A tour of the White House.

1. Virtual Field Trip
Tour of the White House
in Washington D.C.

2. BITE 4435
• Assignment 10 Virtual Field Trip (11/17/2012)
• In this Virtual Field Trip, we will explore the
White House by looking at very stunning
visuals of many rooms of the White House.
• Each visual slide will have a slide afterward
with information pertaining to the visual.
• So sit back and take a virtual tour of the White
house and discover it’s beauty and learn a little
something new along the way.

3. The Diplomatic Room
Click to see a Video of the Diplomatic Room

4. • Once the White House furnace room, the Diplomatic
Reception Room was transformed during the 1902
Theodore Roosevelt renovation into a receiving room. It
was from this room, during the Great Depression in the
1930s and through World War II, that President Franklin
D. Roosevelt delivered his famous Fireside Chats radio
addresses to the American people. President Obama
occasionally uses the Diplomatic Room as the site of his
weekly video addresses.
• First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy added the wallpaper of
scenic American landscapes to the room in 1962. The
emblems of each of the 50 states border the room’s rug.
The room is now used as a meeting place for guests
before large events and as the principal entry for the First
Family.

5. The Map Room
Click to see a Video of the Map Room

6. • Primarily used as a meeting room for the
President and First Lady, the Map Room was used
as a war room by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
during World War II. Early maps of Washington,
DC hang in the room, as well as a case of world
maps presented by the National Geographic
Society and the last situation map prepared in the
room for Roosevelt in 1945. From a meeting
between President Obama and His Holiness the
XIV Dalai Lama to a classical music workshop
with renowned musicians and local music
students – the Map Room serves a number of
purposes today.

7. The China Room
Click to See a video of the China Room

8. • Until the late 19th century, White House
furnishings, including the china services, were
sold off at auction to supplement funds for new
furnishings. First Lady Caroline Harrison started a
china collection to exhibit the tastes of her
predecessors. In 1917, First Lady Edith Wilson
created the China Room, now home to the famous
White House collection.
• The red theme in the room matches the red dress
worn by First Lady Grace Coolidge in a full-
length portrait with her dog, Rob Roy. The display
of china, glass and silver tableware is arranged in
chronological order from left to right.

9. The Vermeil Room
Click to see a video of the Vermeil Room

10. • The Vermeil Room takes its name from the
display of a collection of gilded silver,
"vermeil" in French, given to the White House
in 1957. Although portraits of the most recent
First Ladies hang in the corridor, the portraits
of five 20th century First Ladies, including
Eleanor Roosevelt and Jacqueline Kennedy,
hang in the Vermeil Room.

11. Press Briefing Room
Click to see a video of the Press Briefing Room

12. • Constructed in 1970 during the Nixon Administration,
the Briefing Room provided more space to
accommodate a growing White House Press Corps.
• The Briefing Room replaced a swimming pool that was
installed in 1934 for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s
physical therapy. A staircase behind the stage provides
access to the deep end of the one-time pool, which now
contains 18-miles of cables and the signatures of White
House staff and celebrities on the original tile walls.
• Currently, approximately 200 journalists make up the
White House Press Corps. With just 49 chairs in the
Briefing Room, the White House Correspondents
Association decides who gets the coveted seats. A
plaque on each seat displays the name of the news
organization to which it is assigned.

13. The West Wing Reception
Room
Click to see a video of the West Wing Reception Room

14. • Visitors who come to see the President, Vice
President, and White House staff pass through
the West Wing Reception Room. Renovated by
President Richard Nixon in 1970 into a
smaller, more intimate receiving room, it
houses several paintings from the White House
collection as well as a 1770 mahogany
bookcase, one of the oldest pieces of furniture
in the White House.

15. The Roosevelt Room
Click to see a video of the Roosevelt Room

16. • The Roosevelt Room, an all-purpose
conference room, was created in 1934. It
occupies the original location of President
Theodore Roosevelt’s office when the West
Wing was built in 1902. President Richard
Nixon named the room in 1969 to honor both
Roosevelts – Theodore for building the West
Wing and Franklin D. for its expansion.
Portraits of both presidents hang in the
Roosevelt Room.

17. The Oval Office
Click to see a video of the Oval Office

18. • The official office of the President and his primary place of work,
the Oval Office provides the President with easy access to senior
advisors and the Residence. It was created in 1909 when the West
Wing doubled in size under President William Howard Taft.
• Each President may decorate the Oval Office to suit his tastes,
though some features remain constant, including the white
marble mantel from the original 1909 Oval Office. President
Barack Obama chose to retain the famous "Resolute Desk” –
recognized in the historic photograph of the young JFK, Jr.
peeking out from its panel. Constructed from timbers of H.M.S.
Resolute, the desk was presented by Queen Victoria to President
Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880.
• In August 2010, the Oval Office was refurbished for President
Obama with striped wallpaper, new sofas, and a mica-clad coffee
table. An oval rug features the presidential seal and historical
quotes of meaning to President Obama around the border.

19. The Rose Garden
Click to see a video of the Rose Garden

20. • In 1913, First Lady Ellen Wilson began planting
roses in the garden adjoining the Colonnade,
and the Rose Garden was born. It was
redesigned during the Kennedy
Administration to serve as a Presidential
reception area. When weather permits, the
President’s bill signings, press conferences and
diplomatic receptions take place here.

21. The Navy Mess

22. • U.S. Navy stewards have been responsible for
Presidential food service since 1880, when
President Rutherford B. Hayes used the
U.S.S.Despatch as the first Presidential yacht.
Since the establishment of the White House
Mess in 1951 under President Harry S.
Truman, the Navy has assigned their best
culinary specialists to provide food service at
the White House.

23. East Colonnade

24. • The East Terrace, originally built by Thomas
Jefferson but demolished in 1866, was
reconstructed during the Theodore Roosevelt
renovation of the White House in 1902. The
glass-enclosed Colonnade connects the East
Wing to the Residence.

25. The East Garden Room

26. • The East Garden Room sits between the East
Colonnade and the Residence. This space
exhibits pieces of White House history for
visitors on White House tours and guests who
pass through this room daily.

27. The Blue Room
Click to see a video of the Blue Room

28. • The Blue Room is located in the center of the
State Floor of the White House. The President
uses the Blue Room to receive many of his
guests, from foreign heads of state to members
of Congress. Originally decorated in red, blue
was selected as the color for the drapes,
upholstery, and carpet during an 1837
refurbishing under President Martin Van Buren.
Blue walls were introduced in 1902. It has since
been redecorated, but has always maintained its
famous blue color scheme. During the holidays,
the Blue Room is the location of the official
White House’s Christmas tree.

29. State Dining Room

30. • When Thomas Jefferson began his term in 1801, he used this
room as an office and the adjoining Red Room to meet guests
and visitors. President James Madison established the State
Dining Room in 1809. The Gilbert Stuart portrait of George
Washington hung on the west wall before First Lady Dolley
Madison had it removed to safety in 1814 before the White
House was burned by the British. During his large scale 1902
renovation, President Theodore Roosevelt greatly expanded
the Dining Room, increasing its capacity to 140 seated guests.
A centerpiece of that renovation was a collection of wild
animal heads, including a moose head over the fireplace
mantel. During the Obama Administration, state dinners have
been held in the larger East Room and in tents on the South
Lawn. The State Dining Room has been used for meetings
with members of Congress and other groups.

31. The Red Room
Click to see video of the Red Room

32. • The Red Room received its name after red fabrics were used for the
draperies, upholsteries and floor covering in the 1840s. Today the
walls are covered in a red twill satin fabric with a gold design in the
borders, and the furniture is upholstered in a silk of the same shade
of red. The rug is a reproduction of a 19th century French
Savonnerie carpet installed when First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy
refurbished the room.
• Beginning in 1809, First Lady Dolley Madison held gatherings
every Wednesday in the Red Room to encourage socializing
between members of opposing political parties. In 1933, First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt used the Red Room to host the first of many
press conferences for women reporters who at that time were
excluded from the President's press conferences.
• The Red Room was also the site of the secret swearing-in of
President Rutherford B. Hayes right after his hotly contested defeat
of Samuel J. Tilden in the election of 1876. Inauguration fell on a
Sunday that year. To avoid a possible coup, he took the oath of
office in the Red Room and then again in public on March 5, 1877.

33. The Green Room
Click to see a video of the Green Room

34. • With its intimate size, green silk-covered walls
and early 19th-century American furniture, the
Green Room is a favorite White House parlor.
The room was referred to as the “Green Drawing
Room" as far back as 1825 after a green floor
covering was placed there during the Jefferson
Administration. In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline
Kennedy began a program to give a more formal,
museum-like character to the public rooms of the
White House. The Green Room was one of the
notable rooms that Mrs. Kennedy helped
redesign. Artwork in the room today includes
Henry Ossawa Tanner's Sand Dunes at
Sunset,Atlantic City, the first work by an African
American artist to be added to the permanent
White House collection.

35. Entrance Hall and Cross Hall

36. • Originally used as the gateway to the White
House for the First Family and the public, the
Entrance Hall and Cross Hall were at the center of
architect James Hoban’s plan for the White
House.
• In 1835 President Andrew Jackson received a gift
of a 1,400 lb. wheel of cheese and placed it in the
Entrance Hall for the public. Crowds arrived in
droves, and guests trampled cheese crumbs into
the carpet. The Hall smelled for weeks. In 1841
the public passed through the Entrance Hall for a
much more somber purpose: to view the body of
President William Henry Harrison who died after
only a month in office. The Entrance Hall still
serves as the official entrance for state visitors.

37. The North Portico

38. • The front door of the White House opens out
onto the North Portico, facing Pennsylvania
Avenue. Constructed in 1829-30, the portico
provides covered access to the Entrance Hall.
Once the principal entrance to the White
House for both the family and the public, the
north doorway is now where the President
and First Lady greet guests of state before gala
dinners. Visitors on public tours also exit
through this doorway.

39. The South Portico

40. • The South Portico was constructed by James
Hoban in 1824 during the presidency of James
Monroe. In 1948, President Harry S. Truman
added the Truman Balcony to the second
floor, a private porch enjoyed by First Families
ever since.

41. References
• http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/inside-
white-house/interactive-tour
• http://whitehouse.c-
span.org/ByRoomPage.aspx