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]

References

1. Sandomir, Richard (2017-04-07). "Lorraine Pearce Dies at 82; First White House Curator, Hired by the Kennedys". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
2. Abbott, James A.; Rice, Elaine M. (1997-10-09). Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-29242-5.
3. Watson, Robert P. (2012-02-01). Life in the White House: A Social History of the First Family and the President's House. SUNY Press. p. 255. ISBN 978-0-7914-8507-1.
4. Pearce, Lorraine Waxman (1962). The White House: An Historical Guide. White House Historical Association.
5. "LORRAINE PEARCE Obituary (2017) The Washington Post". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
6. "The woman who furnished camelot (Sum 94)". www1.udel.edu. University of Delaware. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
7. "A True Tour de Force". Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library. 2022-02-07. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
8. Waxman, Lorraine; Pearce, Lorraine Waxman (1958). French Influence on American Decorative Arts of the Early Nineteenth Century: The Work of Charles-Honoré Lannuier. University of Delaware.