March 24, 2016
Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this blog article – in honor of Women’s History Month – Gena searches old newspapers to learn more about some of the nation’s First Ladies.
The First Ladies. Some of these presidential spouses, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, remain in the forefront of our minds. They may take a back seat to their husbands in the history books – but they left a lasting impact of their own. But how much do you really know about the women who resided at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, calling the White House their home?
Volumes have been written about these women, but here’s a brief look at just some of the First Ladies and their lives, as gleaned from newspaper articles I found in GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives.
1) They Worked Hard
It should be obvious that being First Lady involves work. In some cases the First Lady has causes she is passionate about that occupy her time. Eleanor Roosevelt is one First Lady that comes to mind when I think of an active First Lady. She was just as busy as her President husband with her travels, service, and writing. It’s no wonder she is such a recognizable First Lady decades after her death. Yes, she is the wife of the only three-term president, but she wrote a daily newspaper column that covered her time as First Lady and beyond. Her “My Day” newspaper column spanned 27 years, and chronicled her life, thoughts, and what was important to her. We get a look at what a First Lady did from those daily missives about her life.
You can read more about “My Day” in the GenealogyBank blog post Eleanor Roosevelt’s ‘My Day’ Newspaper Column: A Public Diary. In addition, search GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives for the “My Day” columns. These provide some wonderful social history for the World War II years.
2) They Knew Their Ancestry
There’s an old saying that if you want your genealogy done, go into politics. While it’s obvious that a sitting President would be the lucky recipient of a family tree, First Ladies have also received information on their pedigree.
In one newspaper article about the ancestry of President and Mrs. Reagan, it is noted that Burke’s Peerage traced their English lines. It appears that Mrs. Reagan learned what most family historians come to realize: that most of our ancestors were plain, ordinary folk. Although Nancy Reagan was “keen on genealogy… she wasn’t very excited about it… Her ancestors were rather lackluster small shopkeepers from Northern England.”
But an earlier newspaper article reported that Nancy Reagan had a royal line and was 10th cousins with Princess Diana, something she shared with 30 million Americans who are also distantly related to the English princess. So it would seem Nancy Reagan’s family history isn’t so ordinary after all.
3) They Belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)
Probably not surprisingly, many First Ladies can trace their families back to a Revolutionary War patriot. Eleanor Roosevelt famously quit the Daughters of the American Revolution over their refusal to allow African American singer Marian Anderson to perform in Constitution Hall, and many other presidential spouses were members of the organization or were honored by the group.
First Ladies who were DAR members include Julia Dent Grant, Caroline Scott Harrison, Mamie Eisenhower, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush and Laura Welch Bush.
In this newspaper article about Mamie Eisenhower’s membership, it is noted at the end that her husband was a member of the SAR (Sons of the American Revolution).
4) They Were Impressive in Their Own Right
Lou Hoover, wife of 31st president of the United States Herbert Hoover, is one First Lady that I wasn’t as aware of. Before Eleanor Roosevelt, Lou Hoover was doing some of the very same progressive activities and was the epitome of the early 20th century modern woman. Lou’s accomplishments include being the first woman to graduate with a geology degree from Stanford University, becoming one of the only female geologists in the United States. At the turn of the 20th century she and her new husband lived in China where he worked as a mining engineer, at times aided by Lou.
I like this description of her using a rock analogy:
Somehow it seems appropriate that she “took” geology in college. Perhaps I’m stretching a figure of speech when I say that she reminds me of geology itself. She is smiling and fruitful and full of pleasantness on the surface, and underneath as steady and strong as granite, with stratum on stratum of strong principles usually unguessed by her friends.
Lou’s other accomplishments included her ability to speak Chinese and a Latin translation (with Herbert Hoover) of Agricola’s De Re Metallica, a 16th-century encyclopedia of mining and metallurgy.
5) They Wrote Books
First Ladies, like their husbands, are prolific. And in some cases, their books do better than their presidential counterparts. We’ve already discussed Eleanor Roosevelt’s newspaper articles, but did you know that the first First Lady to see a memoir published was Helen Taft in 1914? Every presidential wife since Lady Bird Johnson has written a book.*
This review of Helen Taft’s Recollections of Full Years reported that the book:
…will be found thoroughly enjoyable by all. The title chosen is particularly appropriate and suggestive, as one glance at the chapter headings shows the breadth of interest of the book. Mrs. Taft tells the story of her life simply and attractively from her childhood in Cincinnati to the time she left the White House.
In some cases presidential wives wrote more than one book. Some later examples include Rosalynn Carter who wrote two memoirs, First Lady from Plains and Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life. While being interviewed for her first book tour, she said of life in the White House:
I LOVE this city… I loved living here and being so close to the seat of power, being a part of the political system. When you watched television you knew the people involved, you were familiar with both sides of the issues.
A list of First Lady autobiographies can be found on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_autobiographies_by_First_Ladies_of_the_United_States.
Do You Have Presidential Family Ties?
Who’s your favorite First Lady? What did she accomplish? Is there a presidential couple in your family tree? Let us know in the comments below.
Genealogy Tip: Researching this article required me to conduct multiple searches that included variations of First Lady names. Remember your female ancestor may have been known as Mrs. Husband’s Name and not by her given name while married. So with Helen Taft I searched on her name but also on Mrs. William H. Taft or Mrs. Wm H. Taft. Searching on name variations can make a big difference when looking for newspaper articles.
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* Grier, Peter. “Michelle Obama back on book tour. How successful are first lady authors?” Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/Decoder/2013/0507/Michelle-Obama-back-on-book-tour.-How-successful-are-first-lady-authors
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