Campus News
November 4th, 2025
Luers presents White House history
GC professor emerita is former WH Historical Assn. member
The White House has undergone two comprehensive renovations since its 1800 initial completion, the last time in 1948-1952.
McHenry, MD –White House history and current events recently collided as the East Wing demolition/construction project produced national news. That made the timing of last Wednesday's presentation by Garrett College Professor Emerita Beth Luers on the history of the White House pretty serendipitous.
Luers presented as part of the fall 2025 lectures series of the Garrett Institute for Lifelong Learning (GILL), a member-driven organization whose purpose is to enrich lives by offering a wide variety of educational, cultural, and social programs geared toward a diverse community of adults. Luers served 32 years as a Garrett College faculty member, primarily in the field of history, and is a former member of the White House Historical Association.
Her presentation included a PowerPoint featuring photos of some of the most well-known rooms in the White House, including the Oval Office, Lincoln Bedroom, Cabinet Room, Map Room, Treaty Room, and a host of rooms color-coded to their primary colors: the Blue Room, the Yellow Room, the Red Room . . . well, you get the picture.
Luers provided several anecdotes about the White House and its occupants.
"Lincoln never actually slept in the Lincoln Bedroom. He used it as an office," said Luers, who also disclosed an interesting take by then-President Ronald Reagan about office space.
"There is a smaller office off the Oval Office," Luers said. "One of Reagan's aides asked if the President would be using that office. Reagan said no – 'I spent all of my life trying to get into this room [the Oval Office]. Why would I want to use that room?' "
Luers also provided attendees with a keepsake timeline featuring some of the White House's most interesting tidbits. Those highlights included:
- The original White House, completed in 1800, cost $232,372 to build. The cost to rebuild it after it was burned down by the British in the War of 1812 was $236,490 – and the cost for a total renovation between 1948 to 1952 was $5,761,000.
- The White House received running water in 1833, central heating in 1837, gas lighting to replace candles and oil lamps in 1848, and hot water piped into the living quarters in 1853.
- The White House's first telephone line was installed in 1877 and electric wiring was installed in 1891.
Luers' presentation highlighted other interesting facts and anecdotes:
- President Franklin Roosevelt basically developed the Map Room out of World War II-era jealousy. Shortly after Great Britain Prime Minister Winston Churchill came to a White House meeting with a set of maps to track the Allies' progress, Roosevelt set up the Map Room to provide himself with that same option.
- The Resolute Desk – built from the oak timbers of the British Arctic exploration ship HMS Resolute, was given by Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880. It's had many locations in addition to the Oval Office, including the Green Room, the President's Study, the Broadcast Room, and the Treaty Room.
- The State Dining Room mantel includes a blessing given by John Adams, the first president to reside in the White House: "I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."
If you are interested in becoming a GILL member, or would like more information about GILL, contact Matia Vanderbilt at matia.vanderbilt@garrettcollege.edu or 301.387.3781.
