Skip to content. Meet the White House Chandelier Cleaner for 7 Presidents Some of the chandeliers have more than 7, individual pieces. Stevens got his nickname because he wore a belt buckle that said "Steve. The News4 Rundown 2 hours ago. Back to Article. Close Menu. Search for:. Although they remain relatively invisible to the general public, the individuals who work at the White House constitute a highly distinctive occupational culture in an exceptional work environment.
Like the members of other occupational groups, they share their own particular skills, specialized knowledge, and codes of behavior that not only distinguish them from other occupational groups, but that also meet their needs as a community. Accordingly, curators and researchers at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage—as part of our longstanding interests in folk groups—have studied this particular occupational group since the early s.
The results have included a Folklife Festival program and thirty-minute documentary film on White House workers in , an exhibition that traveled to presidential libraries in , a second exhibition that traveled to museums from to , and a DVD titled White House Workers: Traditions and Memories. Only those who had already retired from active service at the White House could be interviewed.
Presidents led us to Stewart Stevens Sr. We visited Stevens at his home earlier this year to learn more about his fascinating career. Born in March in the suburbs of Washington, D. He trained as a military police officer and saw service at several army bases in the United States, as well as in Heidelberg, Germany.
After returning home, he looked for work in D. Instead, Stevens and his brother started a window-washing business that brought them inside many federal government buildings. While washing windows one day inside the New Executive Office Building, Stevens was asked if he might like to wash windows in the White House.
This ensured that the president and his guests could enjoy their meals, conversations, and dancing well into the night. The interior of the East Room was not completed until As a result, early administrations seldom used the unfinished space for entertaining guests.
President Andrew Jackson , who oversaw the finishing of the East Room, ordered several glass chandeliers that burned candles; he later requested that small lard-oil lamps replace the candles because they produced greater illumination for a longer period time.
In , President James K. Polk oversaw the piping of gas lines into the White House, insisting that all State Floor chandeliers harness the new technology. Since more traditional means of illumination—candles, oil, and lard—were often the cause of destructive fires, gas was considered a safer lighting alternative. A black and white photograph of the East Room decorated for Nellie Grant's wedding. In , President Ulysses S. Each chandelier contained 38 globe burners, along with thousands of cut-glass pieces and prism beads.
While the Harrisons permitted the electrical illumination of the White House, both refused to touch any of the round switches, fearing possible electrocution. A black and white photograph of the East Room before a musical performance during the Calvin Coolidge administration, ca.
The globe gasoliers remained in the East Room until the Theodore Roosevelt renovation in Caldwell and Company to supply new lighting fixtures that would complement their Beaux-Arts motif.
These fixtures featured thousands of cut-glass pieces, imitation candles, and were ornamented in glided brass.
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