It’s possible that for generations of Americans, this past week will be remembered for when the East Wing of the White House was demolished to make way for President Donald Trump’s $300 million ballroom.
While for some it may seem like both the East and West wings have been a part of the Executive Mansion since President John Adams moved in back on Nov. 1, 1800, the truth is both the East and West Wings were built to accommodate the large family of the president who officially named the mansion, The White House.
A little over 100 years after Adams made Pennsylvania Avenue home, Theodore Roosevelt realized with his six children, he was going to need more room upstairs in the Executive Mansion and to move his “home office” someplace else.
Colleen J. Shogan, the 11th Archivist of the United States, told WTOP that the 26th president needed to expand the West Wing for office space and The East Wing was more for socializing.
“They started to welcome more and more visitors to the White House for formal events and needed a place for the carriages to drive up, and then eventually, when cars were in place,” Shogan said.
While Thomas Jefferson had an east and west colonnade built at the Executive Mansion, it was not until Teddy Roosevelt that a structure was built.
The next change for the East Wing would take place 40 years later while Teddy Roosevelt’s cousin was commander in chief.
“The East Wing we know today occurred under Franklin Roosevelt,” Shogan said. “The East Wing actually was modernized and there were two floors built.”
Shogan, who also served as senior vice president of The White House Historical Association, said along with being the place you would enter when visiting the White House on a tour or for a formal event, the space also included a workspace.
“There’s the calligraphy office, the Office of the First Lady, the Office of the Social Secretary for the White House, and then numerous other historic sites as you make your way into the main mansion,” Shogan said.
One of the amenities that presidents have loved for decades was also housed in the East Wing: the White House Family Theater, which also served another purpose.
“Even in modern days, it turned into a coat room,” Shogan said. “There was simply no other place to store such a high volume of coats when people come for a state dinner or another formal event at the White House.”
It was not until 1977 that the East Wing became the home for the first lady’s office, thanks to former first lady Rosalynn Carter.
Shogan believes the purpose that the East Wing serves is why so many Americans were upset by the images and videos last week.
“Americans really love their first ladies,” Shogan said. “They may, may or may not like the president, but first ladies are usually given different status in American cultural memory.”
Shogan told WTOP she heard the White House Historical Association did preserve photography of the East Wing before it was demolished and was there to assist with preservation of the portraits and other historic items.
“There’s a lot of things that are owned by the White House, that are not on display,” Shogan said. “So, they have excellent storage for preservation and conservation purposes.”
Shogan served as archivist until President Donald Trump dismissed her this past February. She is now the president and CEO of nonprofit In Pursuit.
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