Category Eleanor Roosevelt

On the 75th Anniversary of the Washington Visit by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth

In Canada, the 75th anniversary of the Royal visit to North America is being honored this year with special commemorative coins and whiskey. In the United States, there has been little historical account of the jammed-packed two days in the District of Columbia and northern Virginia during the inaugural trip to North America of the […]

The Second World War as Seen in the Embassy Landscape

The transformation of Washington during the Second World War can be seen in structural changes at the British Embassy. Quickly assembled wartime additions to the Lutyens Chancery were erected in 1940. When those proved inadequate for the burgeoning staff’s needs, property was leased throughout the city and land bordering the Embassy’s service road and Observatory […]

Moving Images: The Royal Visit, British Embassy and Lindsay-Era Washington

The visit of the King and Queen to the nation’s capital in early June of 1939 was all about images, pageantry and symbolism. The first two videos here demonstrate the careful choreography of the event while offering rare, surviving and openly available views to the British Embassy gardens at the time. The other two films […]

Lindsay’s Plantings, Parties & Good Press

The design of the plantings that Elizabeth Lindsay did for the British Embassy gardens followed the tradition of Gertrude Jekyll. From extant, available photographs, plants were used as strong design elements, providing form, texture, and depth to the landscape with a predominate palette of greens. Lady Lindsay made the rose garden, in the largest terrace […]