1 INTRODUCTION

IN JUNE OF 1977 as we drove up the curved driveway toward the Federal-style house known as “Lindenwald” in Kinderhook, N.Y., we noticed that the National Park Service had already begun its renovations. The front porch had been removed, and uniformed Park Service personnel were all about. The home of the eighth President of the United States, Martin Van Buren, “Lindenwald” had been recently purchased by the National Park Service, and plans were underway for an opening in the spring of 1982, a date that seemed in the distant future. The Curator had requested a survey of the scenic wallpaper in the dining hall. As we were to learn later, this wallpaper and a Brussels carpet from the same room were some of the few remaining possessions known to have been in fact placed there by Martin Van Buren.