the 6th annual celebration honoring the birth of
Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr. tuesday, january 5, 2021 12:0o noon - 1:00pm
Board of Directors
The White House Historical Association was founded in 1961 by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to act as the independent, non-profit, and nonpartisan partner to the White House. The Association provides nontaxpayer funds to acquire historic furnishings and artwork for the permanent White House collection, maintain the museum standard of the State Floor, and educate the public on the history of the White House going back to 1792 when George Washington selected the plot of land where It stands today. The Association has continued the same relationship with the White House as that established by Mrs. Kennedy through its work with each successive president and first lady, regardless of politics.
CHAIRMAN
Frederick J. Ryan, Jr. VICE CHAIRMAN AND TREASURER
John F. W. Rogers SECRETARY
James I. McDaniel PRESIDENT
Stewart D. McLaurin John T. Behrendt Michael Beschloss Teresa Carlson Jean Case Janet A. Howard Knight Kiplinger Martha Joynt Kumar Anita McBride Robert M. McGee Ann Stock Ben C. Sutton Jr. Tina Tchen Gregory W. Wendt LIAISON Margaret Everson EX OFFICIO
Lonnie G. Bunch III Kaywin Feldman David S. Ferriero Carla Hayden Katherine Malone-France DIRECTORS EMERITI
John H. Dalton Nancy M. Folger Elise K. Kirk Harry G. Robinson III Gail Berry West
As a nonprofit, the White House Historical Association is funded entirely by the support of our generous donors and our robust retail and publications programs. Our books and White House History Quarterly help expand public knowledge of the Executive Mansion, its history, and rich traditions. In 1962, Mrs. Kennedy oversaw the publication of the first White House guidebook, which has remained the Association's flagship production to this day. The Association's retail program is likewise an avenue of education. Since 1981, the Association has produced the annual White House Christmas Ornament, which honors each president sequentially and is used as an educational tool to teach and tell the history of each president. The White House Historical Association is honored to be the living legacy of Mrs. Kennedy's dedication to historical preservation of White House History. cover: Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr. by Richard Norris Brooke (1847–1920) Oil on canvas, c. 1902 Courtesy of The Army and Navy Club Library Trust
whitehousehistory.org
Celebrating Historical Legacy For the sixth year, the White House Historical Association celebrates the birth of Commodore Stephen Decatur. This virtual luncheon will feature opening statements from Association President, Stewart McLaurin and The Honorable John Dalton, 70th Secretary of the Navy and Member of the Board. The Reverend Canon Jan Naylor Cope of the National Cathedral will give the invocation for the program. Follwoing these remarks, Commander Derek A. Rader and sailors aboard the USS DECATUR reflects on leading the namesake Navy ship of Stephen Decatur. These remarks will be followed by commentary by experts in Naval history and historic preservation, as well as the life of Commodore Decatur. To discuss “Commodore Stephen Decatur’s Leadership and Legacy Through Physical Objects,” Katherine Malone-France considers the Decatur House as an object and symbol of Commdore Decatur's prominence. Osborne Phinizy Mackie highlights items in the Decatur House collection as representations of his tastes and accomplishments. Commander Claude Berube speaks about items in the US Naval Academy Collection and Decatur's naval recognitions. The panel concludes with a discussion and Q&A.
whitehousehistory.org
Program WELCOME Stewart D. McLaurin President, White House Historical Association
INTRODUCTION The Honorable John Dalton 70th Secretary of the Navy Director Emeritus, White House Historical Association
INVOCATION The Reverend Canon Jan Naylor Cope Provost, Washington National Cathedral
STEPHEN DECATUR’S LEADERSHIP AND LEGACY THROUGH PHYSICAL OBJECTS PRESENTORS
Katherine Malone-France Chief Preservation Officer, National Trust for Historic Preservation
Osborne Phinizy Mackie Co-Author, "The Stephen Decatur House: A History"
Commander Claude Berube Director, U.S. Naval Academy Museum
REMARKS Commander Derek A. Rader
CLOSING REMARKS Stewart D. McLaurin
Commanding Officer, USS DECATUR President, White House Historical Association
Speakers
Commander Claude Berube Claude Berube wrote his doctoral dissertation on the Navy during Andrew Jackson's presidency through the University of Leeds. He earned a master's degree in history from Northeastern University and a master's in national security from the Naval War College. He was a 2004 Brookings Institution LEGIS Fellow and a 2010 Maritime Security Studies Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. He has worked on political campaigns, as an analyst and team leader at the Office of Naval Intelligence, a staff member to both U.S. Senator George Mitchell (D-ME) and U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), and as a defense contractor for Naval Sea Systems Command and the Office of Naval Research. Since 2005 he has taught as both a military officer and civilian at the United States Naval Academy where his courses included American Government, Terrorism, Campaigns & Elections, Intelligence & National Security, Maritime Security Challenges, Naval History, and Emergent Naval Warfare. He has served as Director of the U.S. Naval Academy Museum since 2012. A Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, he has served on active duty assignments in Europe and Guantanamo Bay and deployed to the Persian Gulf in 2004-2005 with Expeditionary Strike Group Five. He is a contributing editor at War on the Rocks and is the host of the naval history podcast "Preble Hall" from the Naval Academy Museum.
The Reverend Canon Jan Naylor Cope The Rev. Canon Jan Naylor Cope was appointed provost of Washington National Cathedral in 2015. As provost, she oversees the cathedral’s development department and works closely with the dean and the cathedral’s leadership on its strategic vision, ministry, and mission. Canon Cope was called as vicar of Washington National Cathedral in 2010 and the Cathedral Congregation grew by more than 500 members during her tenure. Formerly associate rector at St. David’s Church in Washington D.C., Canon Cope also served as a key lay leader at St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square. Prior to ordained ministry, she served as deputy director of presidential personnel in the White House and as president of the J. Naylor Cope Company. Canon Cope graduated from Wesley Theological Seminary, and holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Virginia Theological Seminary.
Secretary John Dalton John Dalton retired from the Housing Policy Council in June 2017. He serves on the corporate boards of Fresh Del Monte Produce and Crius Technology Group and the nonprofit boards of Washington National Cathedral, Community Renewal International, PathNorth, and the White House Historical Association. He is grateful for the government service he had as Secretary of the Navy, Chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, President of the Government National Mortgage Association, and the President’s Advisory Council for the Arts.
Speakers Katherine Malone-France Since 2019, Katherine Malone-France has served as the Chief Preservation Officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In this capacity, she provides executive leadership to advance and connect the organization’s programmatic work in grantmaking, government relations, state and local policy, advocacy, research and development, trainings, and the stewardship and interpretation of the National Trust’s portfolio of 28 historic sites. Prior to this role, Katherine served as the Senior Vice President for Historic Sites at the National Trust. Her tenure included the creation of a dedicated fund to support historic gardens and landscapes at National Trust Historic Sites and the successful completion of a $21 million campaign to address critical capital projects across the portfolio of sites. Her leadership has also resulted in a diverse range of collaborations with contemporary artists creating new works inspired by National Trust sites, the development of new operating models for historic sites, and a revision of the National Trust’s collections management policy that has been hailed as a national model for its inclusion of historic structures and landscapes. Working across the preservation field for two decades, Katherine has also served as the Director of Collections and Programs and Deputy Director at Decatur House in Washington, DC, as a Senior Project Manager at Oak Grove Restoration Company, and as the Executive Director of the Historic Hillsborough (NC) Commission. Katherine is a graduate of Wofford College with a B.A. degree in History and has a Masters in Historic Preservation from the College of Environment & Design at the University of Georgia. She serves on the boards of the Architects Foundation, the Drayton Hall Preservation Trust, and the White House Historical Association.
Osborne Phinizy Mackie A native of Georgia, he attended boarding school in Scotland before returning to the States for university (Princeton, undergraduate; University of Virginia, masters in architectural history; and Washington and Lee, law). He became the founding director of Tudor Place House and Gardens, an extensive property in Georgetown, D.C., that belonged to a granddaughter of Martha Washington. The Neoclassical house was designed, c.1805, by Dr. William Thornton, the original architect of the United States Capitol, and contains a large collection of family decorative arts, including many items originally from Mount Vernon. For many years, Osborne Mackie was the private curator for the Massie family of Virginia. His main focus was one of the most extensive manuscript collections in that state, documenting many generations of the same family in extraordinarily intimate detail. Besides lecturing on family history, architectural history and the decorative arts, Osborne Mackie was one of the co-authors of The Stephen Decatur House: A History, published in 2018. Osborne Mackie is an appraiser of antiques and fine art.
Speakers Stewart D. McLaurin Stewart D. McLaurin, as president of the White House Historical Association since 2014, leads the Association’s non-profit and non-partisan mission to support conservation and preservation at the White House with non-government funding. Under his leadership, the Association has expanded greatly in mission reach and impact; fundraising results; educational public programming and award-winning publications that teach the story of White House history; and related retail offerings inspired by history. For more than 35 years, McLaurin has held leadership roles with national non-profit and higher education organizations such as the American Red Cross, Georgetown University, and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.
Commander Derek A. Rader Commander Derek Rader is a native of Springfield, Missouri raised in Kansas. He was commissioned via the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program after graduating from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science in Business Accounting in 2002. CDR Rader holds a Master of Science in Information Warfare Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School and received his Joint Professional Military Education Phase 1 with distinction. His most recent at-sea assignment was Executive Officer onboard USS DECATUR (DDG 73). Personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, two Navy Commendation Medals, two Navy Achievement Medals, various unit and campaign ribbons, including four Battle Efficiency awards, and the Distinguished Pistol Shot badge.