Lorraine Waxman Pearce

Lorraine Waxman Pearce, sometimes known as Lorraine Pearce, (April 14, 1934 – March 14, 2017) was a decorative arts scholar and the inaugural White House art curator, key to the Kennedy restoration of the White House.^[1][2]

Lorraine Waxman Pearce in the 1960s

Subsequent to her hiring by Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961,^[3] Pearce wrote the first guide that covered the White House's historic furnishings, which included George Washington's mirror, a chair from Lincoln's bedroom, a sofa attributed to Dolley Madison and items from John Tyler.^[1][4]

Pearce was a 1955 graduate of City College of New York and received her master's in early American culture from the Winterthur Program, a partnership between the Winterthur Museum and the University of Delaware.^[5][6] While at Winterthur where she worked as a registrar,^[7] she became known for her scholarship on the French impact on American arts.^[8] Henry Francis du Pont, the museum founder and chairman of the White House Fine Arts Committee, recommended Pearce for the curator role.^[1]

Pearce resigned as curator in 1962 and spent much of the rest of her life in arts education.^[3][1][5]