Transcripts For CSPAN3 Lectures In History White House Myths 20240713

Alex, was it you who wrote about the Jackson Magnolia. It was. So you already know about this. For everybody else, think back when Jonathan Pliska visited our class and we talked about the story behind the Jackson Magnolia. Who remembers the story, not alex. Anybody else . Yeah, william. Andrew jacksons wife died right before he went to office so he planted the tree because it was her favorite tree. Uhhuh. And he brought the seeds from the herm taj in tennessee and do you remember what jonathan told us . False. Well, he said that there really isnt any type of contemporary evidence. Andrew jackson never mentions planting a tree. Theres nothing in newspapers. So it seems like this is a story that has, of course, these romantic origins and its continued to grow from that ever since. So this is actually the first known exterior photograph of the white house. It was taken by a welshborn photographer named john plume jr. And about january, 1846. So, if youre looking at the white house, this is 1846. So in theory jackson planted his tree already, right . But i dont see a magnolia anywhere. So this also kind of bolsters the case that, you know, perhaps the magnolia came a little later than people think. Here is an outdoor shot. This was by lewis walter in 1857 58. There you can see the white house conservatory on top of what is the west colonnade going into the area today that is the west wing. You dont have all the greenhouses but you do have the conservatory above the west colonnade and again in that place where you usually have the Jackson Magnolia, just looks more like a pretty barren tree the middle of winter. Certainly doesnt look like a Jackson Magnolia. However, this is a photograph that was taken by of the cassius clay battalion 1861 and voila. That looks like the Jackson Magnolia to me. So if we look at that tree and its probably at that point maybe about 15 to 20 feet tall, depends when it was planted or transported, but the photographic evidence seems to suggest that that famous tree attributed to Andrew Jackson more than likely was planted later probably some time in the 1850s. However, that story and that legend has continued to grow and grow over time. Here is another shot. This is actually matthew bra dy. This is during the civil war. The flag pole on the south lawn. Theres part of jacksons haha wall and the Union Soldiers essentially keeping an eye on the white house grounds. Again, you look and you can see what looks like a young Jackson Magnolia. So again, early 1860s it looks like there is the famous tree that we all know. In 2007 you probably remember this, december 2017, the Jackson Magnolia made a lot of news because there were reports that the tree was going to be cut down because of safety issues. And its announced that its going to be pruned and one of its major branchs is going to be taken down and preserved. And you remember from our visit to the white house, you can kind of see, yes, the Jackson Magnolia is still there but its being held up by a steel pole, by these cables and its because pretty extensive rot on the inside of the tree. And what i did was i pulled up just some of the news stories from december of 2017. So, whats interesting is i guess ill ask you what Media Outlets do you think published each story . So, read this one and who do you think published this information. Any ideas . Yeah. Fox news. Nope. Alex . New york times. Huhuh. Alex . History. Com. No. Cnn. This first one was cnn. What about this one . Matthew . Msnbc. Huhuh. Christopher . Fox. Daniel . Washington post. The Washington Post, yeah. Now, but do you notice theres a key difference between the first one and the second one, what word did they use . Lore. White house lore. So if we go back, theres not really it just kind of repeats the story verbatim that we know, but at least the Washington Post acknowledges that theres lore to it. It may not be entirely true. Were just not true. What about the final one . Any ideas . Yeah, alex. Its kind of using it as a way to be critical of the president. How so . Because its talking about how theyre trying to take down not because its old but trying to talk about how he wants to take it out as a negative way to portray the president. Do you think so you think theres a negative portrayal of the president . It seems like this article is kind of pinning blame on Melania Trump. Right . Is that what you mean . Thats why people would read it, you know what i mean. What about the language before Jackson Magnolia. Socalled. Socalled. This is actually the New York Post. So, regardless of your politics, you can see how these stories have not only continued to the present but that even when theyre then recirculated and put out there that there are slants to how that story is told. Right. It was very different. But he was considered a democrat, right. So, because of its historical significance and the living history that continues to happen today, public fascination with the white house has created many legends and myths. Some of which are still perpetuated by social media, the internet, journalists and, yes, even historians. The point of todays lecture is not simply discount or dismiss these fables but to unpack them and try to contextualize why they were created in the first place and reenforced time and time again. Now, myth number one, the white house is white because of the british burning. Have you heard that before . Youve never heard that. Yeah, alex . Didnt if im not wrong, it was they used whitewash in order to hold the sand stone together which is why its now called why it was then called the or named the white house. Exactly. So, if you look at the exterior of the white house, that particular sand stone, much of it which came from virginia, particularly a quiet kweek and quiet kwoeres a lot of the sand stone being produced had this gray color. So you have to imagine the white house as a gray building. And what they did because sand stone is so pourus, you have to seal it to protect it from the winter months because if water gets into the stones pores it freezes and then it cracks, right . Because water expands in those pores. What the scottish stone masons did and the workers who built the white house, enslaved free workers who built the white house, they applied a coat of limebased whitewash in 1778. Whitewash is a different than the white paint they use today, but that was really sort of where this story began of starting to call it the white house is because it was a whitewash that was first applied. So they do add the first coat of lead white paint in 1818. This is after the burning. But that colloquium term of white house had already been established. Just because of the burning, no, there was a whitewash that existed before then. Now, they kept applying coats of white paint up until the 1970s during the Carter Administration is when they undertook a major project to strip all of the layers of paint off the white house. Now, in some areas of the house were talking 30 to 40 layers of paint that had to be removed. And the project ended up taking about 25 years. It was completed during the clinton administration. So it started the end of the Carter Administration and here this gives you some visual of what the white house looks like without its current variation of white paint. Again, you ask k see its primarily gray. It has bits of white in it and also tints of red. You probably seen the Smithsonian Castle on the national mall, so some of the sand stone quarterries when you dug too deep, you would hit these deep red veins and the stone would turn blood red. So thats why we call it washington brown stone. A lot made in the early part of the 19th century that is actually sand stone. Its just red sand stone. But from Stafford County it was primarily gray. But you can see the still flex, theres flecks of red within the stone itself. But by stripping all the paint we could actually see the very intricate detail of the carvings because you have to imagine layer after paint, layer of paint, layer of paint, layer of paint all of a sudden all of this is globed. You cant see the carvings. You cant see anything. So it took 25 years but they ended up finishing it during the clinton administration. And, there are still some parts of the white house and they saw it when they started removing paint that there are still scorch marks you can see. Now, on the exterior its pretty much all painted. This is actually downstairs we were on the ground floor corridor but behind it sort of like the basement area Service Spaces this is one of the door ways. You can see they left it unpainted and you can see some of the scorch marks still around the frame. But again, you can see the variations of the stone. Also probably tell you that the stone was coming from different sources. Here is a shot of the north portico. Again, you get a sense of how white the building is and really you cant see the individual stones as opposed to here you can actually see each individual stone. And again, flecks of red, streaks of red throughout the north portico columns. And this is during the reagan administration. Here is a shot of the north side of the white house. Again, you can see the individual gray stones on either side, but then the still painted portico and the north entrance. So, lets just say hypothetically you wanted to paint your apartment or dorm room or something the color of the white house, the closest you can get is durans whisper white thats commercially available. Thatses a close as you can get. All right. White house myth number two, white house tunnels. In fact, we were just talking about this before class the existence of tunnels who used them and why did they use them. So, one of the stories there were tunnels beneath the white house that allowed for a quick escape, that one could actually get all the way to the Potomac River and that Dolly Madison used the tunnel to escape the Octagon House and lincoln had an escape tunnel. Unfortunately these are not true. The architect of the white house did build james hoeng, several sewor systems. Dolly madison probably wouldnt have climbed through the sewor. She wouldnt have wanted to travel that way. And these were installed for Running Water but there really werent any fullsize tunnels anyone could have used. Now, here of course is Octagon House the madisons lived for six months after the burning. And its just down the street from the white house. Now, during the civil war, genuinefield scott did suggest the possibility of adding a tunnel between the white house and the Treasury Building. And here is the Treasury Building down at the bottom and up at the top you have the war department. At that point it would have been probably war. You would have navy and state using that space as well. But the Treasury Department was to the east of the white house. And the idea was that this could sort of be a citadel of sorts. If the Confederate Army invaded washington and, you know, they didnt want president lincoln to be captured that they could move him quickly to the Treasury Building. He could seek safety in one of the vaults and that essentially the people that were guarding him would have to fight to the death. Now, this was an idea that Winfield Scott had never really materialized because it didnt lincoln didnt have to, but here is a picture of the Treasury Building later. Again, you kind of get a sense of this imposing spectacle that this would have been a good place that if you were going to move to a fortresslike structure in the 19th century, this was a good place to do it. Now, during Franklin Roosevelts administration, there actually is an underground tunnel built between the east wing and the Treasury Building. In fact, they go so far as to furnish a room in the Treasury Building for franklin roosevelt. Here is a picture of that room. So this is where we start to see the presidency entering that new age of world wars and then the cold war and that president ial security obviously changes, but they need to have either structures in place to protect the president in the event of a media attack or in case there is a chance that there could be an aerial bombing or later a Nuclear Weapon targeting the white house and the United States that the president has a place to go. Now, during the truman administration, thats when two subbasements are added beneath the ground floor of the white house. So, up to the true mans time in the white house, there really wasnt central airconditioning, there wasnt central heating. This is a big part of the 1948 to 52 renovation was modernizing the white house. They essentially gut it. They rebuild it, change some things here and there, but its pretty much made out of concrete and steel. But what they also do is they dig further underground. And part of the reason they do that is because they need that space for things like utilities, airconditioning, electrical, plumbing, but also to add this walkway which now runs the length between the west wing and the east wing. Here is a finished version. And now this tunnel will actually go all the way to the east wing and it hooks up with Franklin Roosevelts bomb shelter. Roosevelt had that tunnel built for access to the Treasury Department, but remember he also has the east wing built in 1942. And thats the perfect time if youre building a structure to be also building something underneath it. So he actually has a bomb shelter made beneath the east wing. He doesnt have to get to the Treasury Building. And truman now connects it between the west wing and that secure complex. So if the president is working in the west wing in the oval office, they have a quick way to get to the bomb shelter. And you probably actually all seen it before, this is actually part of the president ial Emergency Operations center that was used on 9 11 by Vice President dick cheney and several members of the bush cabinet because remember for some time we werent quite sure where that last plane was heading towards. It certainly seemed like when it turned in pennsylvania it was coming to washington. Was it going to the capitol . Was it going to the white house . We dont know because the passengers on that flight decided to try to take control of the plane and it crashed. But essentially what they did was they rushed white house staff and members of the administration down into the Emergency Operations center. President bush was actually away. He was visiting a school in florida at the time and advised him to stay away from washington, d. C. Until they figured out what was going to happen with the last plane. But for the members of the administration, there wasnt really any type of real protocol for this type of scenario. Everybody that ive talked to or has talked about that experience essentially has told that secret service came in and told people to get out and to get to a secure location and get away from the white house because we dont know where this plane is. So, and this is actually an image of that day. You can see things do look a little bit outdated. And this was also then spurred a new effort to modernize and put in new technology and Communication Systems in the president ial Emergency Operations center. Myth number three, Dolly Madison saves the Gilbert Stewart portrait. So, we had to read a selection of sources for todays class and hopefully you did that. Now, who wants to you probably all heard the story before. You probably heard it in grade school and high school. So, who wants to just tell us what youve heard. Alex . British were coming in and they were burning down washington, d. C. Dolly madison runs back into the white house with a few people, takes down the Gilbert Stewart portrait and runs out to save it. Okay. In that version of events Dolly Madison is its like a lastsecond thing. Shes there. The british are essentially you can see the british on the horizon. Shes about to leave but she runs back in. At least you did acknowledge that there were other people there. But that she was there when they took it off and they sent it away. Right. Now, part of the reason why this story is so popular is because, you know, this was the story that was really put out there after the war of 1812 and Dolly Madison also played a part in keeping this story alive and well, but it was picked up for Childrens School books, it was published in a variety of different store graphical works and it was a story that kept getting perpetuated. Well talk a little more about that as we dig into the sources. Source number one, these were the selected letters of dolly payne madison. And its anna cutz writing to her sister Dolly Madison, circa 23rd, 1813. The burning takes place on the 24th. Ill put it up on the screen. So, my sister tell me for god sake where you are and what you are doing. What youre going to do. I have only time to ask mr. C to take out the fore part of the carriages, put in the piano, trying to escape, right, put in the piano or wagon if the british are coming. We can hear nothing but what is horrible here. I know not who to send this to and will say but little. A cutts. So what do you take away from reading that letter . Maybe how its written, how its phrased. Yeah . [ inaudible ] get as much as she can written to her sister and it will be short and sweet and i got to go type thing. Yeah. You can definitely tell its very rushed. It also seems like she doesnt finish entire sentences. Theyre just sort of clauses and then a pause and then she says something else. Its relatively short. She even says i dont know who to really send this to. She just sent it to the white house, but it was to Dolly Madison but she wasnt sure if she would be there even or if she was going to be out with president madison who was at that point out in the fields to watch the battle of bladensburg, but okay. She doesnt really know. It seems rushed. Okay. Thats fair. Now, what about this . Now, you had to read this. This is actually from the National Portrait gallery of distinguished americans published in 1836, by d. C. Socialite and historian Margaret Maynard smith. And what she publishes is based off of Dolly Madisons recollections. So, there is no response to this letter. So this is the sisters letter. Dolly madison always said that she responded but that letter is lost. Theres one story that it was eaten by mice. Theres another story that it was burned. So, many years later, 1836, now this is 20 years later, when Margaret Maynard smith is writing her biography she asked Dolly Madison, oh, well can i see the letter . And she says, well, we dont have the letter but i can give you a copy of what i remember. So, this is what she gives her. So again, tuesday, august 23rd, 1814. Dear sister, my husband left me yesterday morning to join the general. He acquired anxiously whether i had courage or firmness to remain in the president s house until his return. On my assurance i have no fear and success of our army he left me beseeching me to take care of myself and cabinet papers public and private. She mentioned she received two dispatches. The enemy seemed stronger than reported. I am accordingly ready. I have pressed as many cabinet papers into trunks as to fill one carriage. Our private property must be sacrificed. It is impossible to procure wagons for its transportation. The letter goes on and on and on and on. So what do you notice about this letter . Yeah, alex . She was already planning in advance to make an escape. That she was already packing things away in case the british would come into the white house. So let me ask you this, if this is supposed to be her response to her sister, remember how frantic her sisters letter was. Does this letter seem frantic . Does it seem like it was written after the fact . So now do you start to question whether or not how accurate the narrative is . I mean, just think about it for a moment if somebody sends you something and you need to frantically get it done, and then three months later its sort of like tell that story again but take your time. Walk us through every step. Youre going to add a lot more detail. And by that point in time, this is 1836, the story has become pretty well versed that Dolly Madison saved the Gilbert Stewart portrait. At this point she cant really go back on that, right . She kind of has to align things with how the public has perceived the whole story. But whats interesting is now this letter response she goes into wednesday morning, 12 00 p. M. , since sunrise i have been turning my spy glass in every direction and watching with unwearied anxiety. 3 00, would you believe it, my sister, we have a battle near bladensburg and im still here within sound of the cannon. Mr. Madison comes not may god protect him. Two messengers come to bid me afly and i wait for him. At this late hour a wagon has been procured. I had it filled with the most portable articles belongs to the house. Whether it will reach its destination or fall into the hands of the british events must determine. Our kind friend mr. Carol has come to hasten our departure and i insist on waiting until the large picture of general washington is secured and requires to unscrewed in the wall. This process was found too tedious. It is done. And the precious portrait placed in the hands of two gentlemen of new york for safekeeping. And now my dear sister, i must leave this house or the retreating army will make me a prisoner in it by filling up the road and i am directed to take. Okay. So thats Dolly Madisons version of events circa 1836. Yeah, matthew. I thought it was weird how she said general washington instead of president washington. Is it because she knew him when he was general and thats how she thinks of him . Or was it well, nowadays i think weve become more accustom to theres president and also former president. But also we still sometimes refer to people as president george w. Bush, president bill clinton. In those days, this was one of those precedent things that washington was after is that there should only be one president. So, when he left the presidency, he preferred to people address him general. So typically they called him general washington. Yeah. Okay. So we have the frantic letter from sister anna cutts. We have Dolly Madisons response many years later as she remembers it. So not the actual response from august 23rd, 24th. Then we have this, this newspaper article from the Baltimore Sun dated may 25th, 1847. So what did you find anything interesting about this particular article . Yeah, matthew. It was sort of i dont want to say rude, but it was a little critical of Dolly Madison because i think the best part one of the real saviors when its talking about the people that actually saved the painting. Suggesting that she wasnt a real savior and i thought that was interesting. A little jab. Sure. And this is 1847, right . So this is now were talking about 33 years after the actual event. And theres still sort of this scuttle bud in the newspaper about what exactly happened, who did what, who deserves credit and it gets to a point where even Dolly Madison, who at this point is quite elderly, you know, i think she only lives a couple more years before she passes away in washington. Where she needs to weigh in and sort of, as the article suggests, historical error corrected. But it talks about general john mason because a new story had emerged that general john mason was the one who saved the portrait. And the two gentlemen from new york that Dolly Madison mentions these guys jacob barker and robert depistre the two member from new york who did walk into the white house and essentially they were responsible for transporting the Gilbert Stewart to safety. So those men were certainly there. That was their account. Dolly madison agrees it was their account. But they do have some minor differences. Theres also daniel carol, remember she mentioned mr. Carol. So daniel carol, he had gotten more involved in saying that his Family Member who had helped essentially transport Dolly Madison away from the white house also was the one who saved the portrait. Again, we still dont have any clear answer. But whats interesting is Dolly Madison writes a letter to robert depister in february, 1848, again towards the end of her life. Listen to this letter. Dear, sir, i did not receive your favor containing the newspapers therefore it is my impatience to assure you for the gratitude you interest in you take in my defense in the little narrative of the picture rescue. You will see by the enclosed what is said at the time the impression that mr. Carol saved stewarts portrait of washington is erroneous. The paper which was to accompany your letter has not reached me but i heard his family believed he rescued it. On the contrary, mr. Carol left me to join mr. Madison when i directed my servants thats an interesting statement, i directed my servants in what manner to remove from the wall remaining with them until it was done. So she says she was there until it was done. I saw mr. Barker and yourself two gentlemen eluded to passing. And accepted your offer to assist me in any way by inviting you to help me preserve this portrait which you kindly carried between you to the humble but safe roof which sheltered for a while. Not that i felt a desire to gain laurels but should there been an merit to save the likeness of anything the merit in this case belongs to me. Please accept my respect and best wishes. The merit in this case belongs to me. Now, who here has heard of Paul Jennings . Okay. What do you remember about Paul Jennings when we talked about Paul Jennings earlier this semester. He was ordered by Dolly Madison to take the portrait. He is a key player, right . He wrote a biography later on. Yeah. He wrote a recollections, right, some of his Life Experiences but also his experience with the madisons. So, he was born in mont pillier. He was born enslaved to the madisons. And he traveled with them to washington when the madisons went there first as secretary of state and later a president. Write the First White House memoir. He did. At the time when it was published, essentially during the civil war, there was some question about how authentic or how accurate this account could be. Was partially because of his formally enslaved status. At that point he was a free africanamerican man. Question the narrative based on their social status or former social status as formerly enslaved people. But jennings has a very interesting version of the story as well. And that was the last source that you had to read for today. Its a little bit longer. And it talks about the events of august 24th. So, what did you notice about this last source . What did you pick out that was a little bit different from the other sources . Yeah. It was a very relaxed day. Very relaxed, not rushed. Took several hours for the british to come. Jennings is working to set the table for what they expect to be a victory meal at the president s house. And a messenger rides up and says clear out, clear out. So certainly gives the impression that the british are on the march and theyre going to be at washington in my minute. Thats sort of the story. Lets rush. Lets get out there. Jennings seems to apply that it took a while for the british to actually get to washington. And what we know from other accounts is that was true. The british didnt really reach washington until about twilight. The first place they went was the capitol to burn that. So they dont actually burn the president s house until much later that night. Okay. So, his version sort of coincides with other eyewitness accounts. Anything else jump out to you about this particular source . Matthew. At the end, very end of the source he says that the idea that she herself took it down is ridiculous because he says she would have needed a ladder to do it and he says all she did was get her silver and then run away. And, two, it was the gardener and the door keeper were the ones that took it down and brought it out without her. She wasnt even there. So, a very different version of events. Now, why do you think jennings tells this story in the 1860s . Yeah. Because he didnt want at that point Dolly Madison was more like trying to get, again, in the spotlight it seems. And jennings, after being enslaved by that family for multiple years and most of his life, was kind of tired of it. I mean, i would be, too. Dolly madison was trying to portray herself in this sort of heroic sense that she wasnt. She was any other rich white girl. Well, and lets also keep in mind that after James Madison passes away, he essentially leaves his enslaved people to Dolly Madison. He adds the stipulation that he really doesnt want her to break up families, but she does. And she sold Paul Jennings to an insurance salesman in d. C. Named pollard webb. She does sell Paul Jennings over to someone else and eventually its Daniel Webster who buys out his debt and he enters into a Work Agreement with jennings that hell essentially work for webster and pay off the debt and earn his freedom. So, thats how jennings gets from being enslaved to being free. Now also keep in mind Dolly Madison has been dead for a decade by the time this is published. So he doesnt this isnt published while shes still alive. Its very strategically placed later. But there are some inner connections between his account and some of the things shes saying, but then there are also these unanswered questions, like well, how would she get a portrait down . Some people say that the portrait was cut out of the frame. Thats not true. They did have to unscrew it from the wall and break the frame when they did conservation work on it they were able to check and see for any sere rated edges and there werent any. That blows a hole in that theory. Ultimately what we end upcoming away with these men, remember Dolly Madison mentions her servants. And at that time, oftentimes, people did not use the term slave. They just sort of referred to anybody who worked for them, whether it was for wages or they were owned as servants. So we dont know necessarily who shes specifically talking about, but when we look at jennings account, he mentioned john susha his real name was john pier susant and thomas mcgraw, the gardener. But those two positions would have been paid. So, to use the word servant seems to suggest that perhaps at least one of her enslaved workers was responsible. And jennings, i mean, hes there. Hes part of that account. He has the eyewitness account. And then actually says when he labels the people that were there he mentioned servants and one of the dining room servants he says. So, ultimately what we take away from all of this is that okay, Dolly Madison didnt cut out a portrait. She didnt, you know, stand up on a ladder and try to remove that portrait herself. You guys have all seen the Gilbert Stewart portrait in the white house. Its a massive portrait. I mean, you would need a group of people to take it down, right . So lets just think about it in terms of basic physics. Youre going to need probably at least three or four people. But Dolly Madison for most of the 19th century got the lions share of the credit. Now, since then we have reevaluated that and i usually like to go with Dolly Madison ordered the portrait to be saved. Because you cant deny that she was the one who said we need to save that portrait. And really you can kind of think of it was the first major act of Art Preservation in a sense in American History. But you also have to give due to the other people who participated in it. So, if you ever hear anybody talk about Dolly Madison saving the portrait, you can fill them in on all of this Background Information and you can tell them, well, its probably more appropriate to say ordered to be saved. Now, lets think about it from Dolly Madisons perspective. Why perpetuate this story . It looks good for her. It looks good for her and also looks good for the president and it tells a triumphant story when the british were attacking washington, which was obviously a huge embarrassment. And so to have this, yes, it does paint her well but also shows that the country is still going to last past the burning of the white house. Okay. So we have it makes Dolly Madison look good. This was obviously a low point for americans in terms of moral and the war effort. Any other reasons . Let me ask you this oh, yeah, brian. I was just going to say that once [ inaudible ]. Once shes given the credit for it, she needs to make sure shes with held the story so that she sure. Yeah. Less attention towards the white house being burnt down and more focussed on something positive. Something for positive. And thats what americans needed to hear about. I want you to imagine for a moment, lets think about this in todays terms, if a foreign army invaded the United States and burned down washington, d. C. , how would you feel . Probably not great. But also, you know, how would you what would you think of the president who is leading the country at that time . And their leadership. So, let me ask you this, close your eyes for a second. Now when i say James Madison, whats the first thing that pops in your mind. Short guy. Short guy. Constitution. Constitution. Did most what was the first thing that popped into your head . Constitution. What he did. University, constitution. And obviously James Madison deserves credit in his due, but you know, didnt if you asked anybody on the street, you know, oh, yeah, James Madison, yeah, wasnt he president when the city was burned down . Would anybody say that . No. Everybody talks about the constitution. Its almost like in addition to the war of 1812 being sort of a forgotten war, weve also kind of relinquished that James Madison was president when the city was destroyed or nearly destroyed. And i think a big part of it was Dolly Madisons role in building this folklore about saving an important piece of American History. And i think this also probably helped when they were talking about should we rebuild, should we move somewhere else. You know, it was worth putting themselves at risk to save a piece of American History if we move away and build a new capitol, what does that say about us . And this was a positive story that several of you made that point. The war of 1812 was not a particularly decisive war for the americans. In fact, a lot of the issues that we still had with the british continued beyond the war. But we dont really remember that part. It seems like when you mention the war of 1812 people remember Dolly Madison and the saving of the Gilbert Stewart portrait. And this is probably the in my time being a white house historian, this is the one that has been hardest to try to untangle from Popular Culture because its everywhere. So, again, if you run into somebody to talk about Dolly Madison and the burning of the white house, you can tell them more about the correspondents and when it was dated and it was a recollection and it was a memory and so on and so on. All right. Lets shift gears to the white house alligator. Not much of a transition in between, but the story goes that president John Quincy Adams received a pet alligator from the marquee delafiyet when he did his grand tour of the United States in 1924 25. He visited the white house in the 1824, james monroe was president and then he visited again for a Birthday Celebration in september for himself, september 1825, John Quincy Adams threw a Birthday Ball and reception for him at the white house. And theres this story that he presented john adams, John Quincy Adams with an alligator and that John Quincy Adams not really knowing what to do with that essentially just put the alligator in the east room. That was just where i guess thats where alligators are stored. Because at that point in time remember the east room wasnt finished yet. It was sort of a storage space. Okay. I guess that part sort of holds up. But if you know anything about John Quincy Adams, he was meticulous with his note taking and his diaries and he was the kind of guy that when he went for a walk in the city, he would identify plants and trees and flowers and then try to remember their latin names. And he would record them. It was a way that he was teaching himself the latin names of plants and trees. So, i find it hard to believe that John Quincy Adams wouldnt have mentioned in his diaries he would have received an alligator. Seems like a pretty standout event, right . But lets keep digging. Agusthis secretary and later published an account of the travels and what they saw and what they did, he mentions seeing alligators during their voyage to savannah in march, 1825. So then youre like, okay, so they did see alligators. Its possible. They went to savannah. Maybe they captured one of those small baby alligators and then they brought it to the white house. Well, thats a pretty big gap between march and september. What were they doing with an alligator six months. That doesnt make much sense. But what i found when i was doing a little bit more research into this particular myth i couldnt find any newspaper accounts related to it but what i did find was this 1888 childrens magazine called wide awake by hairriet taylor upton. And what it said was, this is a quote from that particular article, when General Lafayette made his visit there, this was was given. Some live alligators being among them. So really in 1888 thats really sort of the First Published instance of alligators in the east room. Thats about what, 60some years after lafayette actually visited. This is actually an article from the evening star from 1867 and it mentions a mr. John thakers Grocery Store in georgetown. You can see the crocodile excitement. The alligator at mr. John thakers Grocery Store, mention made in star made an excitement in town and many have called to see it. So there were people that were putting alligators in stores in d. C. In the late 1860s. So is it possible that one of these stories just morphed from that . Probably. Theres really no evidence that there were alligators in the east room, so i consider that to be a pretty big myth. Myth number 5, Theodore Roosevelt in Christmas Trees. Anybody heard of this story before . Yeah. Oh, i was going what do you know about the story or what do you remember hearing about it . I dont really remember the full story. All i know is that the Christmas Trees is mostly a germanic tradition that was taken over to the United States. Thats just what my family told me but theyre also german. Yeah. The whole idea of putting a Christmas Tree in your house is a much more modern tradition. In fact, the first documented instance of a Christmas Tree at the white house is during the Benjamin Harrison administration in 1889. That tells you that the first documented instance was much later. Its, of course, become much more consistent in the 20th and 21st centuries and of course now we have annual Christmas Decorations and we have the Christmas Tree lighting and the Christmas Tree in the blue room which is a lot more compared to what the president s in the late 19th century did, often times what they did if they had anything would have been a small tree up in the second floor in the private corridors. They really didnt put things on the state floor because thats where people were constantly going. But, the story goes that Theodore Roosevelt because he was such a big conservationist did not believe in cutting down Christmas Trees. Thats why the roosevelts didnt have Christmas Trees. And so the story goes that one of the roosevelt boys, archie, snuck a Christmas Tree up into the white house and he put it in the closet in one of the upstairs the upstairs rooms and decorated it. And this is later the image that sort of captures the story that it was archie that brought christmas to the white house. And even though president roosevelt didnt believe in cutting down trees, he let this one slide, so goes the story. Roosevelt was on record opposing destroying lumber practices. But never appears to have singled out the practice of harvesting Christmas Trees. By 1907 was even urging the creation of businesses specifically for growing Christmas Trees. A few contemporary newspapers note how Family Tradition note the roosevelts never actually never had a Christmas Tree. It was expected roosevelt would have a tree in the white house despite this but never did just because the roos velts didnt celebrate christmas with a tree. So there was no ban. Some people say roosevelt banned trees. It just wasnt how the roosevelts celebrated christmas. The president got a kick out of it and he let his son continue to do it, but this whole idea that was a ban on Christmas Trees is a myth. Heres an image of one of the earliest renditions of the Christmas Tree. This is actually up stairs in what is today the yellow oval room on the second floor. Its been consistently in the blue room since the kennedys started that tradition. And then in 1969 the nixons actually moved it out to the the entrance hall. But other than those two years in 1961 this has always been in the blue room. A video recently came out with Melania Trump in the white house theres like trees all over the white house. Great question, because this was actually something i was just asked by someone else so i know the answer. I would say up to the eisenhowers typically mutt most families did is they had a Christmas Tree up in the residence and there was a large Christmas Tree in the east room. Of course the east room was the tallest room and thats usually where they would put an 18 foot, 20 foot tree. And a lot of residents made this practice because it made the most sense. If you were to do reses or parties it was in an annual space. The first instance of a tree in the blue room was actually 1912. But it doesnt become a consistent thing until the kennedys. Now, when we get to the eisenhowers she loved to decorate for the holidays and shes the one that really jumps into halloween, so the annual halloween celebration you probably remember reading about that kicks off with her. And she also loves christmas. And all of a sudden the white house went from having maybe a few trees to i think one year they had 16 trees, and then towards the end of the Eisenhower Administration they had 29 trees, which is a lot. But i know last year the trumps had 81 trees. So its grown ever since the eisenhowers where all of a sudden Christmas Decorations are not just isolated to the quarters and theyre not just in the east room. Theyre everywhere. Theyre on the outside of the white house, on the state floor, the ground floor, the east wing, the west wing. So weve really seen the expansion of how the first families and staff decorate for the holidays since the eisenhowers. Whos in charge . Who has been in charge in the past of decorating, and is it the association that curated or the first lady or a whole bunch of people . All of that is internal. I would say primarily the oval office is overseen by the first lady. Right after thanksgiving is when they have these volunteers usually youre talking upwards of 500 people who will come to the white house and theyll help decorate. And they get all those decorations done right after thanksgiving and theyll reveal the decorations usually by the next week. So, yes, they need to have it pret much orchestrated, planned, organized and be able to have all those people. Now sometimes one of the things people often wonder is, well, are they buying new decorations every year, and sometimes they will repurpose previous years decorations. You know, they can change the ornaments. They can change the colors, but sties they do use they do get new decorations as well. Okay, the naming of the white house. You heard this one. Who named who called it a white house . Awesome. Theodore roosevelt used it on the stationary for the first time. So the story goes and you can find this online pretty much everywhere it was president Theodore Roosevelt who officially changed the name of executive mansion to the white house. Even though as weve already covered people were sort of referring to it as the white house because it had that line base whitewash but it wasnt an official name change. And here of course this is one of the instances i was able to locate. So what you have is on one side, on the left side that is the executive mansion washington stationary. And you can see thats september 1901, and thats later thats november 1901. So theres that gap in the month of october. What do you notice about the paper on the left . Anything in particular stand out to you . How is it different . One on the left is signed by the secretary of the president and the one on the right is signed by the president. Thats one of the differences. Yes . Okay, so we have different signatures, different fonts. Okay, different colored paper. More wording on the paper on the right than on the left. You guys are finding all these great differences, but im looking for the one big one. What about the outside of it . Does anybody know what that is yeah, the border, what is it . So why does this letter of president ial correspondence why does it have black trim around it . Any ideas . What just happened in september 1901. President mckinley just died in september 1901. Remember hes assassinated and then he kind of lingers for a while, and they think hes Getting Better and it turns out he has a terrible infection and he dies. And usually what you have is a month of mourning. So all the stationary thats used at the white house for that month is going to look like that, right . So you have the black trim, executive mansion, washington in black. And we call this mourning paper, right . We know in late september 1901 theyre using this mourning paper and then in early february we move to the white house. So that tells us, okay, october 1901. Something happened between those two. So heres another good example. This is actually a document, its in the national archives. And, again, what do you see . You see the trim, right . You see the mourning paper. You see executive mansion in black. But it says my dear, sir, i was directed by the president to bring your attention your desire to change the headings and datelines to all official papers and documents requiring his signature from executive mansion to the white house. As well as messages for either House Congress to observe the change. Very truly yours, secretary to the president. And the letter is dated october 17, 1901. So we have the president s secretary telling the secretary of state for future reference any documents you send to the president for him to sign and that are official documents the heading should be white house. Of course you can. So october 17, 1901, thats when that directive is sent but there really is no executive order. Theres no law. So when they say that roosevelt officially changed the name executive mansion to white house, it is true. But its kind of hard to pin down exactly when it happened. We know its october 1901, but is it when they start sending those letters out . Theres only one letter to the secretary of state. Does everybody else just fall into line about a week later . I dont know. But theres more to the story there. Again, this is part of the reason why people just say october 1901 because were not quite sure about the exact date. Okay, myth number 7, lincoln bed in the lincoln bedroom. This is actually a painting done and he did a series of these historic portraits that show different moments in white house history and obviously how it was decorated and this is supposed to be a picture of what is today the lincoln bedroom. Now, in lincolns time it was his cabinet room in his office. So if youve seen the movie lincoln you probably remember that space. There were maps on the wall. He had his desk. He had a large rectangular table right in the middle and thats usually where the cabinet gathered. So he actually used the lincoln bedroom space as his office. But just Pay Attention to these details and what it looks like because it changed pretty rapidly over time. Now, one of the first visiting foreign dignitaries to come to the white house was prince albert, and when he came to the white house during the lincoln administration, the white house didnt really have a guest suite. They had sort of a spare room with a bunch of different furniture in it. So one of the things Mary Todd Lincoln does is she purchases a suite of furniture for this new room supposed to be have a visiting head of state or dignitary. Well get to that because the lincoln bedroom is supposedly very haunted. I think it was president reagans dog who wouldnt cross the threshold and go into the room. So thats again one of the stories. Now, heres the lincoln bedroom. This is a little bit later, probably in the late 19th century, so it is still a bedroom at that time. And actually some of the president s used this furniture for their own president ial suites. So thats what it looked like in lincolns time. Here you can see this is the suite of furniture that Mary Todd Lincoln purchased, the chairs, the table. Part of the reason they call it the lincoln bed is because its 8 feet long and its 6 feet wide. So its a pretty big bed. And most people just assumed, well, the bed is 8 feet long so president Abraham Lincoln must have slept in it, right . He did not. It was supposed to be for visiting distinguished guests. So even though its called the lincoln bed he didnt actually sleepin it, but there were president s who did. Theodore roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, they all used this bed into their bedroom and they used it. Now, truman repurposed the space as the lincoln bedroom postrenovation and puts lincoln objects and memorabilia in there. So it looks more like this. So keep in mind lincolns time this is the late 19th century being used as a bedroom. And later the space is used as a private office for the president. And this is primarily where the president s work. This is a little bit later. Again you can see the bed being used there. Actually this is later. I think this is during truman. Eventually we get to this time when truman is obviously interested in history, and he learns the lore behind this, there are objects in the white house remember we dont have an official collection yet but sort of things in the house that have some sort of affiliation with lincoln. It was with truman it became the lincoln bedroom. And it pretty much stayed the same from truman up until the association funded a major refurbishing and renovation project during the george w. Bush administration. But she wanted the interiors, the carpeting, the walls to reflect more what the room looked like in lincolns time. So again here you can see this is later during nixon, clinton and then bush. One of the things we had to do is do the research in the background on this bed canopy. You can actually see from the images it disappears because at some point it was lost. We just dont know what happened to it. Here it is in the late 1890s. You can see it there at the top. So what we had to do is use photographs and do more research to try to create a reproduction as similar as possible. But theres the lincoln bedroom. So just a quick recap, the white house whitewash had been used beforehand and become the customed color that is why people often referred to it as the white house. Andrew jackson forever planted the fame magnolia tree. Only later roosevelt never banned Christmas Trees, that wasnt a real thing. People had been calling the white house the White House Well before roosevelt ordered a new official stationary and lincoln never slept in the bed named after him. But probably the biggest one, Dolly Madison did not save a painting for herself but she ordered it to be saved and it was through collective efforts this was done. So what do these myths tell us about the white house . And because of the white houses rich and deep history the conditions are optimal for lady lauren legends. But history is often complicated and complex. Theres always more to the story than meet the eye. Theres more agents, more factors and variables involved, interest and motivations. And at the same time these myths are incredibly difficult to untangle from our Popular Culture in our public conscience. The fact many of these tales persist more today tell us how americans have approached, understood, invented and shared history and historical antidotes in many different ways. These traditions themselves underscore a deeper truth what it means to be an american but were constantly defining and redefining who we are as a people. And attempting to ground those realities within the confines of a shared national past, this can indeed serve the greater good. Promote Civic Engagement and education, as well as compel individuals to critically analyze the historic record for more answers. But it can also be extremely detrimental furthering falsehood and the key is to use or learn skills in this course as a lens to understanding the world around them. Thats part of the reason why i showed those media accounts by cnn and the Washington Post and the New York Post because even when people are talking about history you have to be aware of the source and whos writing for what audience and its no different when were studying history. The key is to use those skills. How its been at the epicenter of our american identity ever since the american revolution. Any questions about white house myths or anything you took away in particular about some of the stories we heard . Yeah. Christopher. I know the bush family renovated the lincoln bedroom or restored. Yeah, the bushes actually did quite a bit of work in the white house, but that was one of the big projects because generally speaking the association does get more involved on things more on the state floor because those are the public rooms. Those are the rooms people see on tours, and those are the rooms that stay fairly consistent in terms of changing things and having the association and theres different rules. Now because the lincoln bedroom is one of the most famous spaces of the white house we made a compelling case this is something that should be done and needs to be done and the committee for the white house agreed. Generally speaking for those types of projects, no. It goes tornado maintenance, basic up keep, necessary reninations. Like the truman renovation obviously that was a necessary renovation. But the type of thing it was cosmetic or it might change the look of the room those things have to be privately funded. Is it true that sounds right but im not positive. So theres some so theres some myths that say that Abraham Lincoln was bisexual. Does that qualify as a myth or is it just a claim . Some were brought in like newspapers, like one was a bodyguard. Another one was like one of his very close friends. Oh, was it like because lincoln was a traveling lawyer that, you know, because sometimes he had a share a bed with a man that some people have said, oh, yeah thats who he was . The thing about it in those days people dont get their own rooms. We get our own hotel rooms today. That wasnt a thing in the 19th century. You shared beds, you split costs. Thats how worked. What do you know about where the portrait was between when it left the white house and when did it get back . Lets also we can fill in a bit more credit to Dolly Madison here. She does take the papers her husband leaves behind because she doesnt want those to be captured, and she also takes the red velvet curtains from what is today the blue room. We know that it seems likely based on other eyewitness accounts that jennings was right, there was looting at the white house. But it was probably americans who were ena panicked frenzy and they were on their way out of the city anyway. And some of them did swing by the white house and grab some things. So Dolly Madison does get some credit there. By understanding is they hid it in a barn and they kecht it there. They let the Property Owner know it was there and it stayed there until the british left and brought it back to the city and gave it to the secretary of state. So its a way for the white house for a little bit, obviously it cant go back to the white house until its burned out, but eventually it goes back in time when james monroe moves in as president in his own right in late 1817. You mentioned white house tunnels and White House Security but the biggest myth i ever heard is there really was no that connected moskow i know johnson had that teletype machine so that was one way they were communicating russians. They had one of those Strategic Air command phones and when they were planting they actually served the line. They were like oh, my god did something happen to the white house, they just cut the phone line by accident. There was no typical red phone that a lot of people said there was . I dont remember seeing that. They would have been able to connect with their counter parts in moskow. I dont think they needed a specific phone just for that. But thats something id have to doublecheck. But that doesnt sound right to me. Ghost stories, right. So we just had halloween, and theres been a number of ghost stories. Im not going to ask what your opinions are if you believe in ghosts or dont believe in ghosts. Some people do, some people dont. And the white house curator, he worked at the white house for four years, and he was like no i have no experience, i dont believe in them, and theres one story about the ghost of what looks like a young boy, a teenage boy, and he was called the thing, that was during the taft administration. Arch bald talks about that story, like people said they saw this boy and taft basically told his staff like do not let this leak to the press, like this is ridiculous and were not going to talk about it basically. Theres stories of some people say theyve seen a specter of a british soldier carrying a torch that david bernz that the original landowner the white house is built on, he shows up and cackles and laughs here and there. It seems like everyone saw Abraham Lincolns ghost. Churchill, maybe you heard that story. Churchill was actually naked at the time and it was sort of like, mr. President , you caught me exposed. And there was like the lincoln ghost kind of smirked and then he disappeared. So theres all these different stories about theres also so during trumans time truman believed the house was haunted and he talked about he said he could hear footsteps, he said sometimes the chand leer would just start swaying and that sometimes he would even be in bed and all of a sudden he would hear like pounding at his door. And he would get up, hed go to the door, hed open it and there was nobody there. So theres all these unplained noises and phenomenon that truman experienced and he believed the white house was haunted. That was before the renovation, right . Yes. It turns out that was just because the white house was so shoddy at that point so things were creeking, things were falling apart and the infrastructure a piano leg fell through one of the floors and thats how they discovered it was haunted. And the idea the chandelier started swaying that was because some of the chandeliers started pulling the floor down. And remember a lot of the interior structure was made of wood. I always thought that loud banging noise, that could have been wood struts literally popping. Because remember in 1927 when Calvin Coolidge adds a new roof, its made of steel and concrete and all that weight is put on that old wood, youre going to start hearing noises and not normal noises. The white house was literally crying out in pain because of the weight it was carrying. Not to go too far with this but i think truman probably had enough ghosts of his own after having, you know, having to deal with dropping the bombs on japan twice and kind of having to reconcile with how he ended the war and that kind of thing, i think president truman had his own demons inside of him he had to reconcile, whether or not that was fair. Yeah, i mean my general understanding is i havent really heard much about ghost stories since the renovation. So thats my other argument to that point is that these stories are constantly in the press or people talk about experiencing unexplained things, but it seems a lot of these stories go right up to about 1952. And you dont hear a lot after that. Theres the story president reagans dog wouldnt go into the bedroom. I have a dog like that. I dont think its necessarily haunted. You just have a dog like that. Willy lincoln is another one. Do you think that is a possibility so do i believe in ghosts then or im just saying like you know what, never mind. What i would say is as a historian whos supposed to look at evidence and documentation, wrng thi think a lot of these things probably arent real. At the same time i know theres been so many instances where people experienced something they cant explain. So its possible. Im not going to take a definitive stance on no they dont exist. So i think its one of things it depends on your experiences. Thats why leaning that way. Bill almond who literally worked there for 40 years and he never bill clinton used to meet up with monica lewinsky. I dont think she needed to sneak through a tunnel. She probably had a pass. My guess is president s had tunnels if they happen today get through the white house and not be seen. Remember we talked about the growth of media and press coverage. The president leaveathize white house it immediately becomes news. Even think about when President Trump left the white house to go to walter reid and that became an immediate story. Im sure there are instances they used that tunnel but im sure it was not a regular occurrence. Alex, youre next. Two quick things. First is roosevelts secretary of state work for lincoln . I believe so, yes. And second could you speak to there are a lot of stories president kennedy would sneak i can certainly recommend books if youd like to read those, but generally speaking i dont get too bogged down in personal lives. So that was your question, too . I mean my own personal opinion is that i dont now were wandering into crazy land so well pull it back a little bit. Oh, it was in cnn, it must be true. Oh, it was in the Washington Post, it must be true. My point is and what i want you to take away from this class is that you should always be asking questions. You should always be looking at evidence. Dont just accept something at face value because its put out by a media outlet or this historian. Dig deeper. Form your own conclusions. Its important to think about these things and not just accept them. I feel thats probably more mrs. Trump because shes the one that does the decorating. Generally first ladies oversee that part of it. Yeah, i mean lets see if we go back the eisenhowers they were in the 20s, i think the bush and clintons were up in the 30s, so it is higher but, you know, the white house is a big place, right . So its easy to decorate with trees all along the entire public tour. So the set of complete dentures that i believe mount vernon has, they were made out of metal. And the teeth in there were actually human teeth and sometimes animal teeth. Yep. And sometimes the teeth came from overseers, sometimes they came from his own enslaved people. I believe he paid for them. But still. You talked about questioning a lot of stuff and Like White House stuff, like not to take stuff at face value. Is there any essential part to white house history that no one should question . Like there shouldnt be any question and ill just accept it. Anything i say. No, no, no, thats a good point. Obviously there are a lot of things we can factually say and prove and we had evidence of. But i mean i can even say in my experience in this job i mean im constantly finding things that slightly change the narrative or add a different layer of complexity that has been there or people presented before. And thats the thing about the white house. It incapsulates all these different relationships and interactions and people, and were always learning new things. And the same principle should apply, you know, when youre in other classes, when youre work internships or jobs, that you need to have that same approach to not take anything at face value. Think hard about the evidence, think critically, and, you know, form your own opinions. Just dont accept someone elses, and that includes me. Are any of them buried in the white house grounds . Family members or Family Member pets . Any living things that were buried in the white house . I mean im sure its im sure its possible, but to be honest nobody has ever directly asked me how many what pets had died in the white house and then been buried there. Are there any grave sites on the white house grounds . Not that we know of. So right before they were building the white house there actually used to be a cemetery in lafayette park. And they had to dig up the graves and move the coffins and move the tombstones. Now, there is some reason to suggest there could be people buried on the grounds. But the best instance i can think of is one of jeffersons enslaved cooks who gave birth to a child actually she gave birth to the first child born in the white house, not jeffersons granddaughter. Everybody says jefferson. I guess if you say a first child related to a president born in the white house, but it was actually one of his cooks. And one of these babies got really sick. And we know based on jeffersons account books that he paid a doctor for multiple visits and we also know later that he paid out the man to make a small coffin. So, you know, i dont think they would have gone back to mo monticello. I think they would have buried the enslaved born baby on the grounds somewhere. But theres no reference they built a coffin. Was the baby buried phrelelse i d. C. , was the baby buried on the grounds . We just dont know. Cadaver dogs that sniff out well, this was 210 years ago. But i also think between the renovations and the digging up of the white house grounds if they did maybe they would have found something but we just dont know for sure. I figure working at the white house you probably get people emailing you with their weird theories. All the time. So what are some of the best moments . I mean oftentimes people will write in and theyll say, you know, i was always led to believe that my great great grandfather worked in the rutherford b. Hayes white house and was an advisor, can you tell me about that person . We just dont have records so oftentimes disappointingly have to direct them to the national archives. A number of people write and they want us toa theuthenticate things, which we dont do. We dont know they might think about selling it off at auction and to have the Association Stamp of approval, they think that will probably help give it a little bit more juice. Yeah, i mean those types of things i dont even try to because its one of those things where if you make the choice to respond its probably going to keep going. So you have to be very careful about what you respond to and what you dont respond to. Have you ever been contacted by like a pawn stars team . I have not but that would be great. I would love to talk to what rick, chumly. Wait, chumlys dead. No grandpa. We were able to connect with people who specialize ena particular period of furniture or light fixtures and sometimes it turns out, yeah, these were from the white house so that stuff is still out there. People are still finding it. It was a big part of why i thought the white house artifact assignment would be fun but also give us a better sense of what is out there and maybe what the association should see what it can do in terms of returning it to the collection. Any other questions . Well, i just want to thank you all for a great semester, and its hard to believe that its gone this quickly. But i appreciate you putting up with me. And its been fun, but, you know, well obviously stay in touch. If you need anything you can always reach my by email and ill get the rest of the papers done. I do have a parting gift for all of you. So in boxes over there i have 20 copies of one of our books. We did a book on the executive mansions of the world, so obviously the white house is one of them. But then you have, you know, Buckingham Palace is one of them and the president ial house in paris is one. So its our gift to you, and, you know, as youre walking out feel free to grab a copy and well be in touch in the next week. If theres anything else i can help with remember just email me your final version of the paper and that way i can do the grading that way. Yes . There is no final. Just the Research Paper. All right. So any other questions, final statements . Anybody feel like they really need to get something out, they need to share something . No, you had plenty youve shared plenty. Dont worry. Theyll edit it out. What would you like to say . Well, im still in charge of your grade so thanks for letting me know. This is a fun game. So anything else . What im also planning to do is as we move into spring what ill do is ill be in touch probably with some of you about publishing your papers on our website. So keep that in mind when you submit the final version of the paper. And if you do submit an exceptional paper i would be happy to work with you to publish it some time in the spring. The final thing i wanted to show you is that for the past 18 months myself and my team at the association has been working hard on this new initiative and we talked a bit about this in the semester but were reaching the point where this initiative is coming together. This is actually the temporary collection we have. So if youre interested in learning more about this subject we have information about, you know, the history of slavery in d. C. Itself. Slavery at George Washingtons president ial homes, scrolling down the homes of Thomas Jefferson and we have individual stand alone pieces that specifically focus on enslaved individuals who either worked at the white house, had some association with the white house and their stories and their families stories. Now, we didnt get to visit decatur house, so this article right here this is the article i wrote about it. But part of whats coming along with this is we actually have a new website themed design, and were planning on launching in february, so just stay tuned for that. Its going to have essentially a virtual tour of the slave quarters. We have new exhibit panelling, an interactive time line going on it so youll be able to scroll through and key moments in the district related slavery and also where these individuals fit on this specific time line. I do believe that this is a subject that needs more exploration, needs more research. So as youre how many people are history majors . Anybody . Okay, just a couple. But if youre thinking about going in that direction and then maybe someday down the road you are thinking about maybe you want to write a Research Paper i just want you to be aware of this resource because its im really proud of the work weve done and i just want people to know about it so they use it. All right, have a wonderful exam week. Luckily you dont have to take an exam here. Youll just email the papers. And if you need anything you can reach me by email. Were featuring American History tv programs this week as a preview whats available every weekend on cspan 3. Tonight from our lectures in history series well do an academic tour of texas. Our Lone Star State night starts with gene allen smith teaching about George Washingtons character. He examines how the first president interacted with his contemporaries. American history tv tonight starting at 8 00 eastern on cspan 3. American history tv on cspan 3 looks back at the influenza pandemics of 1918 and 1957. Saturday night at 8 00 eastern stony book professor nancy thoms compares the pandemic to whats happening today. When they tell us not to shake hands or to sneeze into your elbow, thats a social distancing mechanism. Exactly the same stuff they were telling americans to do at the turn of the last century. Why is this important . Because even though we have made astounding improvements in the Health Sciences we still cannot cure a virus. And sunday at 4 00, on reel america, the 1957 film the silent invader about a new influenza virus that emerged from asia. From metropolitan pittsburgh with approximately 1 million people. You would have approximately 2,000 people who would become ill in a 4 to 6 week period. On cspan 3. Coming up on cspan 3, American University professor lecturing about newspaper publisher William Randolph hurst and the spanish american war. He debunks the myth hurt sent a telegram to a correspondent in cuba saying, quote, you furnish the pictures, ill furnish the war. Good morning. Well, today were going to talk about one of the most tenacious media myths in american journalism. It has to do it revolves around the supposed vow of William Randolphur