Who Built the White House?

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

Zoo, National Museum, Postal Museum, Smithsonian, Society & Culture, Art19, National Zoo, Tony Cohn, Natural History, Dc, Exhibits, Museum, American History, Exhibit, History Of The World, African American History And Culture, History, Washington, Air And Space, Pop Culture, The Smithsonian, Sidedoor, Science

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 October 2022

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

"I wake up every morning in a house built by slaves." After Michelle Obama said those words at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, thousands of Americans flooded the White House Historical Association with calls. Who were the enslaved African Americans who built the White House? This led historians from the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and the White House Historical Association on a years-long journey that turned up some interesting answers and even bigger questions.

Guests:

Lina Mann, historian, the White House Historical Association

Mary Elliott, curator of American slavery, Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX, I'm Lizzie Peabody.
0:15.3	It's the Democratic National Convention in 2016.
0:27.8	People from across the nation gather in Philadelphia to choose the Democratic Party's next presidential candidate.
0:33.8	If you were watching on TV, you saw plenty of voting.
0:36.8	14 votes for Senator Bernie Sanders and 45 votes for the first woman president of the United States.
0:45.8	But mostly speeches.
0:47.8	Democracy works, America, but we got to want it.
0:52.8	But even though Barack Obama was president at the time, arguably the most memorable speech of that convention was given by another Obama, then first lady Michelle.
1:04.8	She gave a speech that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
1:08.8	A speech that Vogue magazine said, quote, would go down in history.
1:13.8	But it wasn't just the politics that made her speech resonate with those listening.
1:17.8	It was something else, she said.
1:19.8	I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.
1:29.8	And I watch my daughters.
1:33.8	Two beautiful, intelligent, black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.
1:47.8	It's no secret that much of the White House, the seat of America's highest elected Democratic leader, was built by enslaved African Americans.
1:55.8	But this is not a part of our history that's widely taught in school.
1:59.8	It's a piece of the American story that, frankly, many Americans don't know.
2:04.8	But after Michelle Obama's speech, it became clear. People wanted to know more.
2:10.8	In the days that followed, our phone lines, our email, our internet, our press office, our historians were all inundated.
2:19.8	From the public, the press, people wanting to know the story behind those very compelling words.
2:27.8	This is president of the White House Historical Association, Stuart McLauren.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Smithsonian Institution, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Smithsonian Institution and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.