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"Goo
Goo Eyes" (1900) Library of Congress
Social dancing was especially enjoyed during the
terms of Benjamin Harrison and William McKinley
and its popularity within the White House reflected
the changing times. While President Harrison enjoyed
a form of waltz, known as "The German,"
McKinley at his Valentine’s Day Dance preferred
the new two-step, such as "Goo-Goo Eyes,"
which illustrated the merging of ragtime and social
dance as the century turned. But many distinguished
performers appeared at the White House at this time,
too. They included the great soprano "Black
Patti" (Sissieretta Jones); the violinist,
Joseph Douglass, grandson of orator and statesman,
Frederick Douglass; and the composer and cellist,
Ernest Lent, whose Piano Trio in B Major was probably
the earliest serious chamber music performed at
the White House. The Lent ensemble played for President
and Mrs. McKinley and seventy guests after a dinner
for the Supreme Court in 1898, thus setting the
stage for the state dinner/musicale pattern that
would become the focal point for modern entertaining
at the White House.
Elise
Kirk, Musical Highlights from the White House,
81-83.
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