This Date in History

April 15, 1865: President Abraham Lincoln dies, several hours after being shot at Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson becomes the nation’s 17th president.

This Date in History

April 2, 1917: President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, “The world must be made safe for democracy.”

Lincoln’s Cottage on NPR’s Morning Edition

NPR’s Morning Edition had a story on President Lincoln and the Lincoln Cottage this morning. You can read or listen to the segment here>>

While this historic site and the Soldiers’ Home where it is located is presently located between North Capitol Street and the neighborhoods of Petworth and Park View, it is hard to imagine that during Lincoln’s time the entire area was wilderness.

Pets of the White House

Pauline was the pet of President William Howard Taft and is seen here grazing on the south lawn of the White House. She supplied the Taft family with fresh milk daily. (Image Courtesy DC Public Library Commons’ photostream)

Lost Washington: The Little Green House

The structure that became known as the Little Green House @ 1625 K Street, NW, started out its history innocently enough. In 1880, Mr. J. B. Edmonds of Iowa purchased the property and erected the house of green stone for $17,000. Mr. Edmonds was a retired lawyer.

The Edmonds family lived in the home until Mrs. Lydia M. Edmonds passed away on November 18, 1912. At that time, the Edmonds estate was valued at about $550,000.

The house took on a level of notoriety during the administration of Warren G. Harding. When he took office in 1921, and the Ohio Gang followed him to town, the house was leased by an Ohio politician turned lobbyist who also happened to be a friend of Harry M. Daugherty, Harding’s Attorney General.

In the next two years the home was the scene of Presidential poker parties and revelry of a more spectacular sort (some even went so far as to suggest orgies). One writer of the time described the home as a rendezvous where shady political-business deals were consummated over bottles of confiscated liquor.

The whole thing came to public notice when the Harding administration suddenly collapsed. Time and again during Senate committees and before courts of law, the Little Green House was named as the place where less than above board Government deals were made.

In the final years of the house it had a quiet existence. It was vacant for several years and eventually was a home for several fraternities. In 1931 it was remodeled as a business office.

The home was eventually razed in April of 1941 to make way for a $500,000, 1,260,000 cubic ft. office building. The Commonwealth building was built in 1943, with renovations in 1996 and 2002, and is still there today.

This Date in History

May 13, 1966: President Johnson signed into law a bill freeing the first funds for two of his controversial antipoverty programs–rent subsidies and a National Teacher Corps.

Shepard Fairey Seems to be Pervasive

Now that I’m keeping my eyes open for Fairey’s art around town, I’ve actually started to notice quite a few. This one of Obama, from which the portrait in the National Portrait Gallery is based, is on 14th Street, NW, just north of U and is part of a much larger grouping. I haven’t been able to get a good shot of all of them, as its a construction zone right now. Perhaps this weekend I’ll be able to remedy that.

“I Do Solemnly Swear: Photographs of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration” Opens at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

Opening yesterday and running through July 12th, the exhibition “I Do Solemnly Swear” features approximately 50 framed color and black-and-white photographs highlighting the week-long events surrounding the historic Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama.

Included in the exhibition are photographs by both professional and amateur photographers who recorded events surrounding the peaceful American transfer of power. The photographs on view include selections from the National Museum of American History’s new acquisition of 2009 inaugural photographs by leading photojournalists, including David Hume Kennerly, Bob McNeely and Karen Ballard.

You can read the entire press release for more information, and if you haven’t been back to the National Museum of American History since it’s reopened, what better reason do you need.

White House Portuguese Water Dog, Bo, Now Known

Even though news of the new White House puppy was scheduled to be released this coming Tuesday, news this good just can’t be kept in Washington.

The new first dog is a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog. According to the Washington Post, the puppy was “given to the Obama girls as a gift by that Portuguese water dog-lovin’ senator himself, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The girls named it Bo — and let it be noted that you learned that here first. Malia and Sasha chose the name, because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because first lady Michelle Obama’s father was nicknamed Diddley, a source said. (Get it? Bo . . . Diddley?) .”

The search for a Portuguese water dog for the girls has been going on since February 26th, when the family selected the breed. I’m glad the wait is over, and think Bo is a great Easter present for the girls.

This Date in History

March 30, 1981: President Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest while walking toward his limousine following a speech inside the Washington Hilton. He was rushed into surgery to remove a 22-caliber bullet from his left lung.