Tudor Place Celebrates Gifts of Christmas Past With Weekly December Events
Plus, authors ready for Holiday Book Festival and much more.
Tudor Place in Washington, D.C. explores gift giving traditions throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries in a holiday installation now open. The exhibit represents the development of the modern Christmas holiday.
The growth of America’s economy between 1880 and 1920 transformed the holiday traditions of gift giving, which had been centered around homemade items such as wooden toys, needlework and food. During this period, manufactured goods became widely available, including items like candle holders, lamplighters and tinsel.
Reservations are recommended, but not required for guided tours of the historic house now through Dec. 31. Tudor Place preserves the stories of six generations of descendants of Martha Washington and the enslaved and free people who lived and worked there for nearly two centuries.
A schedule of holiday events at Tudor Place include:
Wednesdays, Nov. 29 and Dec. 13. Tudor Tots. Children 18 months to four years old will play games, enjoy a group story, create holiday crafts and sing along to holiday songs.
Sunday, Dec. 3. Holiday Tea & Tour. Enjoy a festive Victorian tea party with seasonal tea, sandwiches and desserts before a private guided tour of the historic house.
Thursday, Dec. 7. Tudor Lights. The halls are decked with boughs of holly for the annual holiday party. Stay for cocktails and holiday fare after visiting the historic house to see gifts of Christmases past.
Fridays/Wednesday, Dec. 8, 13, 15. Candlelight Tours. Join us after hours for a guided tour of the historic house by candlelight. Discover stories behind the Christmas gifts in the collection before enjoying cider and treats.
Dec. 1, 2023
Meet the Authors at Annual Holiday Book Festival
More than 20 authors of popular and award-winning White House Historical Association titles will be on hand to sign their books at the organization’s 2023 Holiday Book Festival.
The festival will be held on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST at the White House History Shop, 1610 H Street N.W., in Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public.
Artist Peter Waddell will be at work painting an historical scene of the White House throughout the day. He will be available to sign An Artist Visits the White House Past. And, artist John Hutton will offer lessons on how to draw the presidents throughout the day and will be signing his book How to Draw the Presidents as well as seven children titles in the Association's popular children's series.
Several authors spotlighting America’s first ladies will be signing their written work at the festival.
This year, co-authors Anita McBride, Diana Carlin and Nancy Kegan Smith will be on hand to sign their upcoming book Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women, a groundbreaking book showing the evolutionary role of first lady and its historic importance on the American presidency.
Fashion historian Christina Ewald will display her reproductions of two of First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy’s iconic dresses and will sign the White House History Quarterly article which tells the story of their creation.
Mary Jo Binker will sign her recent White House History Quarterly article as well as her books, If You Ask me: Essential Advice from Eleanor Roosevelt and What Are We For? The Words and Ideals of Eleanor Roosevelt.
And, Rebecca Roberts will sign Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson and Suffragists in Washington, DC: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote.
Other topics and authors include:
Food and Wine
Chef Matthew Wendel, the personal chef to President and Mrs. George W. Bush at Camp David and Prairie Chapel Ranch, will be on hand to sign his award winning memoir and cookbook Recipes from the President’s Ranch: Food People Like to Eat.
Nancy Haller Bender, Susan Haller Capps, and Bob Haller, children of the late Executive White House Chef Henry Haller, will share memories of their father’s life and White House experiences. Chef Haller's White House Family Cookbook will be available for sale.
Chef Mark Ramsdell, a longtime colleague of the late White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, will share memories of working with Chef Mesnier on elaborate White House gingerbread houses, and will be available to sign The White House in Gingerbread: Memories and Recipes and Creating the Sweet World of White House Desserts.
Presigned copies of the award-winning Wine and the White House: A History by Frederick J. Ryan, Jr. will be available.
For children
Author Rocco Smirne will sign A White House Alphabet, Rocco Travels with the Presidents, and Rocco at the White House Easter Egg Roll.
Landscape historian and author Jonathan Pliska will sign Presidents Play!, Kids Play at the White House! He will also sign his authoritative history A Garden for the President.
The White House Collection
Former White House curators William G. Allman and Lydia Tederick, and Melissa Naulin, the current White House associate curator of decorative arts, will sign the new Furnishing the White House: The Decorative Arts Collection and The White House: An Historic Guide.
Former White House Curator William G. Allman will also sign Official White House China.
The President’s neighborhood
Author Katherine Malone-France will sign The Stephen Decatur House: A History.
Photographer Bruce M. White will sign At Home in the President’s Neighborhood.
To Live on Lafayette Park: Society and Politics in the President's Neighborhood will be available presigned by the late William Seale.
Journalist
Journalist Ann Compton will be on hand to sign "Covering the President from the Last Plane in Flight September 11, 2001," a White House History Quarterly article detailing her experience witnessing history unfold aboard Air Force One.
Biography and memoir
Historical interpreter and actor Bill Barker will sign Becoming Jefferson: My Life as a Founding Father and his White House History Quarterly article on outfitting Jefferson.
Mary Jo Binker will sign her recent White House History Quarterly article as well as her books, If You Ask me: Essential Advice from Eleanor Roosevelt and What Are We For? The Words and Ideals of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Melinda Dart will sign A Glimpse of Greatness: The Memoir of Irineo Esperancilla and her recent White House HistoryQuarterly article that tell the story of her grandfather, a Filipino Navy Steward, who served Presidents Hoover, FDR, Truman, and Eisenhower.
Matthew Algeo will sign his recent White House History Quarterly article as well as his books When Harry Met Pablo: Truman, Picasso; Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure; and Abe & Fido: Lincoln’s Love of Animals and the Touching Story of His Favorite Canine Companion.
John Dalton, Former Secretary of the Navy, will sign At the Helm: My Journey with Family, Faith, and Friends to Calm the Storms of Life.
For the holidays
Author Marcia Anderson will sign The Official White House Christmas Ornament: Collected Stories of a Holiday Tradition.
Books and exclusive gifts are also available at shop.whitehousehistory.org. Click here for more information or to rsvp.
Dec. 1-2, Dec. 8-9, and Dec. 17, 2023
Mount Vernon by Candlelight
Tour George Washington’s historic estate by candlelight and learn about holiday traditions in 18th-century Virginia. This year's event will explore the build-up to the Revolution as the 250th anniversary of the year 1773 is celebrated. Read more
Dec. 5, 2023
White House History Live: The Washingtons, the Custises, and the Making of America
Learn more about the history of the nation’s “first family” during a White House Historical Association Facebook and YouTube Live event. The program will trace George Washington’s step grandchildren, the Custises, from childhood celebrities to carriers of the Washington legacy in nineteenth century America. Author Cassandra Good will discuss her book, “First Family,” sharing insights on writing the story of this historic family.
The program is part of the White House Live series and explores the stories that make up the history of the executive mansion and can be live streamed on the White House Historical Association's Facebook and YouTube pages starting at 5:30 pm ET on December 5. Read more
Dec. 6, 2023
Online — Ann Lowe: An American Couturier with a First Ladies' Connection
The National First Ladies Library and Museum will feature Elizabeth Way, associate curator of costume at FIT in an online discussion of the Ann Lowe exhibition at the Winterthur Museum. Ann Lowe (c. 1898 - 1981) was a prolific American fashion designer, working from the 1910s in Montgomery, Alabama, through the 1920s in Tampa, Florida, and for four decades in New York City. Lowe spent her career creating custom gowns for elite American women, specializing in intricate, feminine silhouettes and floral embellishments. Her most famous design is Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy's 1953 wedding dress. Read more
Dec. 10, 2023
A Timeless Holiday Tea at the National First Ladies Library
Celebrate the warmth of the holidays at the National First Ladies Library and Museum with “A Timeless Holiday Tea”' featuring a livestreamed program by Coleen Christian, former White House holiday decorator. Coleen Christian is an esteemed interior decorator who was part of the White House decorating team in 2008, where she created icicle trees in the Grand Lobby and festive Fife and Drum motifs in the State Dining Room. She is the author of “Christmas with the First Ladies: The White House Decorating Tradition from Jacqueline Kennedy to Michelle Obama.” Signed copies of Coleen Christian’s book will be available for purchase. Read more
Dec. 21, 2023
Third Thursdays Night Out with Jackie Kennedy - Private Curator-Led Tour
The National First Ladies Library invites visitors to “Get to Know the Real Jackie O” with this behind-the-scenes private tour led by their curator of the exhibition Beyond Camelot: The Life and Legacy of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Light appetizers and drinks are included. Read more
Now through Dec. 31, 2023
Apply for the Washington Library’s Fellowship Program
The Washington Library is accepting applications for its 2024-2025 research fellowship program now through Dec. 31, 2023. Research fellows can spend one, three, or six months as a research fellow at the George Washington Library, located at George Washington’s Mount Vernon in Virginia. Funded research opportunities are available to people researching the early American period. Read more
On exhibit through April 27, 2024
Beyond Camelot: The Life and Legacy of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Visitors to the National First Ladies Library in Canton, Ohio, can explore a replica of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s wedding gown designed by Anne Lowe and other never-before-seen artifacts donated by Monte Durham of Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta. The free exhibition runs through April 27, 2024 and is open to the public. Read more