• Abigail Adams
    Gilbert Stuart
    official portrait
    This portrait of Abigail Adams was done by Gilbert Stuart, who was one of the most well-known portrait artists of the time. She was the wife of President John Adams and the mother of President John Quincy Adams. She traveled to Europe with her husband as he served the new United States in France and Great Britain. Although possessed of no formal education, Abigail was an avid reader and took charge of her children's education when it was interrupted by the Revolutionary War. Despite her failing health, she was the first First Lady to preside over the White House in Washington, D.C.
  • Abigail Smith Adams
    Unknown
    portrait
    silhouette
    This ink silhouette on paper of First Lady Abigail Adams by an unknown artist was completed circa 1810. Inscribed on the lower right is "Mrs. Adams." Abigail Adams was first lady when her husband John Adams served as president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Their family was the first to live in the White House, which was ready for occupancy in 1800, toward the end of his term in office.
  • Abigail Adams
    Bureau of National Literature and Art
    portrait
    First Family
    This engraving is of First Lady Abigail Adams and was copyrighted by the Bureau of National Literature and Art in 1903. The engraving displays Mrs. Adams in a dress and bonnet facing right. She was first lady while her husband John Adams served as president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Their family was the first to live in the White House, which was ready for occupancy in 1800, toward the end of his term in office.
  • Abigail Adams Supervising the Hanging of the Wash in the East Room
    Gordon Phillips
    First Family
    East Room
    This oil on canvas painting was created by Gordon Phillips in 1966. It depicts First Lady Abigail Adams and her granddaughter, Susanna, watching a servant hang laundry in the unfinished East Room. When President John Adams and his family moved into the White House in 1800, many of the rooms and hallways were incomplete. The East Room could not be used as a place to host receptions, so Mrs. Adams used it to dry laundry. Susanna was the daughter of Charles Adams, the President and First Lady's second son and younger brother to future president John Quincy Adams.
  • John Adams
    H. H. Houston
    portrait
    This stipple engraving of John Adams was created by H. H. Houston circa 1797. Houston's engraving was influenced by a previous portrait of President Adams by William Joseph Williams. The text below the image reads, "His Excellency John Adams President of the United States of America/Respectfully Dedicated to the Lovers of their Country and Firm Supporters of its Constitution." John Adams served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Prior to his presidency, Adams had an esteemed career, serving as vice president to George Washington and as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses.