museums and

historic places to learn about history. located the heart of washington dc, willard hotel has bewitness0 years. its guests have included abraham lincoln, mark twain. world war two soldiers and the first japanese delegation the united states in 1861. welcomei'm carr and i represent

partnership that owns this wonderful asset and today you'll hear a lot its rich history. hello, marie carr. welcome to the willard hotel, located in the heart of the city. just two blocks away from the white house. the willard is conveniently located to many of the city's notable attractions, memorials d museums on the national mall. we're very fortunate to have location and we can know where thanks to captain john taylor. captain john taylor was reputed to be one of virginia's wealthiest plantation owners. he was a friend and supporter of general and of the plan to build the city of washington, d.c. captain taylor acquired the■ande in 1816. he built six two story attic dwellings. now, y might wonder if this s a good investment for him, because the city of washington

at the time was, really not a city at all. it was more of a town. far mars. the avenue of the fonz dreams was akin to a swamp. on a rainy day. it was a river of mud an filth. and when it was dry, all the construction debris and dust from building the president's mansion, the washington monument,everywhere. tourists and people coming to the city found accommodations very sparse. and if you did find it, it was communal living. i'm jim hughes, bartender at round robin bar at the historic willard hotel as washington, d.c., as the capital of united states. so did the willard hotel. ■(everything happened within ten blocks of the white house. in fact, if you walked out the door of the willard hotel. exactly one mile from here is is the capitol just on the other side of street is the treasury

building. you have the white house. so you can how people built homes. the social and political center of washington became this corner 14th and pennsylvania avenue. benjamin taylor, the son of john taylor, really said that in order to keep pace with what was going on in other citqties iunio bring the and the luxury and modernization that was going on in the hotel busineswashington,o bring somebody into here into washington to run this hotel. between years of 1and 1847, there were many managers. and each attached a new name to the hotel. however, in 1847,■r henry willad became the manager and that time forward, the willard played an important prominent role in the history of this hotel for the next 100 years. let's talk a little bit about henry willard.

henry willard came from vermont and it was a very astute, energetic and ingenious businessman. he and brother joseph were on the niagara. it ran troy, new york, to new city on the hudson in new york steamship. lloyd. practice to provide the best service to anybody who was on that ship. phoebe warren, the fiancee of benjamin fogle, met henry. i one of the trips from troy to new york. she was impressed with this service to everybody. and when her fiance came, benjamin mentioned he needed a new manager for the willard. she recommended henry. henry applied for the job and in 1847 moved to washington to manage the city hotel. henry to help a grand hotel to run on a grand plan for the city hotel. it had a beautiful main entrance with portico. it had a women's entrance for

ladies of a 14 st that went to a private lounge on the mezzanine level forhe there was we.ertainment every night of the ning room for the ladies. the gentlemen, as were bathroom. henry had decided the hotel would be the finest in the city, and he wanted to provide the best food be found. and it was reported that one of his routines was to the hotel at 3 a.m. every morning to the markets to personally select the produce, fish and meats there, to be served at that time.politicians in the 1840s ad fifties were not professional politicians. congress did not meet round, so people who came to washington as politicians had to find places to stay and often they stayed together in boarding houses and other early hotels. in fact, pennsylvania avenue was known as the avenue of america

because there were so many hotels along pennsylvania avenue and the willard family, when they were brought in here by the owners, had a property to upgrade the status of of this property, wanted to bring in all of those things that people had been experiencing in other cities, including cities in europe, as well, as new york and philadelphia. henry clay came to washington in 1808, and along with henry clay came barrels kentucky straight sour mash, otherwise known as bourbon. in fact, barrel said he brought from bourbon county were actually stamped with bourbon county forhow the name evolved for bourbon. now he discovered that washingtonians were drinking their rum or brandy. he was appalled at this and he decided to show the proper way to make his southern style ju and he used the relish in showing people how to make a julep, southern style with

kentucky, straight bourbon, whiskey. and we continue to to practice that legacy here. in fact, we use henry clay original recipe. in fact, henry clay traditionally in the beginning session of congress, would bring a barrel of bourbon, and he would invite on a bipartisan basis members of congress from to join him, toasting the new legislative session. and that tradition continues to t recently we had, a group of distillers from bourbon county in kentucky, come here. and with the assistance of the ga senators and congressmen from kentucky honor the senator and that legacy that was started back the early 1800s hotel senator henry clay was known as the great compromiser. and what better to compromise after a d ottling on capitol hio retire the bar at at the willard

hotel ande was known as the grt compromiser, senator calhoun was known as a great, intelligent officer. and daniel webster was known as the great orator. these two gentlemen really set the stage for the political battles that led up to the civil war in the 1860s. and this was a place where the willard hotel was always known as a place where people from both sides of the aisle could get together. you bipartisan manner and hill, the affairs of the day and how to move forward into the future. now we're peacock alley peacock alley is a name that came from the waldorf astoria, new york city at the time. the wonderful ladies the societ. the two hotels and who came to watch call them peacocks. so when theanager from the down to manage the willard hotel he this quarter would be be called the

peacock early in the decided to. they decided that the six two story dwelling should be united behind a commo facade. so the frame facade was down and the new brick facade added. it was painted white. additional stoere add to the hotel in the interior with some large. 1850s. 1860s were a good time for the willard's henry willardunning fr president and when franklin pierce won president, pierce became the first president to visit the willard many almost all of them from that day forward. and since then the hotel was called the residence of presidents in addition to having congressmen, senate and businessmen stay at the hotel the village decided to the foreign dignitaries particular was the japanese delegation. the japanese had never left their homeland and were headed to the united to visit with

presidentda buchanan and to sign the treaty of amity commerce. that at the time there was no blair house to house foreign anl to the willard congress to appropriate its $50,000 for the willard to refurbish and redecora t accommodate our guests from japan. rooms were re carpeted with red carpets. there was a pantry built in hens and then a floor of 60 rooms was given to the delegation. the japanese entered through ladies entrance on 14th street and security hired to help take of any wayward what they called a noise at the time the japanese found our customs of bathing in private or eating stale and or even clothing very foreign to them, but enjoyed it. the delegation was composed three samurai adors and an people at the close of theur

1860s. willard said achieve their goal. they had congressmen senate businessmen, statesmen and now foreign with the success of the japanese delegation. they to do this and the beginning of the 1860s. we found that itself became a focal point for military and political reasons. we're now in thebraham suite. it's one of 41 suites in the newer building. abraham lincoln did not stay in this room. the room was named after him.hp it was dated in 1864, ten days prior to his election. but let's go back to what the city of washington was like in 18. in 1860, there was a lot of focus on military and political activity, one historian noted that hotel demand so great the hotels were able to their prices from $2 to $4 a night. the willard, unlike other

hotels, was considerednorthernem the pennsylvania avenue entrance, and our southerners entered from the f street entrance, the willard hall, with a large, spacious room that was able to accommodate the peace convention, the convention was a last ditch to try to avert the civil war. it was held from february 4th to february 27th, in 1861. it. 131 polities from 21 states and our former tyler was chair of the unfortunate. lee. it failed. and six weeks later the civil war started the arrival abraham lincoln to washington not witr fever was, broiling emotios there feelings in maryland there were sympathy toward■h t cause e reaching dangerous levels. there was concern about safety of president elect abraham

lincoln traveling by train from. so was decided on a foggy saturday morning. the abraham lincoln would be removed from the last railcar in the baltimore depot and taken to washington dc before his family and entourage arrived. he was smugg into to the ladies entrance and taken immediately to suite her parlor six on the second floor. when hed arrived, a piece of paper from an envelope had scribbled on it. the president was here and was delivered to the various delegas he peace conference abraham lincoln conducted a bit of business while he was here. he stayed for ten days and in fact, the first white use levee was held at the white house, was at the willard hotel, and when he introduced himself, his wife was quite a bit shorter than he said, i want to in long and the short of the new presidency. president abraham lincoln's brought magnitudes the people to

the hotel, the hotels were filled to the max and the willard found itself bringing. 475 ttresses. and even tn hallways and stairwells. abraham lincoln and his family stayed at the willard for ten days. and in fact, first check he wrote when he was a president was to pay for his willard hotel bill ulysses grant also at the willard. however, when he appeared to check in with s son, he didn't have on his uniform. he looked disheveled and unfortunately one recognized him. so his room wasn't very nice. w' lucky, though, he doesn't hold a grudge because he came back to the willard multiple times. he liked to smoke a cigar, sit by the fireplace, and entime in the lobby. a lot of businessmen decide to take the opportune a sitting in theobby at the willard to ask for favors, and president grant called them loyis. the term lobbyists originated in london, but it was president grant who made a word that's

common in our ct learned today. juliet ward howe was also a guest at willard. she was the sister, the famous lobbyist, sam ward, and he had recommended she and her husband at the willard. the willard was one of the few hotels that offered stationery to his guest. stationery. early one morning, she penned the to the battle hymn of the republic. it was originally a poem, but when added to the music, it became the patriotic and national anthem of the northern cause and is today a patriotic song throughout our land we also had colonel logan stay with us and had decided that a day should be dedicate it in the memory of all of our fallen soldiers. he chose the date may 30th, 1868, and today recognize that is an memorial. antonio ford was a famous spy. shis troop location and

information to colonel mosby of the southern. she caught andrisoned and it was major willard who accompanied her to the prison. he fell in love with her and to get her release. e had sign an oath of allegiance to, the northern union, as it turned out antonio gave up spy. majorrd resigned from the army and the two married six months later. they had several children and e willard was born in theúk for hs father did. unfortunately, antonio died seven years later and was inconsolable. the willard family experienced tremendous success with the hotel during the civil and the ars immediately afterwards. as the country grew, the city and the center of washington that that ten squareoihahouse et

avenue to the northwest, extended straight north, and the willard family realized that in order to keep pace with the growth of the city, that needed to upgrade the hotel. i'm not saying that it fell into disrepair. it didn't keep up with what was going on in rest of the city so second generation willard family. who was known as the captain. circa 1901. he inherited the willard hotel and decided to get involved in the hotel business. in fact, to the extent of almost like bringing his his brothers and his relatives■u together to work, to grow this this, this, this property, he went to new york and. he brought in a number one architect by the name of howard hamburg, who who had built the waldorf astoria, among other hotels along the east coast.

and he built the finest hotel at that washington had ever seen. that project they they faced a project the project didn't want to lose business and lose the identity that they had built washington's premier hotel residence in the 1920s, they expanded the willard hotel to over 400 rooms. this structure was the tallest building in washington it was a beaux arts style architecture. there was a fantastic ballroom on the top floor with the beaux arts a 30 foot ceiling and, was able to accommodate over a thousand people. it was truly a magnificent structure. cornerstone at downtown washington for many, many the willard hotel in and with themendous success

advent ofdeprsion in the 1920s as the rest of the countr; expeenso the willard hotel both financially and in terms of structurally fact there was a fire in 1922 in the ballroom and they were they were unable to over the next few years, you know, restore that area. there's an interesting story of during the depression about about the bonus marches the veteransroand this is in the eas who marched on washington in order to to ask government to release their pension money wait till until they were much older and they were all camped down by an cost. you and i believe marjorie meriwether post of the post family onotoriety heard about their plight were all in camped

out in ana an she actually had her chauffeur drive to the wil hnd she walked into the willard hotel and asked to see the manager and asked if she could order 5000 sandwiches and lemonade iced tea for the bonus. marchers. well, as as several thousand packs of cigarets and eager to accommodate the manager did honor her request and had the items delivered to the bonus marchers which gives you kind of an idea of how how closely aligned the family over the years over 200 yrs. in fact were aware of what the needs were of the city and it shouldn't have it whether they were affluent or or not so affluent and and that tradition continued the thirties and into the forties. an interesting point of fact is

the fact that the patent office being in close proximity to willard, you had a lot of people visiting washington with new innovative ideas, whether be elevat steam engines, air you it those ideas come across the willard whether or not whether or not it was that the actually at the round ron bar or in the lobby but you can well be well aware that that the astute as they were that the family members were ear to the ground to find out what the latest was whether it was installing telephones in each room going back to the 1840s, having hot water and at end bathrooms on each floor for for the guests. and thato having running water and actual bathroom in the individual rooms when the hotel was rebuilt in the part of the 19th century.

then you have the turn the century you have the new willard. it was known in 1901, built in d pennsylvania. and you had all these modern accommodations that were incorporated that just bedazzled people. when you think about it, people were visiting washington for the first time and and and visiting white house and visiting capitol hill. d here's is this this beautiful d th a grand lobby peacock alleythdern conveniences that that they weren't used to home in mid america or wherever they from. it'fainating to talkinto people who visited washington for the first time, whether it be in the 1940s during world war two and and different things that that that they people who had never traveled before. i remember talking to a gentleman was stayed at the willard hotel and it was that if

you walked into the willard hotel had a uniform on that you were you were you given accommodations. if they were available, it was a welcomed place for all at first experience in washington was staying at the willard hotel when were 18 or 19 years old prior to going overseas to to the fight during world war two headed opportunity to meet of these people when they the dedication for theorld war two memorial and it was fascinating listening to them talk about their recollection of what it was like to be at the willard hotel the 1940s. thisne gentleman told me, he said it was a middle of the summertime he had never been to the big city before, had never been on a train. he is staying at the willard hotel now and it was so hot but the lobby was so cool so a so so comfortable because they these large vats of ice that they were

had large fans as cold air. he said he sees on two chairs off the loy f three nights because it was so comfortable. he still remembers that experience. and it's those kinds of kíexperiences at you're talkinge about what it was to to attend a high school graduationa4■ +■bt, willard hotel in the 1950s at the grand on the top floor with the these french doors that opened up on to this this value. needed overlook the entire city with the high mansard roof and and what just what what a glorious place it was to visit. and i sadly, the willard family decided get out of the hotel business i the 1940 and they sold their interests to a new group. now the new york group that came in, the able group, put over a half a million dollars into reva and the hotel again in the tradition that the

willard had started many years before of trying to keep willard hotel as an entity keeping pace of what the what was going on in the of the country and they did a renovation of the hotel terms of style and convenience and that continued into the 1960s. but washington d.c. as a as an urban area changed washington moved there was very little downtown in terms of of residential for people the whole the entire shopping district in and market area of washington had slowly hol deteriorated in terms of its goods and services. so by 1960s it was it was necessary to the hoteln

president john f kennedy traveled from capital to the white house, he decided that it had to be improvements to pennsylvania avenue. he created the pennsylvania avenue development corporation, a task revitalizing this corridor. he wanted pennsylvania avenue to once again be the the font avenue of everyone's dreams.y the commission decided that the willard hotel should be demolished and open parks very should be created. an auction w held. the admission was a dollar and you were asked to bring chisels and hammers. the hotel was stripped. everything. if you che lobby. going to see the tiles. there's 48 tiles. they were removed and during the restoration we were able restore them. chandelier square taken the columns which not marble they're plaster clearly they were destroyed. the ballroom was stripped of its floor and we lost a lot of the

beautiful architectural features of the hotel. afterattle, it was decided that indeed public affection saved the hotel and it was now going to be a restoration. and it was a three year project to bring the hotel back to its grandeur. there's something very special about, the willard, and it's an affection borne so much from his architecture, but from knowing that this is the place has witnessed history being made and had wonderfulng through. you can watch this and other artifafafafafarams by visiting web site at c-span dot■á■so