The babes of the White House / photographed by Miss Johnston, Washington, D.C.

Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833 – March 13, 1901) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 23rd President of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was the grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison. Before ascending to the presidency, Harrison established himself as a prominent local attorney, Presbyterian church leader, and politician in Indiana. During the American Civil War, he served the Union as a colonel and later a brevet brigadier general. He was later elected to the U.S. Senate by the Indiana legislature. A Republican, Harrison was elected to the presidency in 1888, defeating the Democratic incumbent Grover Cleveland after conducting one of the first "front-porch" campaigns by delivering short speeches to delegations that visited him in Indianapolis. "We Americans have no commission from God to police the world."

Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) was an American photographer who is best known for her pioneering work in the field of architectural and landscape photography. She was born in Grafton, West Virginia, and after studying art and photography in Paris, she returned to the United States and established herself as a successful photographer. Johnston's work focused primarily on architecture, and she photographed many of the most significant buildings and structures of her time. She also photographed landscapes, gardens, and people, and her work often appeared in magazines such as House Beautiful, Ladies' Home Journal, and Country Life. One of Johnston's most notable projects was her documentation of historic architecture in the American South. In 1933, she was commissioned by the Carnegie Corporation to photograph historic homes and buildings in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina. This work resulted in a series of photographs that are now housed in the Library of Congress. Throughout her career, Johnston was also an advocate for women in photography, and she worked to promote the work of other women photographers. She was a founding member of the Women's Professional Photographers' Association and the Photo-Secession, a group of photographers who sought to elevate photography as an art form.