Please note that the following is a digitized version of a selected article from White House History Quarterly, Issue 58, originally released in print form in 2020. Single print copies of the full issue can be purchased online at Shop.WhiteHouseHistory.org No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All photographs contained in this journal unless otherwise noted are copyrighted by the White House Historical Association and may not be reproduced without permission. Requests for reprint permissions should be directed to rights@whha.org. Contact books@whha.org for more information. Š 2020 White House Historical Association. All rights reserved under international copyright conventions.
FOREWORD
Photographing the President’s House it is hard to imagine the Quarterly without photographs. Ever since John Plumbe Jr. captured the first known photograph of the White House in 1846, professional and amateur photographers alike have focused their lenses on scenes from every chapter in the life and evolution of the house. As we create the layouts for each issue of the Quarterly, millions of architectural, landscape, fine art, portrait, and documentary photographs are available to us—from files of the Library of Congress, National Archives, presidential sites, museums, private and commercial collections, and the Association’s own digital library. With the assistance of the White House Office of the Curator, we are also able to commission new photography. With no shortage of pictures to choose from, our challenge in designing the Quarterly is often to find the perfect images among thousands that can bring an author’s words to life. Our favorite photographs are the discoveries, the never-before-published images, which, like puzzle pieces, help complete the bigger picture of White House history. Many of these have been discovered and shared with the Quarterly by the historian Clifford Krainik. With this issue, he takes us back to the 1840s to see the first photographs known to have been made inside the White House, and to the early 1860s to see the earliest published stereoviews of State Rooms. Occasionally a chance encounter leads us to an unpublished collection, and this issue includes two such examples. I happened to meet Jeffrey Parsons when he visited our White House History Shop in 2017. Our conversation led to an article about his experience exploring Washington, D.C., with his Rolleiflex in 1959, a time when the public could simply appear at posted hours to visit the White House. His candid shots of a dramatically evolving cityscape provide context for two moments in time on the tour line. Also in 2017, I learned of a collection of late-nineteenthcentury glass-plate negatives through a telephone call from Richard Hussey. Found in a bushel basket on his family’s Ohio farm, the collection includes two breathtaking views of the White House that he kindly shared
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with us for publication. In 1889 Dr. Hussey’s grandfather rode the newly installed lift up to the observation deck of the Washington Monument with his heavy wooden view camera and, from there, captured an expansive view of the White House and its surroundings before the West Wing replaced a sprawling complex of greenhouses and while President Ulysses S. Grant’s brick horse stable still stood south of the newly completed State, War and Navy Building. With this issue we also go behind the camera to learn more about the inspiration, access, and even constraints on the photographers who have covered the president at work. Susan Ford Bales provides the moving backstory that led her to use photography to “ignore the frustrations and embrace” all of her unique experiences as the president’s daughter living in the White House. The stories of the “ultimate insiders” are revealed by Kenneth T. Walsh, who profiles the work of all those who have held the title Official White House Photographer. Mary Jo Binker profiles of one of them—Ollie Atkins, who dutifully followed Richard M. Nixon’s “six and out rule” yet had the foresight to capture the president’s spontaneous embrace with his daughter during his final days in office. An issue on White House photography would not be complete without visiting a few dusty attics and family albums. We are pleased to share ten of the most compelling of the hundreds of images submitted by our readers to the Quarterly’s call for photographs. Family vacations, holidays, and even a marriage proposal are among those treasured mementos published here. They represent not only souvenirs but a tangible connection between each contributor and the White House. In telling the story of her submission, Meredith Johnson expressed it beautifully, writing, “I love that my own history is now tied to White House history as well.”
marcia mallet anderson editor, WHITE HOUSE HISTORY QUARTERLY
white house history quarterly
WHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL ASS OCIATION
Fine arts photographer Bruce M. White reviews his photographs on his laptop during a photo shoot to capture the newly refurbished BellangĂŠ suite in the Blue Room for the cover of White House History Quarterly 56, which focused on the decorative arts collection, January 2020.
white house history quarterly
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