Table Setting in the Family Dining Room, Lorraine Waxman Pearce Collection
This photograph taken in May 1962, during the John F. Kennedy administration, shows the Family Dining Room furnished with American pieces of the Federal period. The portrait on the right sideboard is of President John Tyler by G. P. A. Healy. This image was featured in the first edition of the White House guidebook.
This photograph is part of the Lorraine Waxman Pearce Collection. Lorraine Waxman Pearce served as the first White House Curator from 1961 to 1962. As curator, she oversaw refurbishment projects, implemented collections policies, and collaborated with First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to write the first White House guidebook—a joint publication of the National Geographic Society and the White House Historical Association. Since its original publication in 1962, “The White House: An Historic Guide” has been revised, updated, and printed for over 60 years.