Size: Less than one linear foot
Access: Open
Copyright: Louis Jochum has donated to the U.S. government his copyright interest in all writings in this collection, or in any other collection of papers in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration. Documents created by U.S. government employees in the course of their official duties are also in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Erin Blechle (2005) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.

The papers of Peggy Watts (also known as Marguerite Watts Jochum) contain information about the renovation of the White House during the Truman administration. Watts and her colleague Charles Haight—both employees of B. Altman and Company, a department store in New York—were in charge of interior decoration and design at the White House during the renovation, with most of their work at the mansion occurring in 1951-1952. The collection includes correspondence, handwritten notes, printed materials, photographs, and personal memorabilia.

The papers are arranged in one series, a Subject File. They include letters to Watts from persons who worked with her on the renovation, such as J. B. West (Usher and later Chief Usher at the White House) and William Adams Delano (who served as a consulting architect on the project). Photographs of Watts and of other persons connected with the renovation are also included in the collection. Some of these photographs bear inscriptions to Watts from Howell G. Crim, Chief Usher at the White House during the renovation. The memorabilia in the collection includes samples of fabric used in decorating some of the rooms at the White House.

The collection also contains printed articles from newspapers and magazines concerning the Presidency and the history of the White House. A few of the articles relate to Watts herself, her role in the renovation, and her employer, B. Altman and Company. Among the other items in the collection is a White House press release concerning the interior decoration of the mansion, and a very thorough account of the interior design of the White House before the renovation, entitled “A Preliminary Handbook of Historical Information Concerning the White House and Its Furnishings.” This handbook provides detailed information about the art and fixtures in each room of the mansion.

More information about the renovation of the White House can be found in the Harry S. Truman Papers: President’s Secretary’s Files: White House File.

SUBJECT FILE, c. 1946-1996

Box 1

• “A Preliminary Handbook of Historical Information Concerning the White House and Its Furnishings"
• Commission on Renovation of the Executive Mansion
• Correspondence and Handwritten Notes
• Memorabilia
• Photographs
• Press Release
• Printed Materials
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  [2 of 2]
• South Portico of the White House—Historical Information

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