BGuthrie Photos: DC -- White House Visitor Center

DC -- White House Visitor Center:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Description of Pictures: Including the paintings of Peter Waddell. These are better described on http://www.whitehousehistory.org/whha_exhibits/waddell_white-house-past/

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Slide Show: Want to see the pictures as a slide show? [Slideshow]

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

Share: Facebook Twitter Digg
[1] WHVC_120321_002.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[2] WHVC_120321_007.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[3] WHVC_120321_022.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[4] WHVC_120321_030.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[5] WHVC_120321_035.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[6] WHVC_120321_043.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[7] WHVC_120321_046.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[8] WHVC_120321_054.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[9] WHVC_120321_058.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[10] WHVC_120321_067.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[11] WHVC_120321_071.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[12] WHVC_120321_073.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[13] WHVC_120321_081.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[14] WHVC_120321_084.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[15] WHVC_120321_087.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[16] WHVC_120321_096.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[17] WHVC_120321_099.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[18] WHVC_120321_108.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[19] WHVC_120321_111.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[20] WHVC_120321_116.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[21] WHVC_120321_121.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[22] WHVC_120321_124.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[23] WHVC_120321_130.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[24] WHVC_120321_133.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[25] WHVC_120321_135.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[26] WHVC_120321_146.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[27] WHVC_120321_149.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[28] WHVC_120321_156.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[29] WHVC_120321_160.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[30] WHVC_120321_167.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[31] WHVC_120321_170.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[32] WHVC_120321_174.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[33] WHVC_120321_183.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[34] WHVC_120321_186.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. WHVC_120321_002.JPG: An Artist Visits the White House Past Paintings by Peter Waddell Although the exterior has remained largely unaltered from its original design, the interiors of the White House have always been in a state of constant and at times dramatic change. Each new president brought his tastes and ideas about what the President's House should be. While furniture stayed for decades, decorations might have come and go [sic] with each administration. With this combination of timelessness and change, it can often be difficult to see the White House as it truly was through the eyes of its famous residents. From its construction in 1792, until the 1902 renovation that shaped the modern identity and functions of the interior of the White House, the fourteen paintings of this series examine the history of a national icon. Through meticulous research and tireless attention to detail, numerous sources inspired the brush of Peter Waddell to create a vision of the White House as it was, and to gain an appreciation of the nineteenth-century house and the men and women who lived and worked within its walls. About the Artist: Best known for his paintings of Washington, D.C., history and architecture, Peter Waddell began his career in New Zealand where he was born in 1955. He attended the School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University and after considerable success in New Zealand as an artist, he came to Washington, D.C., in 1994 and became a United States citizen in 2002. In addition to the White House, Peter's subjects have included the Capitol, the Octagon, Mount Vernon, and other historical sites. Recent smaller works can be found on the streets of the city where Peter has been involved in the Call Box Project, placing historical images on former police and fire call boxes. His contributions to the arts in Washington, D.C., were recognized in 2010 when he received the Mayor's Art Award. Peter is artist in residence at Tudor Place in Georgetown.
2. WHVC_120321_007.JPG: Tiber Creek: The Bathers John Quincy Adams Takes a Deadly Chance, 1825 Despite its later reputation as a swamp, the Tiber Creek, which in the nineteenth-century ran along where Constitution Avenue runs today, was idyllic with extensive plants and wildlife including the now extinct Carolina Parakeet. President John Quincy Adams liked to swim in its quiet waters. During this particular adventure with his son, John, and servant, Antoine Giusta, the boat carrying the party was leaky and began filling with water, leaving the president fighting for his life in the river! Luckily he reached the opposite shore, only to wait several hours for rescue.
3. WHVC_120321_022.JPG: The Splendid Mrs. Madison In the "Elliptical Saloon", 1810–1814 Dolley Madison was the first wife of a president to fully embrace her role as first lady. Her weekly levees at the President's House were a politically neutral space. One visitor wrote of entering the "blazing splendor of Mrs. Madison's drawing room," designed by Benjamin H. Latrobe, and filled with political, military, and social figures of the day.
4. WHVC_120321_035.JPG: Lafayette Square Once the White House Overlooked a Residential Neighborhood, 1902 Lafayette Square, once surrounded by residential houses and mansions was a grand neighborhood that included the White House. Benjamin H. Latrobe's Saint John's Church, built in 1816, was soon followed by his design for Stephen Decatur's house. erected 1818–19, on the northwest corner of the square. Dolley Madison spent her last years in a residence directly across the park on the northeast side of the square. In 1902 during the renovation of the White House, Theodore Roosevelt became a temporary square resident, living near Decatur House at 22 Jackson Place.
5. WHVC_120321_046.JPG: Visitors from the East President Buchanan Greets Visitors from Far Away, 1860 When President James Buchanan welcomed a delegation from Japan to the White House, the foreign visitors considered it lacking, without towers or a moat. They did admit it was "handsomely furnished." The three samurai were the first Japanese ever to visit the United States, and they became instant celebrities. For their part, the Japanese considered America to be an inferior society, not likely to last long.
6. WHVC_120321_058.JPG: The Great Cheese Jacksonian Democracy Enjoys a Special Treat, 1837 President Andrew Jackson was famous for his public receptions, open to all. Some detractors described the crowds as mobs. The receptions were attended by hundreds, from the highest senator to the lowest "rag-a-muffin of the city" climbing in the windows. The centerpiece of this reception was a mammoth round of cheese, weighing 1,400 pounds.
7. WHVC_120321_073.JPG: A Vision Takes Form The White House Under Construction, 1796 Although he never lived there, President George Washington not only selected the site of the new President's House, but also oversaw its construction to his particular specifications and demands. He was adamant that it be grand, with a fa�ade of stone, not brick. Designed by the Irish-born architect James Hoban, the mansion was built with the labor of slaves, freemen, Irish artisans, and Scottish stone masons, whose marks can still be found on the White House today.
8. WHVC_120321_087.JPG: Something Blue Captured by Color, 1886 The beautiful Frances Folsom was only twenty-one years old when she married President Grover Cleveland, who was forty-nine, and the only president to marry in the White House. The ceremony took place in the Louis Comfort Tiffany-designed Blue Room looking out to the South Lawn. The rococo-revival blue furniture, purchased by Harriet Lane, President James Buchanan's niece, is still in the White House collection.
9. WHVC_120321_099.JPG: The Grand Illumination Sunset of the Gaslight Age, 1891 One of the most beautiful features to ever adorn the White House was a stained glass screen designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, installed in the Entrance Hall in 1882. The vibrant screen had the greatest effect in natural light, but the times demanded electric light, which was installed during the Benjamin Harrison administration. The screen was removed in the 1902 renovation and later destroyed in a fire.
10. WHVC_120321_111.JPG: A Bird that Whistles In Jefferson's Cabinet, 1803 President Thomas Jefferson's office, in the southwest corner of the house, was his private sanctuary that few visitors ever saw, but where he worked with his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, who would later lead the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It was here that Jefferson enjoyed his many intellectual interests, including geography, plants, architecture, and animals. He kept a mocking bird as a pet, which would "regale him with its sweetest notes."
11. WHVC_120321_124.JPG: The Visit A War Worker Calls for a Favor, late 1862 Mary Livermore, a prominent abolitionist and women's rights activist, championed many causes including the U.S. Sanitary Commission that ran hospitals and collected supplies for soldiers during the Civil War. Livermore met with President Abraham Lincoln after he announced he would sign the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln later donated the original signed copy to raise money for the Commission. The Proclamation sold at auction for $3,000.
12. WHVC_120321_135.JPG: The Confidant First Lady Lucy Hayes and Her Maid, 1879 Lucy Webb Hayes was a popular first lady and officially supported her own interests: children, education, and abolition. Her personal maid Mary, along with Mary's mother Winnie Monroe, were intimate members of the Hayes household and came from Ohio with the family to serve at the White House. A cat named "Siam" was sent to the Hayes children by the American consul in Bangkok; it was the first Siamese cat in the United States.
13. WHVC_120321_149.JPG: Composition in Red and Gold A Comfortable Room Rendered Richly, 1883 President Chester A. Arthur, from New York City, was the beau ideal of fashion and, on entering the White House, called on his friend the artist Louis Comfort Tiffany to redecorate the Executive Residence. The most dramatic feature of the Red Room was the ceiling, covered in an intricate design of gold and bronze stars. As a widower, Arthur called on his sister Mary Arthur McElroy to fill the role of official hostess. The "willful little dog" named "Tot," a Scottie, belonged to President Arthur's 12-year-old daughter Nellie.
14. WHVC_120321_160.JPG: The Secret Garden Last Days of an Exotic World, 1902 When President Theodore Roosevelt moved into the White House he brought his large family and their many pets, including a macaw named Eli Yale and a cat, Tom Quartz. His son Kermit would one day explore the Amazon rainforests of Brazil, a much bigger jungle than those in the White House greenhouses, torn down in 1902 to build an office annex that evolved into the West Wing.
15. WHVC_120321_174.JPG: A Favorable Day The White House Stables on the Day of Grant's Second Inauguration, 1873 Many presidential stables existed over the years, the last and grandest being the one built by Ulysses S. Grant. Finished in time for his second inaugural, the French-empire stable at 18th and E Streets housed Grant's beloved war horses -- Cincinnati, Egypt, and Jeff Davis -- his sulky racer Butcher Boy, and carriage horses, all tended by his coachman Albert Hawkins. The stable was converted as a garage for automobiles before being torn down in 1911.
Multi Column: Number of columns of thumbnails to appear per page (normally defaults to 3): [1 col] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Wikipedia Description: President's Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

President's Park, located in Washington, D.C., United States, includes the White House, a visitor center, Lafayette Park, and the Ellipse. President's Park was the original name of Lafayette Park and Square. The current President's Park is administered by the National Park Service.

White House Visitor Center:

The White House Visitor Center is located in the north end of the Herbert C. Hoover Building (Department of Commerce headquarters between 14th Street and 15th Street on Pennsylvania Avenue NW). The visitor center serves as a starting point for those going on a reserved tour of the White House. The various exhibits also provide an alternate visitor experience for those who did not schedule a tour. The themes of the six permanent exhibits include First Families, Symbols & Images, White House Architecture, White House Interiors, Working White House, and Ceremonies and Celebrations. A variety of other exhibits change frequently during the year.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (DC -- White House Visitor Center) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2021_DC_WHVC: DC -- White House Visitor Center (17 photos from 2021)
- 2019_DC_WHVC_Tree: DC -- White House Visitor Center -- Exhibit: Holiday Tree (23 photos from 2019)
- 2018_DC_WHVC_Lego: DC -- White House Visitor Center -- Exhibit: Lego White House (23 photos from 2018)
- 2018_DC_WHVC: DC -- White House Visitor Center (30 photos from 2018)
- 2015_DC_WHVC: DC -- White House Visitor Center (38 photos from 2015)
- 2014_DC_WHVC: DC -- White House Visitor Center (313 photos from 2014)
- 2010_DC_WHVC: DC -- White House Visitor Center (14 photos from 2010)
- 2009_DC_WHVC: DC -- White House Visitor Center (18 photos from 2009)
- 2008_DC_WHVC: DC -- White House Visitor Center (141 photos from 2008)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [Park (National Park Service)] [White House] [Display ALL White House photos]
2012 photos: Equipment this year: My mainstays were the Fuji S100fs, Nikon D7000, and the new Fuji X-S1. I also used an underwater Fuji XP50 and a Nikon D600. The first three cameras all broke this year and had to be repaired. Trips this year: three Civil War Trust conferences (Shepherdstown, WV, Richmond, VA, and Williamsburg, VA), a week-long family reunion cruise of the Caribbean, another week-long family reunion in the Wisconsin Dells (with lots of in-transit time in Ohio and Indiana), and my 7th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including side trips to Zion, Bryce, the Grand Canyon, etc). Ego strokes: I had a picture of Miss DC, Ashley Boalch, published in the Washington Post. I had a photograph of the George Segal San Francisco Holocaust memorial used as the cover of Quebec Francais (issue 165). Not being able to read French, I'm not entirely sure what the article is about but, hey! And I guess what could be considered to be a positive thing, my site is now established enough that spammers have noticed it and I had to block 17,000 file description postings for Viagra and whatever else.. Number of photos taken this year: just below 410,000.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Limiting Text: You can turn off all of this text by clicking this link: [Thumbnails Only]
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].