Documenting the History of the White House Library Fireplace Tiles, 1944–1962

Abstract

The author offers a history of the commemorative decorative ceramic tiles produced for the White House library fireplace in the 1940s and removed in the 1960s. She describes the process of and challenges inherent in documenting the design and manufacture of the tiles and interpreting their meaning. In addition, she explores questions having to do with the tiles’ significance as elements of the historical fabric of the White House and as products of the Mosaic Tile Company of Zanesville, Ohio. Issues having to do with provenance, ownership, and the value of the tiles as museum objects are also covered. [This article is a revision of a paper presented at the “Politics, Power, and Preservation” session at the ARLIS/NA conference held in Washington, DC, in May 2014.]