A feeling of awe was in the air during the opening reception for Two Windows on the Willard: Photographs by Carol M. Highsmith and Frances Benjamin Johnston. While the featured photography was stunning to see, the buzz of the evening concerned what these images and their subject – The Willard InterContinental Washington – have meant to the community. Everyone agreed on one thing: The work is priceless.
The exhibit, at the American Institute of Architects Headquarters Gallery through Jan. 7, 2007, studies the hotel’s history since it opened at the turn of the 20th century. The Willard, a stone’s throw from The White House, began as part of the District’s crowning glory – a place frequented by presidents, celebrities, renowned artists and innovators, and royalty. The area has seen some hard times, however, and decades of neglect nearly laid the building to waste. It was, by the 1970s, dilapidated and beginning to rot. Inspired greatly by photos Frances Benjamin Johnston had taken during the hotel’s first heyday, the painstaking process of breathing life and luxury into the structure began. Local photographer Carol M. Highsmith documented that process with breathtaking results.
For anyone who remembers how that stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue looked 30 years ago, the Willard’s story hits a tender nerve. “I was distraught,” says Loretta Neumann, vice president of the DC Preservation League, of watching the Willard fall apart back then. To see it thrive again is thrilling, she says, her eyes shining.
The night celebrated the preservation and revival of local history, which is something that, as a few of the photographs show, can easily fall by the wayside. With regard to history, “we’re myopic,” says C. Ford Peatross, curator of architecture, design, and engineering collections for the Library of Congress. He explained that short-sightedness allows our roots to disappear. The Willard’s General Manager Hervé Houdré, who is French, echoed the sentiment, saying, “[Americans] have a great history, but you don’t always know it.”
As the night wound down, guests toasted the impeccable service provided by the legendary hotel’s staff. Champagne glasses were empty, but clusters of people remained to discuss the duty of keeping records, especially of the buildings that have influenced history. Highsmith, who in a grand stroke of generosity has recently committed to donate her life’s artistry to the Library of Congress’ collections, feels proud to be part of this effort. Parts of America are disappearing, she says, and it’s of great importance to catch, and honor, what we can. The exhibit is just that – an honor, an ode to a landmark structure that was once forgotten, but has lived on to inspire future generations.
