acquisitions” wraps up Ms Monkman’s writing. This is followed by Endnotes, the aforementioned “Catalog of Illustrated Objects,” Picture Credits, Selected Bibliography, and Index.

Anything you have ever wanted to know about the decorative arts of the White House, it seems, can be found between the covers of this magnificent book.