become one of the most rapidly growing cities. baltimore had put itself on the map in its newly known craftsmanship known as fancy furniture. latrobe commissioned the finlays for all the furnishings going into the large elliptical room. this is not from the white house collection or from the white house suite. you can see here, obviously, the antiquity influence. the splayed legs. also, another chair the finlays created as well. what also you'll see as a huge trend here is the caned seat. the 40-piece suite of furniture the finlays made were painted and lacquered in white and gold.

here is one of those examples which you'll be able to see closer up later on. but this is one of the couches that the finlays created that latrobe designed coming from the grecian examples he saw and used from thomas hope's book. here's a close-up of that design. these are all on display for you to see afterwards. here's an example from what the cushion looks like that you could see formerly on the last design we saw. more of that. okay. and the -- some of the furniture was also grained in imitation of highly figured mahogany. mahogany at this time was not a native wood of the united states. it was mostly imported and very expensive. fancy furniture, although it was very fashionable, was also sort of budget saving. because they were using domestic woods and painting it to look like it was an exotic, imported wood. and there's the chair.

now, the cane seats that are used on these furnishings is also another revival style. unfortunately it's a little bit -- not unfortunately, but it is a little bit closer in time period than any of the antiquity influences come from. these are also close-ups. you see some of latrobe's small notes here. these are notes that he actually sent to the finlays. here's an example of the cane seat on the modern reproduction. cane seating is very expensive in itself. latrobe also embraced the form of the couch used for reclining at meals. they were set with the sofas on castors that could be moved for easy mobility. the furniture was patterned with pictures of antique greek vases.

the united states arms also right here invented by pierre charles l'enfant which was first displayed at federal hall was also applied to the furniture. you can see that same -- this is a little bit modified since it's a little bit earlier. but the same shield which ends up going on the crest of the united states. latrobe encountered plenty more issues while he was going through his design phase. more so than just with any papers or solicitous gossip. the finlays, in fact, caused quite a lot of trouble. the workshop was not operating on the time frame that latrobe had set and he wrote to mrs. madison on september 8th, 1809. mr. finlay of baltimore who has

the chairs and sofas in hand appears not to have been equally attentive. i therefore went to baltimore in july and found the chairs ready and such as i wished, but the sofas were unfinished. i said everything to urge their completing and applied to general smith who had recommended to me to urge him also. about ten days ago i wrote another letter pressing to finlay but received no answer. now, this room that this furniture was going into, the elliptic room, also was called the oval room, was designed to be the most elegant and formal space on the primary floor of the white house. largely because it could hold the most guests. although architecturally it was designed by james hoban, latrobe wished to make this space his masterpiece. so he went from being an architect simply to more of an interior designer at this point. he worked through the summer and fall of 1809 to make sure the space was ready as soon as possible. he fretted so much over it he constantly wrote and annoyed the madisons. he was aware of this later on.

more so than the finlay problem was the issue of choosing the right fabric. what he wished for was silk damask. oh, the terrible velvet curtains. when latrobe saw what the curtains were going to look like in the white house, he was mortified. he settled for red silk velvet. the effect was not what he hoped for. the meager $5,000 budget, if only it had been bigger, what have allotted him more too many to either have fabric imported from england or have it made in the united states. instead he hired john ray of philadelphia to make the upholstery for the entire room in the red velvet. and latrobe was certain that the room would get such poor reviews

he would never be forgiven. this also goes to show, as i said, that he became more of just the surveyor public buildings, maybe the newspapers weren't too often referred to him as an upholster because he worried so much about the fabric. the reason why we focus so much on the elliptical salon is that's what most of the information that is available today survives. we do understand from latrobe's letters that the mantle on the east wall which you see right here had a long french plate mirror above with a lamkin valance atop trimmed with gilded balls and cloth. here we have president madison,

mrs. madison, steven decatur and several other guests. ornamental palmettes were gilded as were the other grecian-inspired accents. here's the design latrobe came up with, the palmettes. the walls were papered and, perhaps, brushed over with a light coat of fleck coach paint and the wood work was -- george bridgeport of philadelphia was employed to paint the ceiling and wood work. he was known for his subtlety in application. this box is actually mrs. madison's tea box. it was given by her to mrs. latrobe, so it's one of the only other things besides the gilbert stewart that survives at the white house. this wallpaper was most likely to wallpaper used in the elliptical salon. when we come back to the painting again, you'll see this is actually used as historical reference. there's an inscription here from mrs. madison to mrs. latrobe. they'd known each other since

infancy. mrs. madison was known to have spent most of her time working on her own parlor chamber than any other room in the house. also known as the antechamber where the president received guests. the space was said to be extremely fashionable done mostly in a yellow color. in the parlor, a portrait miniature of mrs. madison was present denoting the room's name sake. the state dining room transported from being jefferson's library and study into an actual dining room. it had the least amount of money put into it. a modest rug and furniture from the jefferson era were used. formerly it was hung in the elliptical salon. but for this -- for a very special occasion on january 1st,

1810, when guests were finally welcomed into the white house it was moved and put into the state dining room. latrobe had his wife, mary elizabeth hazlehurst latrobe, inform mrs. madison as well in 1809 they had found india stone china in blue and white and a similar set of nankin or nanking china ordered for the dessert service for philadelphia. she also sternly mentions there was an impossibility of finding french china which may or may not have been a employ of latrobe's. latrobe was working furiously, as i said, at the end of 1809 trying to get the white house prepared. he was finishing marble chimney pieces, installing doors, constructing stairwells, assembling a coach house, installing a pump into the well on the other side of the house in addition to the furnishings. mrs. madison's parlor and the dining room had been finish since the spring of 1809 and

really it was the elliptical room that was holding everybody up including the finlays. by december everything was set for the ceremonial new year's day reception that had become a tradition president thomas jefferson had started. although crowds would come from near and far to catch a glimpse of the president's house, mrs. madison had a large draw to the event. although a bit bizarre, she took a youthful fashion. robes, turbines, coquettish blush with rouge. president madison, however, was not as beloved. he adored his wife and she him. but he was a bit stern. definitely what we like to call a statesman. once such encounter is described as he was a little man with a powdered head having pale countenance but with little flow

of courtesy. this is not a compliment, let me assure you. let's see. you can see up here, there's that reference to the wallpaper. when guests finally arrived on new year's day, 1810, they came through the north door entering into an entrance hall flanked with fireplaces to the east and west. this is the modern day white house, but this is the entrance they would have come in. not much has actually changed in the design of the white house since hoban rebuilt it after it was burned. here you come in from the north. these marbleized columns. here we also have the small little alcoves jefferson had put in to put some stoves in. but latrobe had carefully covered them up with columns that were made out of concrete but painted to look like marble. the hall was sparse in decoration compared to the

brilliance of the elliptical room and mrs. madison's parlor and state dining room. one description of mrs. madison's parlor exists. a very fashionable grecian space. the dominant color being a sunflower yellow. the room was opened up through double doors centered between it and the elliptical room creating a free flowing space. it truly must have been unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. following the debut of the latrobe interiors, the general completion, the madisons began entertaining frequently again. mrs. madison's wednesday night receptions were the center of attraction. contemporary accounts state all these whom fashion, fame, beauty wealth or talents have rendered celebrated and many were able to enjoy the splendor but for a very brief time. the signs of oncoming war were very evident in 1811. the country prepared and put

attention to its resources on relevant issues rather than latrobe's outlandish and expensive designs to finish the city. by madison's time, he'd become exhausted with latrobe. and he was ready -- later wrote to -- latrobe later wrote full awareness of madison's feelings, quote, i am personally obnoxious to the president and his principal friends in congress. the white house has a whole was still not finished and the capitol was left with its two wings and the planned dome not yet begun. by 1813 latrobe was relieved of his position and moved to pittsburgh. the great fire. did we skip -- can you go back one? on august 24th, 1814, the british finally made their way into washington with instructions to burn all public buildings. there's a misconception that they burnt the entire of washington. they didn't burn taverns or hotels, but they did burn all the public buildings. many had been warned, many had fled, and still some stayed

until the last minute including mrs. madison. as she was hurried out of the white house, she made certain to sit down and write a letter to her sister. she describes the flurry of activity that happened just prior to her leaving. our kind friend, mr. carol of dumbarton house has come to hasten my departure. in a very bad humor with me because i insist on waiting until the large picture of general washington is secured. it requires to be unscrewed from the wall. the process was found to be tedious for these perilous moments. i've ordered the frame be broken and canvas out. it is done. and the previous portrait placed in the hands of two gentlemen from new york for safekeeping. one eyewitness account also describes the scene of washington as from his hotel room, i perceive the smoke coming from the windows of the president's house and in a short time that splendid and elegant edifice reared at the expense of so much cost and labor inferior to none, what i've observed in the different parts of europe, was wrapped in entire flame. the large and elegant capitol of

nation on the one side. all wrapped in flame. present grand and sublime but at the same time an awful and melancholy sight. the madisons returned to the charred city three days after the great fire aiming to find temporary quarters and a place to recover from the symbolic and physical humiliation and the united states and the capital city had just incurred. madison was pinpointed as a coward for abandoning the capitol. at this point in time, too, before most people did come back to washington, there was actually talk of moving the capital city west, possibly to cincinnati or even to st. louis. but fortunately enough they decided to stay in washington. in an effort to regain authority and some sense of place, mr. and mrs. madison took up residence in temporary homes. to furnish these spaces they did

not go to mr. latrobe. they relied mostly on local furniture. used furnishings at this point were not necessarily cast-offs or outmoded discards. they were generally from diplomatic representatives that had since left and needed somewhere to put their furnishings because they couldn't take them back with them. so they brought localized pieces and ended up getting french pieces also instead of english. in 1815 the madisons acquired from luis soreiro, the french minister, a dozen chairs and sofa for $250. perhaps they were familiar with the furniture since soreiro has occupied two of the most fashionable homes. the octagon house featured here still stands. it's where the madisons temporarily took up residence. their first residence from 1814 to 1815. their second residence was in a temporary structure known as the seven building on pennsylvania avenue which has now since been destroyed.

here the madisons acquired a great deal of furniture from a georgetown cabinet maker, william worthington jr. perhaps they learned their lesson from outsourcing. possibly secondhand also, but locally made nonetheless. one secretary desk, one large dining table and one large family bed stead came from the worthington workshop. they also patronized the merchant and silversmith charles burnett buying fireplace equipment, class ware and plated flat ware. the madisons never lived at 1600 pennsylvania avenue again. president madison did begin its reconstruction before leaving office. in 1815 reconstruction of the white house began and surprisingly james hoban was called upon to supervise and not latrobe. although latrobe's relationship with mrs. madison remained steady, his loose tongue and self-importance and endless amount of problematic insults had become a real issue for mr. madison. but as a gentleman he was, he

did not lay any objection to the interview that was given to latrobe to become the architect of the capitol building, which he did receive. his less than favorable attitude began to take a turn again and in 1817 he resigned when james monroe was elected. hoban had not yet finished the structure so president monroe lived elsewhere while waiting for completion but wasted to time in ordering furnishings. latrobe went on to act as an engineer, traditional architect and landscape architect for sights in maryland, virginia, pennsylvania, ohio can be kentucky and louisiana. he aided in the building of the first catholic church in america. next one. the baltimore basilica. took almost 20 years to construct. and the decatur house. also adina in ohio. his final destination ended up being farther, farther south in new orleans where he designed

the city's water works. ironically he died of yellow fever, the very disease he was trying to prevent from spreading by the way of engineering pursuits with that water works system. there's a lot of history left up to interpretation, obviously. especially the madison and latrobe relationship which seems to have been pretty copacetic for the majority of the time. latrobe was well known whether he thought that it was gossip or not for being a loud mouth and very opinionated. people didn't appreciate it very much, especially at a time when manners were very well appreciated. and since most of his structures are actually in ruins now, they don't exist anymore, including the interiors of the white house and several other homes and also the bank of pennsylvania, most of his genius has been lost to history. but the great projects like the bank of pennsylvania, we're lucky that all these great drawings survived. he has been able to maintain that -- the relationship and the reputation of being america's first architect.

which is something i don't think anyone wants to rival. he ended his life almost facing bankruptcy and on a lot of short lists with many people. but, like i said, his genius has been unchallenged for nearly two centuries. with many people. um and as i do manage the decatur house. you can see the designs up here and a rendering of monroe and decat decatur, i want to go through a brief slide show so you can see what we think the madison looked like in the white house interiors. this is how that same room has changed throughout history. i think this is mccainley's

administration. and today as it is as the blue room. i want to thank the maryland historical society for being wonderful to work with. i'm sorry for the technical difficulties to begin with and in addition to everyone here that has been wonderful to work with, i want to thank the library of congress and the new york public library and james madison and william seal and the white house historical association. and if you have questions i will be happy to take them. there will be a microphone coming around if you would like to raise your hand. [ applause ]

>> or on white house history in general, i know that as well. the gentleman down here? >> the furniture that the madisons bought after the bu burning of the white house, does that still exist is that still in the collection of the white house in. >> no. it is unknown as to where most of it is at the time. well actually most of those things never actually entered the white house. to my knowledge they may have been destroyed or lost in history. >> thank you. >> the 1814 draw that go you had of the white house after the fire, that is a drawing, what

was left of the white house and what did they work with to come up with the white house that we have today? >> it was the exterior shell that was left and they used the same structure and built it from the inside out. there were reports of all of the walls standing completely and reports of it being destroyed of the eastern side. if you were fortunate enough to get on the inside you can see the burn marks on the stone. >> parts of the white house were not flammable. did someone try to put the fire out? >> there was a rain storm that helped singe, not singe but put everything out. it was very lucky for them. >> thank you.

>> you mentioned when they burned washington they didn't burn the entire city. they left taverns and what else did you say? >> hotels. there are several accounts of british soldiers knocking on private buildings and telling the people within them to stay there that was a safe place to say. that would be best suited not going to any of the public buildings. >> what was the rational? >> americans had burned one of their ships it was a retaliation. >> thank you. >> yes. leslie, is there any fragment left of the original white house design, wallpaper, anything that allowed us to reconstruct those

interiors? >> in terms of fabric? >> was there anything left if we do analysis of the surfaces today. would we find anything or is it completely gone? >> besides the wallpaper in the box from mrs. madison. nothing else is reported to have been salvaged except a stove. >> no fabric? >> no. okay? [ applause ] >> american history tv is at the organization of american historians annual meeting in

milwaukee and we are going to focus next on orral histories with tommy cata. the denshow project which some of our viewers are familiar with. tommy, what is the project that you have been working on? >> so, it is a community non profit based in seattle where we collect the stories of japanese americans so the 120,000 people who were in the camps, we share the inner views on the web. >> how many have you done? >> we have done 650 and we'll add 650 or so this year. >> you are working on a history project as well. the march on milwaukee, what can you tell us about that? >> the project is digital

archive an online archive of sources relating to mostly the struggle for open housing and school desegregation and text documents and footage from a local tv station at the time. what do you find the biggest challenge is. your documents are relatively recent history? in the case of the japanese heritage project, the 1940s or so. what are the biggest challenges or so? >> we had university of wisconsin milwaukee, we had a lot of these documents. the challenge was to make them more accessible and give them contact. so that students could learn

more about their city and it's history. >> tommy how about you? >> in the same way, there were quite a bit of more material documents. you have to realize, so the government did this action against japanese americans and the government kept a lot of records so in places many of the documents we have scanned and put them on our website as well. the hardest part was to convince japanese americans to be interviewed for this. some felt shame even though we did nothing wrong. so it took a while to encourage them. that was probably the toughest part. >> why are oral histories being seen more often. we air a number of oral

histories. why are they more important these days? >> i think one reason is that if you want to get the experiencs s so if you want to get the history of someone that was in cars rated, oral histories are a good way to get those individual stories. >> water gait was about a fundamental attempt to misuse and abuse the constitution to obstruct justice and to try to undermi undermine. >> it has been 40 years since the