Electric lighting was installed in the White House in 1891 during President Benjamin Harrison’s administration. Few people at the time had enough faith in electric lighting to use it exclusively after all its use was barely a decade old. The electrical work at the White House was planned as part of a well-funded project for wiring the State, War & Navy building next door. The Edison company installed a generator for both buildings that was put in the State, War & Navy’s basement, with the wires strung across the lawn and introduced into the White House under the conservatory. The relatively new method of illumination was initially intended to be only a supplement to gaslight currently being used. Wires were buried in the plaster, with round switches installed in each room for turning the current on and off. President Harrison and First Lady Caroline Harrison refused to operate the switches because they feared being shocked and left the operation of the electric lights to Irwin “Ike” Hoover, an electrician who would later become White House Chief Usher.
Photo courtesy of whitehousehistory.org
