The People's House: Jacqueline Kennedy's White House Restoration Project
Thu, Jan 14
|Online Event
Time & Location
Jan 14, 2021, 6:00 PM
Online Event
About the Event
When Jacqueline Kennedy became first lady in 1961, she began a project to restore the state rooms of the White House to reflect the artistic and architectural history of the presidential mansion. "Everything in the White House must have a reason for being there...It must be restored -- and that has nothing to do with decoration. That is a question of scholarship," she told Life magazine. She went on to establish a White House Fine Arts Committee made up of experts in historic preservation and decorative arts, and lobbied Congress to pass a law which granted the White House museum status. Don’t miss this behind-the-scenes look at the first lady's project through archival documents and photographs from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library collections.
Katherine Gilliland joined the Kennedy Library Foundation in October 2005 as the docent coordinator responsible for recruiting, training and supervising volunteer museum docents. She develops docent-led museum programs for walk-in visitors and students. Prior to moving to Boston, she worked for AmeriCorps VISTA in St. Paul, Minnesota. Katherine earned a M.A. in Art History and Museum Studies at Tufts University. She holds a B.A. Art History from Carleton College in Minnesota.