three years ago, i met the person whom i'm introducing, katherine malone-france, right at the slave quarters on the second floor of decatur house. and at the time it wasn't open to the public, never has been. it was a gallery space. previous owners had used it as a residence for their staff. it had also been office space. and the white house historical society is rising to the cause to conserve these slave quarters. his malone-france has also finished a historic structures report, and this was the first documentary research report on the quarters ever undertaken. she's going to be telling you some more about the highlights of the physical examination and the remaining questions that have to be answered regarding the space which was occupied by various peoples as it's existed over the last 125 years. so i hope you will join me in welcoming her. thank you. [ applause ] >> good morning. can you hear me okay? good morning. all right. well, first, i'd like to thank -- let me turn on my power. first i'd like to thank the white house historical association for putting together this fantastic event

katherine malone-france for the national trust for historic preservation ends this discussion with the slave quarters across the street from the white house. decatur house. the event took place at st. john's church on the edge of president's park. [ applause ] >> thank you so much, neal, for that kind introduction. i can always tell when my staff works on an introduction for me because they tell you everything about me except the fact that i was president of my third-grade class. two years in a row. [ laughter ] there's hope for everybody. i can't tell you how pleased i am to be here today, to be part of what is a very important conversation that will illuminate african-american life and work in this neighborhood, which has always been an incredibly important integrated neighborhood. but as i thought about this today, trying to think about how i felt about being here, i kept remembering a letter that i received when i was at the smithsonian, which i guess is now. and the letter said -- well, it started out dear left-wing historian, so i knew it wasn't going to be good, but forget that