Guest Program
IN TRIBUTE TO
JACKIE
Monday, October 23
9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Cost: $65 per person
In tribute to one of the most
revered first ladies of our nation, enjoy a wonderful tour which
covers the sites in Washington DC that are strongly linked with
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. The tour will begin in the
neighborhood of the White House at Lafayette Square. Here
your tour guide will recount wonderful tales of this historic place
and the first lady’s influence upon it. You will learn of the
inspiring story of Jackie Kennedy's tremendous legacy in the White
House and development of its surrounding neighborhood. Jackie
believed that culture should be a part of life and that the White
House should set the example.
By the time the Kennedys arrived in the White House, Lafayette Square was threatened with destruction. Despite the pleas of the Fine Arts Commission, the General Services Administration planned to destroy the historic homes and replace them with stark government office buildings that would cast the park into an eternal shadow. The buildings were designed and the plan approved – but Jackie was able to step in and intervene. In her ladylike yet determined manner, she managed to redesign and relocate the new buildings and save such historic locales as: the Blair House, the Decatur House, the John Hay and Henry Adams homes (the Hay Adams Hotel), St. John's Church (The Church of Presidents), the Dolley Madison House (the Church Chancery), and the Renwick Gallery of Art which now sits on Independence Ave along the other Smithsonian Galleries.
Next, you will visit Jackie's
favorite part of Washington - the neighborhood of Georgetown.
John and Jackie lived in four different houses in Georgetown, and
Jackie returned there to live after she left the White House. Your
guide will show you her homes, her favorite church, her mother's
house and Georgetown University where she took French lessons. While
in Georgetown, you will stop at one of the city’s most gorgeous
hotels for tea.
From here, you will stop at the First Ladies exhibition at the American History Museum. Here the story of the varying roles of the First Ladies is told - and Jackie Kennedy is prominently featured. From hostess to cultural advocate to role model to mourner, Jackie Kennedy fulfilled her responsibilities superbly. Here you will see her Inaugural Ball gown and other style-setting ensembles and accessories, as well as photographic displays that beautifully remind us of the Kennedy years.
Finally, you will journey to Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington was considered a favorite retreat of the President and his wife. They enjoyed walking through the pastoral, yet significant setting, communing with heroes of our history and admiring the spectacular view of Washington. You will visit the graves of Jackie, President John F. Kennedy and other family members on the hillside below Arlington House. Here John Kennedy stood, overlooked the city, and commented "that's a view I could live with forever!"
HILLWOOD MUSEUM AND GARDENS
Tuesday, October 24
9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Cost: $65 per person
Join us as we
visit Hillwood, Marjorie Merriweather Post's elaborate
twenty-five acre estate and gardens. The estate has been closed for
a number of years and has undergone a multi-million dollar
renovation. It was from her father that Mrs. Post inherited the
Postum Cereal Company, which she later expanded into the General
Foods Corporation. These lucrative business interests allowed Mrs.
Post to collect outstanding French decorative arts in the 1920s,
beginning a lifelong passion. Currently, Hillwood contains one of
the most significant collections of Russian decorative arts
outside the Russian Federation, as well as eighteenth century
French furniture, tapestries and object d'art. At Hillwood
you will tour the home, accompanied by an expert on the collection.
Mrs. Post
intended her collection of fine and decorative arts to be exhibited
and enjoyed within the environment of her estate. The formal and
informal gardens that surround the mansion were designed by leading
landscape architects and are maintained to provide an outdoor
setting that parallels the style and feeling of the interior of the
mansion.
The magnificent grounds include a Japanese garden complete with a
foot bridge and a stream; a French garden paved with stone and a
tiny canal; a pet cemetery guarded by stone poodles; a Russian
"dacha" or cottage; a lodge housing a beautiful display of Mrs.
Post's vast collection of American Indian artifacts; the C. W. Post
Wing, filled with turn of the century American art and furniture,
and, of course, a beautiful rose garden.
After you have wandered in the beautiful gardens, you will enjoy a
delightful afternoon tea.