Blog Moved To Website

Hello Readers of the First White House Blog,
Our blog has moved to our web page, www.firstwhitehouse.org. There you will find several years worth of blogs archived. We hope you will browse through them and look at all our cool new stuff as well.
We are very proud of our website. We will be blogging there from time to time and posting pictures and articles about what is going on down at the FWH.


Please come visit us in person, but if not convenient, then please visit our website and Facebook page too!!!
All the best,
Anne and the gang at the First White House of the Confederacy

News from First White House of Confederacy

Hello Bloggers,

Our big news is that we have a new Regent for the First White House of the Confederacy here in Montgomery Alabama, across from the Alabama State Capitol. Her name is Seibels Marshall.

 Seibels was installed as the seventh Regent of the White House Association of Alabama on October 28, 2015, at our annual fall meeting,  and she and her new Board are doing a splendid job for us.

Last week we celebrated our annual Robert E. Lee Birthday party at the First White House. Commander Bill Rambo, Director of the Confederate Memorial Park in Marbury AL was our guest speaker. He told us in detail about the different horses owned by Robert E. Lee.

Being an avid horseman himself, Mr. Rambo was able to share what color the horses were, sorrel, roam, etc. and it was a unique presentation. Of course we all remember Traveler, but not so much the other horses Lee acquired during the war and before. Thanks to him for sharing with us.

Birthday cake was served and everyone had an enjoyable time. We appreciate so much the media coverage we received on channel 12 and channel 8 news.

Update On First White House of Confederacy

We are having our usual busy summer at the First White House. We have had lots of visitors including two groups of International Students from Maxwell Air Force Base and people from many different States as well as right here in Montgomery.

We are making progress on the repairs upstairs. We have finished work in three upstairs bedrooms, the nursery, and the Relic Room. Next week we will move furniture back into Mrs. Davis's New York Bedroom and begin repairing the ceiling in the upstairs hall and do more painting there. And after that we will begin painting downstairs.

The outside of the House has been washed down and the outside driveway, sidewalk, brick wall and fence have all been pressure washed. The City has repainted the yellow curb markers. Everything just looks beautiful. The grass and plantings look great too. In short, the House looks loved and cared for.

It is so important for us to put our best foot forward at all times, wanting our tourists to have an enjoyable experience and for them to feel the ambience of this historical significance and importance of our Museum.

Please come and visit us if you have not been in a long time. We are eager to welcome you!

Fundraiser Tonight For First White House

The bi-annual fundraiser reception for the artifacts and relics in the First White House of the Confederacy will be tonight at the Alabama State Archives from 5:30 - 7:30. We are expecting 100 people and refreshments will be served.


Our speaker is S. Waite Rawls, III, Co-CEO of the American Civil War Museum which includes the Museum of the Confederacy and the Second White House. Waite is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and received his MBA and JD from the University of Virginia.


He joined the Franklin Civil War roundtable at age 9, an extraordinary feat as their age limit at the time was 18! I will tell you the story some time of how that came about...Waite is personable and will be speaking about the Second White House, which should be of great interest to our guests tonight.


We hope to raise much needed funds for the First White House as there is always much to do to keep our Museum House and its contents in mint condition. We hope if you are reading this, that you will plan a trip to Montgomery soon to visit the First White House. You will be warmly welcomed.


And of course, if you are in the vicinity, please join us tonight for what promises to be a delightful evening, weather wise and with great conviviality.

Regents of the White House Association of Alabama

There have been six Regents of the White House Association since  its inception in 1900, not counting Mrs. Jefferson Davis who was Queen Regent and remains so in perpetuity. Mrs. Davis's long-time family friend, Mrs. Jesse Drew Beale (Carrie Phelan Beale) was our first Regent. She served from 1900 to 1906, followed by Mrs. Isaac Ross from 1906 to 1919 and  Mrs.. Chappell Cory from 1919 to 1951. 


Mrs.. Fleming Rowell served as Regent from 1951 to 1980, and Mrs. John H. Napier, III was Regent from 1980 to 2009.  She now holds the title of Honorary Regent for Life. Anne Tidmore is the current Regent, having served from 2009 until the current time.


 All five of the past Regents have pictures hanging on the wall to the left as you enter the front hall. In addition Mrs. Cory's portrait hangs in the front hall on the right as you come in, and Mrs. Beale's hangs upstairs in the New York bedroom


Come and see us and enjoy the ambience of this very old historic house.

Upcoming Fundraiser For The First White House

The White House Association of Alabama is hosting a Reception on May 7, from 5:30 - 7:30 at the Alabama Department of Archives, with the proceeds to benefit the artifacts and collection in the First White House.


Our guest speaker will be S. Waite Rawls, III, Director of the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia. He will be speaking on the Second White House - Then and Now.


I know it will be a wonderful evening and we hope to have a large and enthusiastic crowd to enjoy the event and to hear Waite. There is no set admission price, but guests are encouraged to make a donation to the First White House of the Confederacy.


As a friend of mine once said: "If you come, bring; if you can't come, send"!!!

Arkansas Proposes Ending R.E. Lee Birthday

In the Montgomery Advertiser, Thursday, January 22, 2015, I read an article by Norman Merchant of the Associated Press saying that two Arkansas legislators had introduced a bill ending the holiday commemorating the birth of Robert E. Lee.

According to the article, Arkansas has recognized Lee's birthday since the 1940s and State lawmakers voted to recognize Martin Luther King's birthday in 1983. Two years later the State of Arkansas combined the celebration of King and Lee.

Norman Merchant reports that the Arkansas Governor, Asa Hutchinson had not decided whether to support the proposal, as of this past Wednesday

Alabama and Mississippi are the other two states to jointly celebrate King and Lee's birthdays on the third Monday in January. As of now, no bills have been filed in either of these two states to change the holiday.

In Virginia, Robert E. Lee's native State,  there is a separate holiday for Robert E. Lee. The Arkansas legislator does not envision doing that in Arkansas. As my Mother would say, I supposed he proposes to "let the cat die" on that one. Isn't it a shame that "political correctness" has become a phobia.