A White House historian on Tuesday lamented that President Donald Trump just made her "worst fear come to fruition."
Katherine Jellison, an Ohio University historian and scholar of first ladies, told Politico Magazine that the East Wing destruction will lead to lasting consequences.
“Those of us who do oral histories — interviewing former first ladies, their children, their staff members — a place like the East Wing is a physical structure that can spark those kinds of memories,” Jellison said.
The East Wing has been home to the first lady's office since the 1940s, and its demolition has sparked outrage from Americans at the administration. Now, first lady Melania Trump's office is based in the main building of the White House.
The minute she heard about the president's plans to add the ballroom, it raised concerns for the historian.
“It was my living nightmare last week when I saw those first visual images,” Jellison said.
The area was formerly a terrace that covered an underground bunker during World War II. It was expanded by "the person who still arguably was our most active and activist first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a dynamo, in part because her husband was paralyzed and in a wheelchair, and things were certainly not accessible. So she needed to be someone who was very active and went places that her husband couldn’t go and would report back to him. But also she was motivated by her own desire to change American society."
The erasure of the space, and what could happen to the artifacts and historical items — although the White House says it will work to preserve them — has raised questions.
"I’m very concerned, and everyone I know who studies first ladies and studies architectural history, people who study the history of the presidency, everyone in my orbit, is very concerned that all of this was done so quickly, without consulting with organizations like the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts," she said.
Jellison also called the "secretive nature of this project" troubling, with a bulldozer appearing and a sudden teardown happening as a "dark visual that bothers people."
It also seems to upset people across the political spectrum, she explained.
"I think that is why maybe some people on the political right have been upset, because they just see that as a continuation of the deep state. On the political left, it’s a strong metaphor for the way they’ve always characterized both of Trump’s terms: This guy is tearing down all the norms. We now have a visual metaphor for that," Jellison said.
"Before we were even warned, professional historians and others, we saw bulldozers bringing the place down. Was due diligence done to preserve important records, important artifacts, important objects? We really don’t know. It is my worst fear coming to fruition," she added.
As Melania Trump maintains a low profile, nearly disappearing through the destruction, she has sent a message. It also raises questions about what the future first ladies will do in their roles.
"If we’re talking about metaphors, the fact that there’s not a first lady’s office in the now-absent East Wing sort of speaks to Melania Trump’s current role as first lady, which is largely unseen and unheard," Jellison said.