Letter from Douglas Orr to Congressman Sam Rayburn

COMMISSION ON RENOVATION OF THE EXECUTIVE MANSION THE WHITE HOUSE SENATOR KENNETH MCKELLAR, Chairman MR. DOUGLAS W. ORR, Vice-Chairman Washington 25, D. C. SENATOR EDWARD MARTIN REPRESENTATIVE LOUIS c. RABAUT July 3, 1950 REPRESENTATIVE FRANK B. KEEFE MR. RICHARD E. DOUGHERTY MAJ. GEN. GLEN E. EDGERTON Executive Director to 'NATIONAL SERVICE ARCHIVES AND RECORDS Dear Mr. Speaker: CONTINUED This is the second report submitted in compliance with Public Law 377, 8lst Congress, lst Session, which empowered the Commission, with the approval of the President, "to determine the details of and to execute a suitable plan for the preservation or other appropriate dispo- si tion of all the materials removed from the Executive Mansion in con- nection with the renovation thereof and consistent with their symbolical value and without commercial exploitation: Provided, That report shall be made to the Congress of action taken under this authority on January 3, 1950, and every six months thereafter until the final report is submitted." Since the submission of the first report on January 3, 1950, the Commission has adopted, on January 6, 1950, a plan which was approved by the President on February 17, 1950. A copy of the plan is attached. The plan provides for the storage and care of all material removed from the building and for the disposition of the material which will not be re-used in the building, in four general classifications, as follows: Class I - Important articles or assemblies which will retain their identities after renoval, such as a mantel or a complete ornament, and which have intrinsie as well as historical value. Class II - Usable building material of considerable practical value, including radiators, electrical equipment, pipe and structural steel, with little or no sentimental value and not readily identifiable as coming from the White House. Class III - Pieces of durable material, such as timbers, bricks, facing stones, and panelling, of some possible value for practical use but of principal value on account of their association with the White House. Class IV - Disintegrated, broken, or perishable material. In respect to material of Class III the plan provides only for temporary disposal and care pending subsequent determination of the ulti- mate disposition which it is intended to prescribe in a supplement to the plan.