Covering Old Grounds

Terp Author Documents History of White House Property

By Lauren Brown Jan 31, 2017

Courtesy of Bruce White, The White House Historical Association

The White House Grounds aren’t just the lawns around the nation’s most famous home. They’re a historic treasure in their own right, shaped by U.S. presidents and their families over the past two centuries to suit their tastes and the times—from John Quincy Adams digging in the dirt to conduct horticulture experiments, to Richard Nixon hosting daughter Tricia’s wedding in the Rose Garden, to Michelle Obama creating a kitchen garden. Pliska

Jonathan Pliska M.H.P. ’07 (right) has documented it all in “A Garden for the President: A History of the White House Grounds,” a new book published by the White House Historical Association to mark the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, which maintains the 18.7-acre property.

Pliska cultivated his specialty as a landscape historian at the University of Maryland, building on undergraduate majors in history, zoology and conservation with internships at the U.S. Treasury and the NPS to conduct research on the Treasury grounds next to the White House and on historic “witness” trees present at important American events, respectively.

He worked on-and-off on the book for eight years, perusing archival documents and gaining rare access to the Grounds. It traces the site from its birth as a mess of construction rubble that Thomas Jefferson first envisioned as a tapis vert and “pleasure ground” to what we see today, based on famed landscape architect Frederick Olmstead Jr.’s thoughtful and judicious guidelines.

Pliska was surprised to discover such a strong social component woven through the narrative.

“It’s not just a gardener’s guide to plants and flowers, although the botanicals are discussed at length. There’s also something for other people who might be interested in what happened during wartimes, for example,” he says. “The house is so iconic. But I can’t even imagine the house without the landscape it stands on.”

With President Donald J. Trump having just moved into the White House, Pliska notes that it would be unusual if he—or any president—didn’t put his stamp on the grounds.

“It’s a very important space that deserves to be maintained and preserved, but it’s also not static. It’s going to continue to evolve in order to meet the needs of the occupants of the White House, the modern presidency and future security concerns,” he says. “You can take a historic building and just preserve it, if you have an infinite amount of money. But you can’t do that with a landscape. Plants are going to die. You have to have a plan for when that happens. The landscape poses unique challenges, but also unique rewards.”

See the photos for 10 entertaining anecdotes from the book.

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WH 1 Thomas Jefferson Landscape Plan edited

1. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the White House in 1801, the grounds were little more than a dump site, littered with construction debris, piles of leftover clay and tree stumps. An outhouse graced the premises for at least another two years. This image, believed to be at least partially in Jefferson's own hand, showcases his ambitious plans for improving the presidential landscape. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress

2. At the raucous 1829 inauguration of Andrew Jackson, 20,000 celebrants overran the South Grounds and pushed their way in to the White House. Inside, they broke glassware and stood on furniture, and outside, trampled on the landscaping. When he left office, he presented another rowdy crowd with a 1,400-pound cheese, which they devoured within two hours. Jackson then sent huge portions of whiskey punch and ice cream outside to lure people away from the residence. This engraving from the 1840s, “President’s Levee, or all Creation Going to the White House, Washington,” depicts a Jackson-era scene. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress

3. Abraham Lincoln instituted an “African-American Sunday school” on the South Lawn on July 4, 1864, an unprecedented welcome to thousands of black people to hear speakers and enjoy picnics. For the rest of the war, he also hosted about 65 soldiers on the grounds with the duty to protect him and his family. The only injury ever sustained by troops was when one fell off a tire swing. Photo courtesy of Jon Pliska

4. While the South Grounds served as the first family’s back yard, visitors throughout the 19th century regularly invaded it from the publicly accessible North Grounds. They watched Ulysses S. Grant’s children at play and freely photographed Benjamin Harrison’s grandson, “Baby McKee” and his pet goat, above. The entirety of the Grounds permanently closed in the 1920s, during Calvin Coolidge’s presidency. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress

5. Congress in 1876 banned using the U.S. Capitol Grounds as a children’s playground to stop youngsters from rolling Easter eggs there. Children seeing Rutherford B. Hayes out for a walk begged him to allow it at the White House grounds instead, and the first annual Easter Egg Roll took place two years later. As crowds swelled during the Theodore Roosevelt era, no adults were allowed into the event without children, so enterprising kids charged fees to accompany them. The image above is from the 1926 roll. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress

6. While Hayes removed a temperamental fountain to make room for a croquet court in 1878, another fountain on the South Grounds was stocked a few years later with goldfish and perhaps other species. On at least one occasion, Chester Arthur reputedly went fishing here. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress

7. The South Lawn became a veritable zoo in Teddy Roosevelt’s day. He, his wife and six kids owned eight dogs (which regularly snapped at ambassadors and Cabinet members) as well as cats, goats, pigs, snakes, rats cows, horses, a one-legged rooster, a blue macaw and a badger named Josiah. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress

8. Ellen Wilson had a “president’s walk” connecting the West Wing to the Executive Residence installed in her new formal gardens to spare her husband, Woodrow Wilson, the ignominy of having to step through a pantry and past the laundry room each day. Wilson made his own design call, setting up an outdoor office in summer 1914, featuring a large fly tent.

9. Dwight D. Eisenhower had a one-hole putting green installed, and National Park Service workers moved the hole weekly to give him a variety of challenges. But children, worried about the fates of any squirrels attracted to the site, wrote Ike pleading letters and enclosed money to install a fence and save the rodents. The ensuing limited trap-and-release program was called Operation Squirrel.

10. Starting with Andrew Jackson’s “orangery,” the Grounds hosted an eclectic variety of greenhouses for over three-quarters of a century. Originally erected in 1857, the White House conservatory (shown above) stood as the centerpiece of this glasshouse complex, and was greatly enjoyed by First Lady Lucy Webb Hayes. Because she and her husband didn’t allow alcohol in the White House, they offered guests conservatory tours in lieu of after-dinner drinks. The greenhouses remained in place until their demolition in 1902. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress