Spotlight on our Collection: The Golden Casket

Woodrow Wilson was the first U.S. President to travel to Europe while in office. In December 1918, on his way to the Paris Peace Conference at the end of the Great War, the President visited England among other countries. The people of London welcomed the President with tremendous applause. As reported in The Guardian on December 27^th, 1918, tens of thousands of Londoners packed the street to see Woodrow Wilson [1].

Woodrow Wilson riding through the streets of London, 1918

The Town Councilors of London thanked the President for protecting the freedom of the City of London during the war and presented to him a golden casket that now resides in the library of the President Woodrow Wilson House.

The Golden Casket

The golden casket, made by Garrard and Co. Ltd., celebrates the union between America and Great Britain as well as victory in war. On either side of the box are the female personifications of America and Great Britain. The front of the box features miniature portraits of King George V and President Woodrow Wilson beneath the flags of each leader’s respective country. Proudly sitting on top of the casket is the coat of arms for the City of London.

This gift from the City of London echoes the importance of Woodrow Wilson and the immense respect he commanded among Europeans for his efforts in the First World War and campaign for peace. During Wilson’s era, America emerged for the first time as a world power. The casket reflects just how predominant the United States and the President had become following the First World War as world leaders, like King George V, started to recognize the United States as an emerging world power.

-Alexandra Lilly

Flag Day

"I, therefore, suggest and request that throughout the nation, and if possible in every community, the 14th day of June be observed as Flag Day with special patriotic exercises, at which means shall be taken to give significant expression to our throughout love of America, our comprehension of the great mission of liberty and justice to which we have devoted ourselves as people, our pride in the history and our enthusiasm for the political program of the nation, our determination to make it greater and purer with each generation, and our resolution to demonstrate to all the world its vital union in sentiment and purpose, accepting only those as true compatriots who feel as we do the compulsion of this supreme allegiance."
- President Woodrow Wilson, Flag Day Proclamation, May 30, 1916

President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation to make June 14th recognized as Flag Day. This day was the anniversary of the the Stars and Stripes being adopted as the official flag for the United States of America. For President Wilson, he used this day in order to remind Americans about their distinguished nation during a strife in their country. 

At this time, numerous World War I events caused the public to be concerned. Beginning in January of 1916, the United States had problems arising that were closer to home. Mexico's politics had devolved into a civil war and had spilled onto American soil in the form of Pancho Villa's border war. These events forced an unsuccessful American intervention known as the Pershing Expedition, that ultimately failed to capture Pancho Villa or accomplish any major objective. 

On April 18, 1916, President Wilson had to threaten to sever their diplomatic ties with Germany. Mistaking the ship to be a minelayer, Germany torpedoed the passenger ferry Sussex, which killed twenty five Americans. Although the Germans called off the U-Boats, the situation did not sit well with the American people, resulting in increased public anxiety up until the United States entrance into World War One in 1917.

As a result, President Wilson used Flag Day as a reminder to Americans of their national heritage. He wanted this day for the nation to recognize the anniversary of the adoption of our flag; commemorate the flag’s inspiring history and to recognize the flag’s present meaning.

Years later, General Lawrence Russell Dewey gave a speech on Flag Day after World War II. At this time, President Truman expanded President Wilson's proclamation to designate Flag Day as an annual event. General Dewey's speech emphasized how a "flag means all things to people." For him, he stated that his understanding of the flag comes from the Pledge of Allegiance where "One nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Read the rest of General Lawrence Dewey's speech here. 

As we recognize this day by displaying our flags outside our homes and businesses, what does the American flag mean to you? For President Wilson, it was to show the pride in the country while they were surrounded by conflict. For General Lawrence Dewey, it was the country's liberty and justice. Last weekend, we asked our visitors this same question and they responded with a range of answers. From our rights like Freedom of Speech to American pass times like baseball, guests gave their answers of what the American flag means to them and created this collage of their answers. 

Forty Eight Star American Flag Craft from Dupont Kalaroma Museum Walk Weekend 2015

A 1915 Spring in Washington

Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the Lusitania. You heard about the tragic deaths that resulted in this attack, but how about another view? Director Robert Enholm at the President Woodrow Wilson House explains what was happening in President Woodrow Wilson's life during this tragedy.

The azaleas and dogwoods are abloom as spring erupts across Washington, D.C.

President Wilson’s wife, Ellen Axson Wilson, had died in the White House that previous summer, the very week that the German Empire invaded Belgium to commence the “Great War.” The fall and winter were hard as Wilson dealt with his personal grief and witnessed the growing tragedy of the global war and strained to keep the United States out of the cataclysm.

The arrival of springtime is always greeted with a smile in Washington, and it must have been especially so for President Wilson in 1915. The longer days and bright flowers were accompanied by a personal turn of events: The President had fallen in love! In late March, through serendipitous circumstances, President Wilson had been introduced to a Washington widow named Edith Bolling Galt. They fell for each other immediately.

The circumstances for this budding romance were difficult. How does a sitting President woo a lady in the early twentieth century? There were no tweets or email. Telephones were still novel, and telephone conversations were not confidential. Prevailing rules of decorum prevented the couple from even meeting together without a chaperon.

The answer in 1915 was handwritten letters. Woodrow Wilson and Edith Bolling Galt commenced a flurry of romantic correspondence, much of which has survived to the modern day.

Mr. Woodrow Wilson and Edith Wilson
on their Wedding Day in 1916
President Woodrow Wilson House

President Woodrow Wilson even sent a letter on the day that the RMS Lusitania was sunk by a German torpedo. The passenger ocean liner on her way from New York to Liverpool sank in 18 minutes. Nearly 1,200 died, 127 of them Americans.

Many thought the sinking of the Lusitania would plunge the United States immediately into The Great War. Instead, it took two years, until April 1917, before President Wilson sought a declaration of war.

President Wilson relied on diplomacy in responding to the Lusitania sinking. His love for Edith Bolling Galt surely provided emotional strength to him in this time. By Sunday, May 9, President Wilson was writing to her:

“My love for you passes current expression. I need you. … Do you think it an accident that we found one another at this time of my special need and that it meant nothing that we found each other so immediately and so joyously? … I hope that you will be thinking of me to-night. I shall be working on my speech for to-morrow and on our note to Germany. Every sentence of both would be freighted with greater force and meaning if I could feel that your mind and heart were keeping me company!” 

-(The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, Arthur Link, ed., vol. 33, 1980) 

It was an amazing spring in Washington.

-Director Robert Enholm

War & Art

Today, War & Art: Destruction and Protection of Italian Cultural Heritage during World War I will be on display at the President Woodrow Wilson House through July 2015.

The tragedy of World War One included not only human casualties but also the damage and destruction of cities, towns, great buildings, gardens, statues, libraries, museums and the works of art within them. Throughout the “Great War,” the Italian people struggled to protect their cultural patrimony from the ravages of war. These photographs in the War & Art exhibition document their efforts to protect these iconic works.

St. Marks Basilica, Venice
 (Photo Courtesy of Archaeology Travel) 

One of the historical structures protected during this time was St. Marks Basilica in Venice, Italy. Considered a treasure of Italian cultural heritage, St. Marks has been the Cathedral Church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice since the 1000s. War & Art shows the extensive efforts the Italians made in order to protect and preserve the Cathedral. These preventative measures ranged from using sandbags to building fences to protect the Basilica’s interior and façade.

In addition to the Cathedral, the Italians also cared for the four life-size bronze horses on the Basilica’s front façade. To many, these sculptures might seem less significant compared to the structure of the Basilica. However, these horses symbolize the long and vast history of Venice to the Italian people.

MCRR Album V, 60x:
Venice, St. Mark's Basilica,
removal of the bronze horses on the facade,
1915

Originally, these bronze horses belonged to the Byzantine Empire and stood as part of the Hippodrome of Constantinople for centuries. During the 1200s, the Venetians triumphed over the Byzantine Empire in the Fourth Crusade. Their victory led them to take home the riches of the capital—including these horse sculptures. Doge Dandolo, the Venetian leader, arranged for the four horses to be installed on the front façade of St. Marks Basilica. Ever since, the Venetians take pride with this symbol of their triumph over the Byzantine Empire. 

Due to this rich history, the destruction of World War I proved to be too vast and great to leave the horses unprotected. In 1915, the Italians decided to dismantle and relocate the sculptures. War & Art shows the process of the horses moving from the front façade to the ground where they were packaged in order to be shipped to safety.

St. Marks Basilica and the bronze horses are only some of the many stories incorporated into War & Art. The photographs in this exhibition not only document early preservation efforts, but have also become works of arts in their own right. 

MCRR Fp2 0081: Possagno in the province of Treviso,
transportation of the gypsum statue of George
Washington by Antonio Canova after the museum was bombed
1918

As a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the President Woodrow Wilson House is pleased to co-sponsor and to display this remarkable collection of photographs taken in Italy during World War One. We extend our thanks to the Italian government and people and to the Embassy of Italy to the United States for making this exhibition possible.

This exhibition has been organized by Istituto Per La Storia Del Risorgimento Italiano, Roma, the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington D.C., with support from theItalian Cultural Institute of Chicago.

#PrezDress Style Tip: Canes

For President’s Day, the President Woodrow Wilson House invites visitors of all ages to dress as their favorite President or First Lady. For fun, we want to inspire our “Presidential Visitors” and share some #PrezDress style ideas.

How about the old walking stick? Many American Presidents carried a cane as a fashion accessory including George Washington, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, William McKinley, Warren G. Harding, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman and of course Woodrow Wilson.

Woodrow Wilson at Princeton in 1902

However, Wilson was known for carrying a cane even before his presidency. As a newly elected president of Princeton, a photograph shows him sporting an elegant cane. During his lifetime, walking sticks were considered a must-have fashion accessory among the fashionable elite. The Washington Post in January 1914 referred to the cane as "the rock-ribbed badge of fashion and social distinction, the mark alike of the gentleman of leisure and dilettante of the mode." In order to keep up with the rapidly changing fashion trends, a man of fashion would buy a new cane every month:

1920s Cane Fashion Trends

Winter- Darker wood and heavier weight

Summer- Lighter color and weight

Time of Day- Different style of cane for the morning, afternoon, and evening

               

President Woodrow Wilson's cane collection continued to grow after he moved into the White House in 1913.  During his presidency, he acquired over 50 canes. Many of them were received as gifts from the American people. One gift, presented to Wilson in 1914, told his life story. Made out of light wood and topped with a silver band, the cane was inscribed with Wilson’s biography beginning with his Princeton University graduation in 1879 to his years as Governor of New Jersey from 1910-1912. 

Wilson biography cane was presented to him in 1914.

The full inscription reads: 

Woodrow Wilson / Democratic President of the United States / Educationalist / Author / Statesman / Princeton: Graduated 1879; Professor of Jurisprudence, Political Economy, Politics, 1890, 1897; President, 1902, 1910 / Bryn Mawr: Professor of Political Economy, 1885, 1888 / Wesleyan: Professor of Political Economy, 1888, 1890 / University of Virginia: Law Student, 1879, 1880 / Lawyer, 1882, 1883 / Democratic Governor of New Jersey, 1910, 1912. Made of a piece of wood from the property of the First Democratic Governor of Louisiana, carved and presented to the President by his first grandson whose name he bears. Alex Moulton, Lafayette Louisiana, 1914.

Today, you can see Wilson’s collection of canes throughout his S Street Residence. In addition to his growing collection, his stroke in 1919 caused Wilson to use the cane for more utilitarian purposes. Over time, the cane turned from a fashionable accessory to a needed companion for him-- which he called "my third leg."

President Wilson leaves his home on S. Street to attend Armistice Day celebrations supported by his valet Isaac Scott and his trusty cane. 

Ladies we are not forgetting about you!

For a brief time, women carried canes in public especially during the age of the flapper. Nell Wilson McAdoo, President Wilson’s daughter, made the headlines by carrying a cane in public. Although both women and men were carrying canes,  The Washington Post mentioned the style differences between them in October 1913. They described women’s walking sticks to be ornate with “gold and jeweled beads” in order to “harmonize with the walking costume she happens to be wearing while carrying the stick.” Eventually the fad phased out, but it was still considered a part of fashion.

An unidentified woman demonstrates an ingenious Prohibition-era accessory, the cane-flask, Washington, DC, 1922 (Photo Courtesy of Shorpy.com)

Come by President Woodrow Wilson's House to show off your #PrezDress on Presidents' Day!