White House Office of the Curator
![]() | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (August 2009) |
White House Curator | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Incumbent Vacant | |
Executive Residence | |
Appointer | President of the United States |
Formation | 1961 |
First holder | Lorraine Waxman Pearce |
Website | www |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/TinaHagerChinaRoom.jpg/250px-TinaHagerChinaRoom.jpg)
The White House Office of the Curator is charged with the conservation and study of the collection of fine art, furniture and decorative objects used to furnish both the public and private rooms of the White House as an official residence and as an accredited historic house museum.
The office began in 1961 during the administration of President John F. Kennedy while First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy oversaw the restoration of the White House.[1] The office is located in the ground floor of the White House Executive Residence. The office, headed by the Curator of the White House, includes an Associate Curator, an Assistant Curator, and a Curatorial Assistant. The office works with the Chief Usher, the Committee for the Preservation of the White House and the White House Historical Association.
The most recent White House Curator was William G. Allman, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 and retired in June, 2017[2].
Curators' charge
The Curator of the White House, or less formally White House Curator, is head of the White House Office of the Curator which is charged with the conservation and study of the collection of fine art, furniture and decorative objects used to furnish both the public and private rooms of the White House.
The position was begun during the administration of President John F. Kennedy while First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy oversaw the restoration of the White House. The first Curator of the White House was Lorraine Waxman Pearce who was appointed in March 1961. Pearce was a graduate of the preservation program at the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum.
Curators of the White House
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To date seven curators have served in the White House; they are:
№ | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of Office | President(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Post established in 1961 | |||||
1 | Lorraine Waxman Pearce | 1961–1962 | John F. Kennedy | ||
2 | William Voss Elder III | 1962–1963 | John F. Kennedy | ||
3 | James R. Ketchum | 1963–1969 | John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon | ||
4 | ![]() |
Clement Conger (1912–2004) |
1970–1990 | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush | |
5 | ![]() |
Rex Scouten (1924–2013) |
1986–1997 | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan | |
6 | Betty C. Monkman | 1997–2002 | Bill Clinton George W. Bush | ||
7 | William G. Allman | 2002–2017 | George W. Bush Barack Obama Donald Trump |
See also
Footnotes
- ^ "Curator's Office". The White House Museum.
- ^ Thompson, Krissah; Koncius, Jura. "White House curator to retire after working with first families for decades". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
References
- Abbott James A., and Elaine M. Rice. Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration. Van Nostrand Reinhold: 1998. ISBN 0-442-02532-7.
- Garrett, Wendell. Our Changing White House. Northeastern University Press: 1995. ISBN 1-55553-222-5.
- Monkman, Betty C. The White House: The Historic Furnishing & First Families. Abbeville Press: 2000. ISBN 0-7892-0624-2.
- The White House: An Historic Guide. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 2001. ISBN 0-912308-79-6.