Lincoln Bedroom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lincoln Bedroom is a bedroom on the second floor of the White House, part of a guest suite of rooms that includes the Lincoln Sitting Room. The room is named for Abraham Lincoln and was used by him as an office. Tales persist of ghost sightings in or near the room. The room is best known as a guest room used by presidents to reward friends and political supporters.
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[edit] Furnishings
The room has been furnished in a mix of Victorian styles including Renaissance Revival, Rococo Revival, and Aesthetic Movement, since the Truman renovation. Some of the furniture was used by the Lincoln administration but was purchased during earlier administrations, including the sofa and three matching chairs, two slipper chairs, and four of Lincoln's cabinet chairs. The central feature of the room is the Lincoln bed, a nearly 8-foot by 6-foot rosewood bed with an enormous headboard which is believed to have been purchased by Mary Todd Lincoln during her extensive redecorating efforts. The bed was probably never used by President Lincoln, although several later presidents have used it. An ornamental crown-shaped canopy hood was recently reconstructed to replace the lost original.
A holograph copy of the Gettysburg Address is displayed on the desk. This copy is the only one of five that is signed, dated, and titled by Lincoln.
[edit] Lincoln sitting room
Off an east doorway is a small sitting room used as an office until the West Wing was built. It is furnished in Victorian style to match the bedroom. The overstuffed sofa and matching chair were formerly furnishings in the Green Room.
[edit] History
Before the construction of the West Wing in 1902, this room was used as either an office or a meeting room for the president's Cabinet. When the president's staff was moved to the new West Wing, this room became a bedroom suite called the "Blue Bedroom." When the White House was gutted and rebuilt during the Truman administration, this room was rebuilt and dedicated to Abraham Lincoln.
The room has been redecorated several times in the past half century, most notably by Jackie Kennedy, but always in Victorian style. In 2004, the White House renovated the room in bolder colors and patterns in the Victorian style.
[edit] Ghost sightings
Visitors to the Lincoln Bedroom have reported seeing apparitions of Lincoln staring out of his window, overlooking an invisible battleground (the room actually overlooks the south lawn). Both Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower claimed they felt the powerful presence of Abraham Lincoln in this room. Eleanor Roosevelt said, "Sometimes when I worked at my desk late at night I'd get a feeling that someone was standing behind me. I'd have to turn around and look." Rumors were that Winston Churchill had a Lincoln sighting in the room. Amy Carter, during sleepovers with her friends, waited up at night for the ghost of Mr. Lincoln to appear. Once the girls tried to get in touch with him with a Ouija board to no avail. Ronald Reagan's dog would bark outside the room but never enter. Maureen Reagan said she saw mysterious apparitions there. Richard Dreyfuss reported having scary dreams about a portrait of Mr. Lincoln that hangs in the room. "A high percentage of people who work here won't go in the Lincoln Bedroom," said President Clinton's White House social secretary, Capricia Marshall. White House maids and butlers have sworn they had seen Lincoln’s ghost. The Lincoln Bedroom was in the news during Bill Clinton's term because of its use as a bedroom for White House guests. But it wasn't always used as a bedroom. When Abraham Lincoln was President, it was used as his personal office and Cabinet room (it was used in this manner by all Presidents between 1830 and 1902). During the Lincoln presidency, the walls were covered with Civil War maps. It had dark green wallpaper, and the carpeting was also dark green. Newspapers were stacked on the desk and tables along with large amounts of mail and requests from office seekers. Two large wicker wastebaskets were filled with debris. Mr. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in this room on January 1, 1863.
[edit] External links
- White House Museum: The Lincoln Bedroom
- White House Historical Association: The Lincoln Bed
- A Ghost in the White House?
