East Room History

Dinner in the East Room in 1999

The East Room in 1992, looking northeast (HABS)

The East Room in 1992, looking southwest (HABS)

Doors to the East Wing terrace in 1992, looking east (HABS)

Ronald Reagan cuts in on Frank Sinatra at the president's 70th birthday party in 1981 (Reagan Library - Mike Evans)

The room in 1975 (White House Historical Association)

The room in 1972 (White House Historical Association)

Luci Johnson tries to cut the cake at her wedding reception (National Geographic)

New gold curtains - 1965

Native American dancers in 1965 (Life)

Model of the second, more elaborate temporary theater created for Jackie Kennedy, around 1963 (New York Public Library)

Former President Harry Truman playing piano at a dinner in his honor in 1961 (NARA - Kennedy Library - Cecil Stoughton)

The Kennedy Cabinet is sworn in during an East Room ceremony in 1961 (Kennedy Library)

The East Room around 1957 (Eisenhower Library)

The East Room in 1952, after the Truman reconstruction (Truman Library - Abbie Rowe)

The East Room in 1949, with celing supports in preparation for demolition (Life)

The East Room, circa 1946, before the Truman reconstruction (Library of Congess - Horydczak)

The East Room, circa 1946, before the Truman reconstruction (Library of Congress - Horydczak)

Hoover's 1929 meeting of nations that ratified the Treaty for the Renunciation of War (Library of Congress)

The East Room around 1913 (Library of Congress)

The East Room around 1911 (Library of Congress)

The East Room in 1909 (Library of Congress)

The East Room in 1906, prepared for the wedding of Alice Roosevelt (Library of Congress)

Hand-tinted photo of the East Room, circa 1904, after the Roosevelt renovation (Library of Congress)

Hand-tinted photo of the East Room in 1904, during the Theodore Roosevelt administration (Library of Congress)

The East Room around 1902, with the old carpet reinstalled after the renovation (Library of Congress)

The McKinley era, just before the Theodore Roosevelt renovation in 1902 (Library of Congress)

Hand-tinted photo of the East Room around 1900 [stereo] (New York Public Library)

The East Room, circa 1898

The East Room, circa 1894, during the Benjamin Harrison administration (Benjamin Harrison Home)

The East Room with extra electric lights in 1893 (Library of Congress)

The East Room after the Tiffany redecorating, around 1883

Ceiling detail, around 1883

Hand-tinted etching of the East Room around 1881 (Library of Congress)

The East Room, around 1880 (New York Public Library)

The East Room, around 1878 (White House Historical Association)

Grant's Gilded Age East Room, around 1874 [stereo] (New York Public Library)

New carpet before the ceiling and chandeliers were changed, circa 1872 (New York Public Library)

The Johnson East Room, circa 1869 (New York Public Library)

Victorian decor of the East Room, circa 1868 (Library of Congress)

Close up of the chandeliers (Library of Congress)

Johnson's Victorian decor of the East Room, circa 1866 [stereo] (New York Public Library)

Etching of Abraham Lincoln's last reception in 1865 (Library of Congress)

Lincoln-era East Room, around 1862 (Library of Congress)

Union troops quartered in the room in 1861 (White House)

Etching of President Buchanan meeting diplomats from Japan (New York Public Library)

Etching of the early East Room, around 1858 (White House)

Etching of the early East Room in 1850