This document regarding the press preview for the re-opening of the Blue Room was sent by the Office of the First Lady of the United States on May 12, 1972, during the Richard M. Nixon administration. It lists the recipients who would receive a schedule of the press tour, including White House Social Secretary Lucy Winchester, White House Chief Usher Rex Scouten, White House Curator Clement E. Conger, and Constance ("Connie") Stuart, First Lady Pat Nixon's press secretary. During the renovation, the Blue Room was closed from February 19, 1972, to May 15, 1972. The refurbished Blue Room’s style was inspired by the French Bellangé suite of furniture President James Monroe purchased for the room in 1817. The walls were covered with beige wallpaper, featuring an upper frieze with a flower and bowl design, and a lower border of pink flowers, cupids, and Greek figures. Blue curtains hung the length of the room. The room also included a new oval plaster design in the center of the ceiling completed by Herbert John Millard, a wood carver from Roswell, Georgia.

The Blue Room's renovation was part a of larger project initiated by First Lady Pat Nixon to refurbish and renovate the White House's rooms and expand its collection. During her tenure as first lady, Mrs. Nixon acquired 600 paintings and furnishings for the White House Collection, and revamped the Red Room, Green Room, Map Room, and China Room. This document is page 2 of 13 from a compilation of files from the Office of the First Lady of the United States pertaining to the press preview and reception. For the full document, please see 1123254.