Bartlett Sher is a Tony Award-winning director who has brought thoughtful, powerful productions to theaters, opera houses, and film. He is the Resident Director at Lincoln Center Theater and one of our greatest storytellers, using the stage to interpret and spotlight stories of American history. He has staged multiple productions at the Kennedy Center, including a tour this summer of his Award-winning adaptation of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill a Mockingbird. Next spring, Sher and writer Aaron Sorkin will debut a revival of the musical Camelot on Broadway. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy said Camelot was JFK's favorite musical, and after his death, the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable came to symbolize the Kennedy administration.

The first White House guidebook was published in 1962 as a collaboration between First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the new White House Historical Association, and the National Geographic Society. A special edition released on July 28th, 2022, Mrs. Kennedy's birthday, marks the 60th anniversary of The White House: An Historic Guide. In this episode, we revisit a conversation between White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin and National Geographic Society's Senior Director of Library and Archives Renee Braden, who shares a special oral history she recorded with Bob Breeden, one of the key people who created the first guide.

Charleston holds hints and clues to the formative years of the ambitious young Irishman James Hoban and his dream to make his mark in the United States. Join Stewart McLaurin, President of the White House Historical Association and architectural historian and preservationist Shea McEnerney as they explore the Southern seaport to uncover the influences and legacy of the architect of the most famous residence in the world.

Mark K. Updegrove shares new historical perspectives on the Kennedy presidency from his recent book, Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency. The author, President and CEO of the LBJ Foundation, and White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin explore the relationship between President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, the assessment of Kennedy among world leaders, and what might have been had the young President lived.

From reflections to a historical lightning round, Stewart McLaurin, President of the White House Historical Association, catches up with the Association's Next-Gen Leaders at the recent Presidential Sites Summit in Dallas. These advocates of White House history and all it represents, share their own experiences with Presidential history and even put Stewart on the spot.

A donation from the Recording Industry Association of America to the Nixon White House, the White House Recording Library was comprised of 2,000 LPs, and overseen by a committee of scholars, journalists, and musicians. The library was then stored away and forgotten. John Chuldenko, the grandson of President Jimmy Carter, recalls hearing stories of the collection and began his search to uncover the lost music. He shares his quest and discovery with White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin.

There is a long history of Scottish influence on the White House, dating back to the Scottish stonemasons that contributed to the construction of the Executive Mansion. Perhaps one of the most unique Scottish connections is through President Abraham Lincoln and famed poet Robert Burns. In this episode, White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin talks with Professor Murray Pittock, Burns historian and professor of literature at the University of Glasgow, and Mr. Ian Houston, President of the Scottish Business Network Americas, about President Abraham Lincoln and his fondness of Robert Burns and Scottish culture throughout his life.

Since 1981, the White House Historical Association has created the Official White House Christmas Ornament. Collecting and gifting these unique ornaments has become a holiday tradition for millions of Americans, and all ornament sales support the mission of the Association. In this episode, White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin talks with the individual who came up with the idea to begin the ornament initiative, Richard Rovsek. After that conversation, Stewart talks with Dave Marquis and Kim Fyfe from ChemArt, the exclusive manufacturer of the ornament since 1981.

Since November 3, 1961, the White House Historical Association has served as the private partner to the White House to enrich, enhance, and promote the history of the Executive Mansion. The Association hosted a gala at The Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in November 2021 to celebrate our 60 year history. In this episode, White House Historical Association president Stewart McLaurin reflects on moments from the Association's 60th Anniversary Gala with segments from the evening's program.

Thousands of people traverse historic Lafayette Park every day to get a glimpse of the White House. The park, right in the heart of the President's Neighborhood, has a long and storied history that is largely unknown to visitors of this historic space. In this episode of the 1600 Sessions podcast, Stewart McLaurin is joined by Hilary West and Royce L. Dickerson, the narrators of the newly installed wayside exhibit markers created by the White House Historical Association in partnership with the National Park Service. West is the Executive Director for Federal Government Relations at JPMorgan Chase and Dickerson is an MBA Candidate at the University of Alabama's Manderson Graduate School of Business.