This Week at the Woodrow Wilson House
April 11, 2021
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Woodrow Wilson House News |
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Over 100 attendees from all over the world joined the Wilson House at the Lunch & Learn Noon on Zoom with The Korean Cultural Center and The Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company! The Speaker Series addresses current and important issues we face today and puts them in historical context. We support our fellow Americans in the Asian community who are facing unjust discrimination. The discussion and performance acknowledged the determination and perseverance of Korean immigrants and reminded us of why, as a nation, we are stronger when we stand together. |
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Social Media Gaining Traction |
President Wilson House is expanding its social media audiences. It received 1,000 new likes in the past month alone, mostly from South Africa, following Dr. LaNitra Berger’s spot on the Speaker Series talking about her new book, Irma Stern and the Racial Paradox of South African Modern Art: Audacities of Color. Globally, people are interested in conversations we bring to light!
We are lining up our summer speakers, and welcome and appreciate your suggestions for speakers and topics! Email [email protected] with suggestions! Thank you!
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Hovsep Pushman’s 1917 “L'esperance" (Hope), a present for US President Woodrow Wilson from the Armenian delegation in 1917, returns from Yerevan, Armenia! This painting has probably traveled further than all of us combined during COVID. Its next stop will be at the Museum of Bible in Washington, D.C., in 2022. Looking forward to opening our doors so you can see it at the Wilson House before it is on its way.
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U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy (left) and Ruzana Saryan (right), the granddaughter of Armenian painter Martiros Saryan who met with L’eperance artist, Hosvep Pushman. |
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Congratulations to our Newest Advisory Council Members! |
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The Advisory Council is a cornerstone for the President Woodrow Wilson House. Dedicated to our cultural heritage, members leverage their collective expertise to offer critical guidance as well as support. Additionally, the council ensures we achieve our mission: to steward the house, including its collections, landscapes, and history, and use the house to provide a space for relevant discussions, programs, and community activities. |
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Former U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Gabonese Republic and to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe |
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Founder of Evo Fine Art Advisors and former CEO/Executive Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) Westport in Connecticut |
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Congratulations to our newest members - we look forward to working with you! |
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The Wilson House Tuesday Speaker Series Continues!
On the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month, notable historians, authors, curators, and leaders explore the social movements of the early 20th Century and their relevance today. Talks explore women's suffrage, activism and protest, racial inequity, and the consequences and legacy of Woodrow Wilson’s presidency.
The Wilson House Tuesday Speaker Series is brought to you through generous donations from:
Cary C. Fuller, Nancy Bliss, Edward F. Gerber, and Christopher W. Keller.
Register now for upcoming speakers.
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Lunch & Learn Noon on Zoom with Rebecca Boggs Roberts and Heath Hardage Lee discussing Edith Wilson: Brave, Beautiful, and Complicated
Tuesday, April 13, 12 p.m. EST
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Edith Bolling Wilson lived an extraordinary life! She was one of the first women in Washington, DC, to have a driver’s license and drive her own car, and yet she did not know how to ride a bike until she was taught by the President in the basement of the White House. She was the first First Lady to vote in a national election (since women did not get the right to vote until 1920), and yet she did not support the suffrage movement. Come learn about the fascinating first lady whose calling card read simply: Mrs. Woodrow Wilson.
Join us to hear from Rebecca Boggs Roberts, who is writing a biography of Edith, and Heath Hardage Lee, who recently featured on the Smithsonian Channel's America's Hidden Mysteries show entitled "Madam President," (Season 2 Episode 3), as they share their perspectives on Edith Bolling Wilson, a modern woman of her day.
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Lunch & Learn Noon on Zoom with
Philip Zelikow discussing his book, The Road Less Traveled: The Secret Battle to End the Great War, 1916-1917
Tuesday, April 27, 12 p.m. EST
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Join Professor Philip Zelikow to discuss his new book, THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED: The Secret Battle to End the Great War, 1916-1917, the never-before-told understory of how the Great War could have ended in early 1917 saving millions of lives.
For more than five months, from August 1916 to the end of January 1917, leaders from America, Britain and Germany held secret peace negotiations in an attempt to end the Great War. They did so far out of public sight—one reason why their battle, which came astonishingly close to ending the war, is little understood today. Through Philip Zelikow, this unknown story finally sees the light and revises the historical understanding of this pivot in world history, perhaps more than any other book on the war published in a very long time.
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Seeing America: History Travel Blog
By Maggie Wald, Wilson House Fall Scholar
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Maggie Wald is a junior from Washington University of St Louis who participated in the summer and fall sessions of the Student Volunteer Scholar Program at the Woodrow Wilson House and spent the fall of 2020 traveling around the country (attending college virtually) while writing a blog about the historical stops on her tour. Maggie’s latest blogpost discusses her stop in Savanah, Georgia. |
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Savannah, Georgia, is a haunting city. Spanish moss droops over every sidewalk, obscuring the meticulously preserved rowhouses and mansions lining every head-spinning round-about. While the moss obscures these homes, it fails to obscure the war memorials dotting almost every block, constantly reminding everyone of the region's tumultuous history.
As I drive further into the American South, I felt this scene metaphorical for the region. The American South holds many physical landmarks of slavery, from plantations to Confederate gravesites, but historically tried to obscure or ignore it. However, there are institutions seeking to remove the moss and shed some light on a more authentic regional history.
I visited one of these sites, the Owens-Thomas House, and had the great pleasure of speaking with the Shannon Browning-Mullis - the former curator of History and Decorative Arts - about this mission. Three of Savannah's most influential families called this place home from 1819-1951 alongside 9-15 less-mentioned enslaved residents. Properly addressing all of Owens-Thomas' residents, Mullis explained, has been a multi-decadal "continuum" and paramount to her tenure.
This is a herculean task, however, as a lack of ample records inhibits recovering enslaved residents' histories. Mullis lamented this reality when she crafted the stories of Emma Katin and other enslaved residents at the House. "We can't recreate what we don't know, so we have to recreate what we do know," she said, using every historical document available (e.g., censuses, family letters, receipts, accounting books, etc.) to fill in the blanks. For a history neglected for far too long, stressing what is known about enslaved residents (even if not every person) is the essential first step in rectifying this community's perfidiously marginalized voices.
The Owens-Thomas House joins sites across the nation as they begin to fully reckon with their full histories, including the President Wilson House. The House today takes great strides to recognize the friendship and cohabitation Woodrow and Edith shared with Issac and Mary Scott, who served the Wilsons until the 1950s and lived on the fourth floor of the Wilson residence. Although the Scotts were not enslaved, they still suffered the injustices of turn-of-the-century America, and the Wilson House works to revitalize these characters traditionally left out of the Wilson story.
Much like Emma at the Owens-Thomas House, records on the Scotts are rare. Edith's own writings provide much of the available information about the Scotts, and the Wilson House fills in the blanks with "what we do know" by highlighting the Scotts' work and living spaces (kitchen, bedroom, etc.). These recreated spaces remind visitors the Scotts' memory is not secondary but parallel to the Wilson memory on S Street, and represent a key part in understanding the history of the site.
As sites like the Owens-Thomas House and President Wilson House navigate the future of their sites with their pasts, it's important they "don't deify or vilify historical figures," Mullis imparted to me as I left the Owens-Thomas House. It shouldn't be the main focus of a historical site to discuss a historical figure's strengths and flaws, or correct historical grievances. History is made by the masses, and therefore historical sites should dedicate their resources to empowering the voices and stories previously sidelined in hopes of recognizing where we can make a difference today.
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Exploring Woodrow Wilson's Legacy Through US Postal Stamps
By Traci Holmer, Wilson House Fall Scholar
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50th Anniversary Woman Suffrage 6c stamp, 1970 |
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March is Women's History Month, which was a perfect time for Fall Scholar Traci Holmer to highlight the 50th Anniversary Woman Suffrage 6c stamp, 1970
Traci spent part of her semester at Wilson House creating a mini-exhibition of Wilson's Legacy Through Stamps. Researching stamps between 1919 and 2020, she provides a first-class examination of the color, symbols, and historical context of each stamp to evaluate how Wilson is remembered in history.
This stamp celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 19th amendment. On the left are suffragists protesting for women's rights, and the right is a woman voting on a machine. Despite the advancements in stamp technology seen during this time, there is a lack of color variation, and the design of the suffragists protesting is small and distant. The stamp communicates that in 1970, the suffrage movement was only about voting and not about women's rights as a whole. This makes sense as gender inequality was still rampant in 1970. There was a Women's Strike for Equality in New York City of 50,000 protestors demanding gender equality in the workplace as well as more access to abortions and childcare. There was also an ongoing problem of domestic abuse, which was not fully addressed until the Violence Against Women Act of 1994.
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