The holiday season is another popular time at the White House. Every Christmas, the official White House Tree in the Blue Room is a favorite for all visitors. During the 1999 holidays, the President and Mrs. Clinton chose Treasures at the White House as the theme. Early American craftsmen designed and created ornaments replicating objects and scenes from history, dollmakers honored our forefathers and contemporary heroes with dolls made in their images and tinsmiths hand-forged ornaments indicative of the holiday trade. Many of the treasures displayed throughout the White House this past season were projects of the Save America�s Treasures program, a public private partnership initiated by Mrs. Clinton between the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to identify and rescue enduring symbols of our heritage. The program�s contributions this year included models of the Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn, New York and the Preston Farm in Fort Collins, Colorado. Another cherished part of White House holiday tradition is the annual reading of �Twas the Night Before Christmas. Here the President and First Lady read to students from local public schools.
The First Lady loves art, and she has said that sculpture is one of her favorite art forms. In fact, her first date with President Clinton was in the sculpture garden at Yale University. As First Lady, Mrs. Clinton has worked with the Committee for the Preservation of the White House and the White House Historical Association to bring exhibits of contemporary American sculpture to the White House. In establishing these exhibits, the First Lady wanted to showcase the best of American sculpture, in America�s home, making it accessible to the thousands of people who visit the White House every day.