I will long treasure my vintage Sept. 1961 issue of Life magazine detailing Jacqueline Kennedy’s restoration of the White House. Working with curator Lorainne Pearce, Jackie searched each of the historic home’s 54 rooms and 16 baths for antiques needing to be catalogued and restored. Several of the pieces you see her holding in these photos date back to the presidencies of Teddy Roosevelt, John Quincy Adams, and James Monroe (to name a few!). She even unearthed and used Lincoln’s lavender-bordered dinner plates (“despite some chips and cracks”). Always detail-oriented, she wanted younger generations visiting the mansion “to see what a fire in the fireplace and pretty flowers can do for a house.” Of course, only Jackie could look this chic while moving furniture!
(images via Life magazine)
