Washington DC has long been a destination for student travel tours and high school field trips. Youth attending these educational trips learn about the government and its processes, the role of the country??s leaders and the richness of American History through the exploration of politics, arts, architecture, science, technology and law. As the end of the year approaches and the American people prepare for the inauguration of the 44th president Barack Obama, students and teachers in classrooms across the country are watching as Washington DC becomes an even bigger part of black history. In 2009 student travel tours of the White House will have new meaning for Americans and especially for the youth of our nation.
The Historical Role of African Americans at the White House
African Americans have played major roles at the White House since building first started in 1790. According an article in the International Herald Tribune on November 10, 2008 entitled “WHITE HOUSES PAST The underside of the welcome mat” by Gardener Harris. “The house itself was built by crews of black laborers, both slave and free. In 1801, a year after it opened, Thomas Jefferson brought nearly a dozen slaves from Monticello, and slaves would constitute much of the house’s staff until the death in 1850 of Zachary Taylor, the last slaveholder to be president.”
From the very beginning African Americans have been instrumental in the daily functions of the White House and the presidents and families living there.
Historically presidents and first ladies have been criticized for opening the White House to influential African American people. President Lincoln is the first president on record to invite a black caller to the White House. Frederick Douglass visited Lincoln three times. One of Mary Todd Lincoln’s closest friends was former slave and dressmaker Elizabeth Keckley. Although the Lincoln’s invited African American singer and entertainers none were invited to stay for meals. First ladies Lou Hoover and Eleanor Roosevelt were also criticized for their openness to African Americans at the White House.
According to Harris’ article the first African Americans to be invited to sleep at the White House were Sammy Davis Jr. and his wife Altovise in 1973 by then president Richard Nixon. The White House has long been a part of black history and will now play a new role, a role many Americans have hoped for throughout generations.
Dreaming of Change: Why the New Presidency is a Monumental Event in American History
In the last eight years President Bush has honored and celebrated a variety of Black History figures. He met Coretta Scott King during his presidency and accepted a painting of Martin Luther King Jr. that now hangs in the White House. He also participated in the Tuskegee Airmen Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Recently in June of 2008 President Bush celebrated African American history by honoring Black Music Month and holding a social dinner in honor of American Jazz in the East Room of the White House. It is true that the appointments of Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell were important moments in black history for Bush’s administration.
The election of Barack Obama signifies the dawn of a new day in black history because the first ever African American president and first family will move into the White House in January of 2009.
John Stauffer, author of Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, is quoted in the International Herald Tribune article by Gardner Harris as saying, “The racial history of the White House is a wonderful symbol of the racial history of the nation as a whole.”
Student travel tours planned in the future will have a different tone now that an African American man has been elected to the highest office in the country. A visit to the White House will be an excellent place to begin a dialogue about Black History and the role of civil rights in American history.
How Student Travel Tours of the White House Can Celebrate Black History
Black history and the civil rights struggle for African American equality is an important part of learning and understanding the overall history of the United States. Student travel tours of the White House will now have an even longer lasting affect on the youth of today since American history has been forever changed by the election of an African American president. Taking students to the White House and discussing its history now makes the presidential residence a more powerful story of the fight for black equality and the achievements Americans have made as a country.