St. Patrick's Day in the White House.

It was a balmy March day in Washington as the Irish ambassador to the U.S. headed to the White House. He carried a small gift for the president: a box of Irish shamrock in honor of St. Patrick's Day. The year was 1952. The president, Harry Truman, was out of town. So the ambassador, John Joseph Hearne, dropped off the shamrock and went on his way. By doing this one act, Hearne notched the notion of Irish-America to all of America. By 1953, with Dwight Eisenhower in the White House, the low-key shamrock presentation of the previous year began to resemble the ceremony we know today. A gift that had been dropped off was now presented to the president in person. The small box containing a few sprigs of shamrock evolved into a custom-made Waterford crystal bowl full of sprouts, specially flown in for the event. When John F. Kennedy, himself an Irish-American, the media event was full-blown. Interest diminished after his death, but his successor, Lyndon Johnson, gamely kept the tradition alive. The event took on new political significance during Richard Nixon's administration, as "The Troubles" escalated in Northern Ireland. The conflict between Northern Ireland nationalists and British-backed loyalists provoked strong emotions on both sides of the Atlantic. So the Republic of Ireland's annual audience with the U.S. president became an important way to cultivate a strong transatlantic relationship. In the 1970s, the occasion settled into a more routine, minor event on the schedule for Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Carter even delegated the task to his vice president one year, when he was preoccupied with negotiating 1979's Israel-Egypt peace treaty. Ronald Reagan, however, was fond of extolling his Irish roots, so his arrival in the White House helped transform St. Patrick's Day in Washington into a jovial, celebratory, all-day affair. By then, the nation's capital was hosting its own parade, and the shamrock ceremony was soon joined on the schedule by an annual congressional St. Patrick's Day luncheon in the U.S. Capitol, hosted by House Speaker Tip O'Neill. After Reagan, George H.W. Bush accepted the shamrock for four years. But it was Bill Clinton who took the ceremony to a new level. Clinton set a precedent by meeting only with Irish prime ministers, not lower-ranked shamrock-bearers. And he used the occasion to highlight his commitment to helping with the Northern Ireland peace process. He began hosting lavish St. Patrick's Day receptions and inviting Northern Ireland politicians to the party. His efforts helped lead to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, aimed at solving "The Troubles" for good. By the time Clinton left office in 2001, the shamrock ceremony and its ancillary events had such political overtones that George W. Bush deliberately toned down the celebration as a way of signaling his intention to limit his administration's involvement with Northern Ireland. President Obama made clear his commitment to continuing the ritual, calling it "an affirmation of one of the strongest bonds between peoples that exist in the world." Ireland, too, is committed to sustaining the custom. A 2009 official government report on U.S.-Ireland relations cited the importance of the shamrock ceremony: "Over the years these occasions have given Ireland generous access to the president ... access that few other countries of our size enjoy." But after nearly 60 years of St. Patrick's Day ceremonies, what's actually become of all those bowls of shamrock? Ronald Reagan used one of his Waterford bowls to hold jelly beans. Bill Clinton displayed his glassware in the White House.

I hope you've enjoyed the pictures. Barb

Draw the setting!

You can’t draw, you say?  Well…you just might be better than you think you are!  

Go and get a sheet of typing paper, get two—and tape them together. Now you’ll have two blocks of your little imaginary town or ‘real’ town.  Stick figures are not so hard to draw. With a ruler you can draw the middle street just by tracing either side of the utensil.

Don’t tell me you can’t draw a house or other buildings!  Yes, you can!  Take that ruler and trace a line about three inches above the top and bottom of the page from—the middle ruler line.  For my book, Body on the Tracks, I taped 20-25 paper sheets together and had them all around my dining room table. Since it’s a train book, I drew in railroad tracks instead of a road.  Where your buildings are, draw a vertical line down to the sidewalk or street. Do you see? It’s all drawn with a ruler.

How many store fronts do you need? Pencil in the store name or if it’s a neighborhood, the family name. Afterwards, decorate. Get to know if this business or home has flowers. Trees? Swingsets? This may mean children.

Now you’ll meet your characters on their own playing field.  In Body on the Tracks, I placed Victory Gardens along the way and mentioned towns and news about the Zephyrettes and how they assisted the women and children.

I wouldn’t have been able to get the time zones correct or the people in the cars without the use of my drawings.

Now you know what to do and how to get started on getting to know your settings and characters better.

Have fun!

Please share and or leave a message!

Happy writing!

Barb

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Martha and George Washington’s Love Affair

Martha and George Washington's Wedding

January 6, 1759-December 14,1799

Mutual respect and admiration for each other drew Martha Custis and George Washington together as a couple. Martha was newly widowed and a wealthy landowner who didn’t need a husband at the time to survive. Both George and Martha found a trustworthy and charming mate and someone to love.

Martha ordered her finery from London. She ordered brilliant purple shoes and a dress not to ‘extravagant’ since she was still in mourning.

Made of purple silk, these shoes are believed to have been worn by Martha Dandridge Custis during her wedding to George Washington. They not only reflect Martha’s status as a wealthy widow but also her youthful exuberance. (Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association)

This garnet necklace dates to the beginning of Martha’s marriage to George Washington. It was probably part of a shipment of jewelry from London that arrived in 1759. Garnets were common among the jewelry Martha purchased in the 1750s and 1760s, as they were one of the most fashionable of gemstones at the time. (Mount Vernon Ladies' Association)

George renovated Mount Vernon which he’d inherited from a half-brother and sister-in-law who died suddenly.  It’s a beautiful mansion. We saw it a number of years ago and I would love to return to experience another tour of it. It’s absolutely beautiful and right on the Potomac River.  Last summer we took a ferryboat ride on the Potomac and got to the monuments, that was also spectacular.

It’s time for you to visit our nation’s capital and go tour Mount Vernon, the home of the nation’s first First Lady and Father of our Country.  

Many thanks to Mount Vernon for the photos and information.

http://www.mountvernon.org

My website: http://www.barbaraschlichting.com