Watts, Peggy Papers

Interior Decorator for the Renovation of the White House during the Truman Administration

The papers of Peggy Watts consist of correspondence, printed materials, a press release, and other items pertaining to Watts’s involvement with the redecoration of the White House.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

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.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

c.1913		Born
1951-52		While employed at B. Altman and Company of New York, worked on interior decoration of the White House during its renovation
1961		Married Louis Jochum, retired from B. Altman
1972		Moved to Boca Raton, Florida with husband
c.1998		Died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the age of eighty-three

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

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COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

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.

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

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