The White House Renovation Begins, 1949

On December 13, 1949 President Harry Truman decided to renovate the White House—and for good reason. In 1948, First Daughter Margaret, had a piece of her baby grand piano slip through the floor and puncture the ceiling of the Family’s Dining room; the following year, Bess Truman, was hosting a reception in the Blue Room when a huge chandelier suddenly started to sway, while the president was taking a bath upstairs; later, he wondered—what would he have done if it had landed in the middle of a reception for the Daughters of the American Revolution.

An investigation revealed that the building’s ancient superstructure was so unsafe that it needed to be condemned.

That fall, Congress authorized $5.4 million for a complete overhaul of the interior. After the Truman’s moved to the nearby Blair House, fences were installed around the White House, and work commenced on December 13; furniture was moved; certain historic objects were extracted for preservation; destroyed, discarded; sold as souvenirs—or in some cases—transferred to various museums. Eventually, the brand-new steel superstructure was put in place, but much of the detail work was not completed until March of 1952—longer than expected—with cost overruns that had risen to $5.7 Million. By then less than a year remained of the Truman presidency. The completion of the project was a cause for celebration—and regret—because even though the “new” White House was more suited for modern times, it had lost some of its historic charm.

For more information about the White House renovation, the Grateful American Book Prize recommends Robert Klara’s The Hidden White House: Harry Truman and the Reconstruction of America’s Most Famous Residence (2024).

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The Premiere of Lady, Be Good, 1924

On December 1, 1924, one of the major events in the history of American entertainment was the premiere of the play Lady, Be Good. The Broadway production featured music and lyrics by the brothers George and Ira Gershwin. Twenty-six-year-old George was already at the apex of his career; he had just released his iconic Rhapsody in Blue in a concert dubbed “An Experiment in Modern Music” with Paul Whiteman’s band. Eventually he composed many standards of the ‘American Songbook’ until his 1937 death from brain cancer. His older brother, Ira, who was less known, became a significant contributor to their music and stagecraft, which included the beloved 1935 opera Porgy and Bess.

Lady, Be Good, is about siblings Dick and Susie Trevor, who fall on tough times, but come to each other’s rescue through a myriad of financial and personal difficulties. “Fascinating Rhythm” and “Oh, Lady Be Good,” became Jazz Age standards as the show went through 330 Broadway performances, until it closed in September 1925. The cast included Cliff Edwards–“Ukulele Ike,” who had a tremendous influence on American music in the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. And so did the headlining brother-sister duo, Fred, and Adele Astaire. They levitated to stardom from their witty performances, and magnificent dancing honed–since their childhood days in vaudeville. After Adele retired in 1932 to marry and have a family, Fred catapulted into household name-status. In 1937, he worked on another Gershwin film, Shall We Dance—with Ginger Rogers.

For more information about the composers, the Grateful American Book Prize recommends Fascinating Rhythm: The Collaboration of George and Ira Gershwin, by Penelope Hobhouse (1991).

Ed Lengel is an author, a speaker, and a storyteller.

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History Matters is a feature courtesy of the Grateful American Book Prize,
an annual award for high quality, 7th to 9th grade-level books dealing with important moments in history.