The Lincoln Bedroom is a bedroom which is part of a guest suite in the southeast corner of the second floor of the White House in Washington, D.C. The Lincoln Sitting Room makes up the other part of the suite. The room is named for President Abraham Lincoln, who used the room as an office.
The first room in the White House to carry the name "Lincoln Bedroom" was in the northwest corner of the White House. It existed from 1929 until 1961, when First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy transformed it into the President's Dining Room.
YouTube Encyclopedic
-
1/3Views:385 8814 014466 719
-
10 Most Haunted Areas Of The White House
-
Sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom
-
A Tour of the Lincoln Home with Curator Susan Haake (Part 1)
Transcription
From the attic to the garden, we have top 10 most haunted areas of the White House. Number 10, The Attic. William Henry Harrison holds the dubious distinction of being the shortest-serving president and the first to die in office, succumbing to pneumonia a mere month after his inauguration. However, subsequent residents have believed that Harrison's ghost still haunts the White House attic, rummaging around for something unknown. In fact, several presidents have reportedly heard the unexplained noises coming from the attic above the Oval Office. Others report that Harrison is not alone. A Truman-era security guard once reported hearing "I am David Burns" coming from the attic above the Oval Office. According to the history, in 1790, David Burns was the man forced to surrender his land so that the White House could be built. Number 9, The Rose Garden. The Rose Garden is one of the commonly used sites for presidential announcements. It is also the site of a particularly creepy haunting. The garden was originally planted by First Lady Dolley Madison in the early 1800s. A century later, when First Lady Ellen Wilson requested that the garden be dug up, garden workers reported that Madison's ghost appeared and prevented them from destroying her garden. Since that time, other White House insiders have reported an occasional and inexplicable smell of roses in the White House. These instances are often credited to Madison's ghost. Number 8, The Basement. White House lore tells of something particularly dire lurking in the basement. Unlike other areas of the White House that are inhabited by spirits of figures from American history, the basement is said to be the home of a "demon cat." Those who have reportedly seen the cat claim that it first appears as a small kitten, but as you get closer it becomes a larger and larger phantom beast. According to the legend, many years will pass with no one encountering the demon cat, but, when it does appear, it serves as a warning of a great national disaster. The demon cat was supposedly sighted shortly before the great stock market crash of the 1920s and right before President Kennedy's assassination. Number 7, The Second Floor Halls. The second floor of the White House is the residence for the First Family, so many of the stories that emerge about this area come from presidents and their families. One of the most frequently reported White House ghosts is President Abraham Lincoln, and the second floor hallways are some of his favorite haunts. Lincoln has been seen or heard by many residents, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. President Truman once claimed to have heard Lincoln pacing the hallway and knocking on his bedroom door. It's not just Lincoln in the halls. President William Howard Taft became the first person to report seeing the ghost of First Lady Abigail Adams, who he saw floating through doors on the second floor. Number 6, The Second Floor Bedrooms. Various bedrooms on the second floor are used for the president's family and other guests. One husband and wife pair reported that the ghost of a British soldier tried to set fire to their bed. It is presumed that this soldier was the man who set fire to the White House during the War of 1812. In addition, President Lyndon B. Johnson's daughter, Lynda once reported seeing the ghost of Lincoln's son Willie, who had died in the very room in which she was staying. Other reported activity includes the ghostly screams of President Grover Cleveland's wife, the first woman to give birth in the White House. Following renovations in 1952, activity in the bedrooms has decreased significantly. Number 5, The Yellow Oval Room. During Lincoln's administration, this room was his personal library and one of his favorite rooms in the White House. Numerous White House employees have reportedly seen Lincoln gazing out the windows of this room. First Lady Grace Coolidge also claimed to have seen him here. In addition to Lincoln, the disembodied voice of David Burns has been heard from this room. First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln also reported seeing the ghosts of both Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Tyler here. Number 4, The North Portico. The White House entrance has a number of notable ghost fixtures. A torch-wielding British soldier is often seen standing outside the front door. People have also reported seeing long-deceased White House ushers and doormen still tending to their duties. Perhaps most bizarre is the ghost of Anne Surratt, whose mother Mary was hanged in 1865 for her role in the Lincoln assassination. Anne's ghost has been spotted pounding on the White House doors begging for her mother's release. She is also reported to sit on the front steps every July the 7th, the anniversary of her mother's execution. Number 3, The East Room. The East Room is the favorite haunt of Abigail Adams' ghost. During her tenure in the White House, this was the room in which she would hang her laundry. She is often seen walking to the East Room with her arms outstretched, as though carrying a laundry basket. Sightings were particularly abundant during the Taft Administration, but as recently as 2002, a group of tourists reported of seeing Adams. In addition to her sightings, many people report the faint smell of laundry soap around this area. Lincoln has also been spotted here, the room in which his body lay in state. Number 2, The Rose Room. The Rose Bedroom is frequented by its former occupant, President Andrew Jackson. According to White House lore, there is an inexplicable cold spot on the canopy bed in the room where Jackson slept. Among the most notable reports, Mary Todd Lincoln claimed to have heard Jackson swearing, and White House seamstress Lilian Parks felt his presence over her, which she recounted in her memoirs about her time in the White House. Not to be outdone, Lincoln has also been spotted here. When Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands stayed in this bedroom, she answered a knock on the door one night and saw Lincoln's ghost standing in the hallway. Number 1, The Lincoln Bedroom. Given Lincoln's frequent appearance at various places on this list, it is no wonder that his bedroom comes in at number 1. Winston Churchill famously refused to sleep in the bedroom ever again after seeing the ghost beside the fireplace. Beyond those already listed as seeing Lincoln in other places, he has been spotted by Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, and Dwight Eisenhower. Other than that, other guests have reported that lights in the bedroom will turn themselves on and inexplicable cold spots will occur in the room.
Prior history
Anonymous bedchambers: 1809-1824
The Lincoln Bedroom and the Lincoln Sitting Room are located in the southeast corner of the Second Floor. As originally designed and completed in 1809, this space contained two very narrow, north–south running bedchambers with a toilet room between them.[1]
The President's Office: 1825-1865
By 1825, the toilet had been removed and the bathroom space joined to the west bedchamber to create an office.[2] This area was used for the President's office over the next several decades. Abraham Lincoln used it as both an office and a Cabinet room, and signed the Emancipation Proclamation in the room on January 1, 1863.[3] During the Lincoln presidency, the walls were covered with Civil War military maps. It had dark green wallpaper, and the carpeting was also dark green. Newspapers were stacked on the desk and tables along with large amounts of mail and requests from office seekers. Two large wicker wastebaskets were filled with debris.[citation needed] The east bedchamber in the southeast corner of the house was converted into an office for presidential aides, although President John Tyler used it as part of his office from 1841 to 1845.[4]
Late 19th and early 20th century
During the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, what would become the Lincoln Bedroom was used by Roosevelt staffer Louis Howe.
The Blue Bedroom: 1945-1961
In 1945, newly inaugurated President Harry S. Truman learned that the "President's Office" had once been used by Abraham Lincoln. Truman had the bed, furniture, and other items in the Prince of Wales Room moved into the office. The new bedroom was decorated primarily in blue, and became briefly known as the "Blue Bedroom." The White House underwent a complete reconstruction beginning in 1949, during which the rooms were rebuilt.[5]
The Lincoln Bedroom: Post-1961
Jacqueline Kennedy renovated much of the White House during the Kennedy administration, including the Lincoln Bedroom. These changes included adding an unsigned portrait of a Hartford, Connecticut, family in their parlor to what is now known as the Lincoln Bedroom. This unsigned oil painting, dated 1840 to 1850, was donated by the E. and A. Silberman Galleries.[6]
Clinton renovation
During the Clinton administration the Committee for the Preservation of the White House and then Curator of the White House Betty Monkman began initial assessment for the refurbishment of the room. While most of the furniture and artwork in the room was found to be of similar related periods, and much was associated with the presidency of Lincoln, the room's carpeting, mantel and painted walls were not of the period. Initial decisions were made to replace the existing Neoclassical mantel with a mid-19th-century Victorian style mantel design, and to use more patterns as would have been used in Lincoln's day for the wallpaper and carpet. Two etchings and a drawing from the Lincoln era consistently showed a diamond patterned wallpaper and a Renaissance Revival style gas chandelier existed then in the room. A small oil painting showed a color representation of the same diamond patterned wall paper in dark green, mustard and teal. These were used to create duplicates of the fixtures and furnishings that were installed.
George W. Bush renovation
During the administration of George W. Bush the new curator, William Allman, along with new Bush appointees to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, including Bush family decorator Ken Blasingame, continued the process of renovation. A boldly patterned Renaissance Revival patterned carpet was created for the room. The wallpaper became a compromise, using the diamond pattern found in the historic engravings and painting, but eschewing the deep Victorian color palette found in the oil painting for a much lighter off-white color favored by the Bush family in many of the White House rooms they refurbished.
The crown-shaped canopy hood which originally held the canopy of the Lincoln bed was recreated, and the lace and silk and wool velvet bed drapes were accurately recreated, including hand-made fringe and tassels based upon 19th-century photographs. New gilded window valances in the Rococo Revival style were created in place of those shown in engravings, drawings and a painting made during Lincoln's presidency.
See also
References
- ^ Phillips-Schrock 2013, p. 148.
- ^ Phillips-Schrock 2013, p. 157.
- ^ Kalb 2013, pp. 1336–1337.
- ^ Kalb 2013, p. 1337.
- ^ Klara 2013, p. 19.
- ^ Abbott & Rice 1998, p. 30.
Bibliography
- Abbott, James A.; Rice, Elaine M. (1998). Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 9780442025328.
- Kalb, Deborah (2013). "Housing of the Executive Branch". In Nelson, Michael (ed.). Guide to the Presidency and the Executive Branch. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: CQ Press. ISBN 978-1568020181.
- Klara, Robert (2013). The Hidden White House: Harry Truman and the Reconstruction of America's Most Famous Residence. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 9781250000279.
- Monkman, Betty C. (2000). The White House: The Historic Furnishings and First Families. Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association. ISBN 0789206242.
- Phillips-Schrock, Patrick (2013). The White House: An Illustrated Architectural History. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786471522.
Further reading
- Time: "The Origins of the Lincoln Bedroom"
- Washington Post: "Lincoln Bedroom's Sleepy Look to Get A Wake-Up Call"
External links
- White House Historical Association: The Lincoln Bed
- White House Museum: The Lincoln Bedroom
- Lincoln Bedroom
| Executive Residence |
|     | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Wing | ||||||||||||||
| East Wing | ||||||||||||||
| Grounds | ||||||||||||||
| Annex | ||||||||||||||
| Nearby streets |
| |||||||||||||
| Other | ||||||||||||||
38°53′51″N 77°02′11″W / 38.897617°N 77.036363°W
This page was last edited on 3 January 2024, at 15:25