Cool Chicks from History

ourpresidents:

“That we have the vote means nothing. That we use it in the right way means everything. Our political work has only begun when we have the ballot. And that work should be carried out exactly as our college work is — as any good work which we undertake is — it must be thoughtful, idealistic, clean, effective.”

-Lou Henry Hoover, April 10, 1920

Before she was First Lady, Lou Henry Hoover spoke at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.  At the time of her speech, the 19th Amendment had been passed by Congress.  On August 18, 1920, the amendment was ratified, guaranteeing American women the right to vote.

-from the Hoover Library

oupacademic:

By the time James Garfield and Lucretia entered the White House, they had a strong, committed marriage, soon to be cut short by President Garfield’s assassination. During their courtship, they both expressed doubts about their relationship; Lucretia warned James before the wedding that her “heart is not yet schooled to an entire submission to that destiny which will make me the wife of one who marries me.” They spent most of the first few years of their marriage apart, with Lucretia continuing to teach and Garfield enlisting during the Civil War and devoting his attentions to a New York widow. James made it clear that he did not wish to have “any[thing] other than a business correspondence” with his wife. Following the death of two young children, the couple became much closer. She kept vigil next to his bedside during the three months he languished following the assassination attempt, and she later supervised the preservation of his extensive papers. Although she had time to destroy the letters that showed the problems in their relationship, she never did so. Betty Boyd Caroli finds that the correspondence shows “an intelligent, capable woman who reluctantly relinquished her own autonomy in favor of her husband’s career.” 

Facts and quotations from First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama by Betty Boyd Caroli. C-SPAN is exploring the influence of First Ladies in its new series.

Image: Mrs. James Garfield, photographed between 1860 and 1870, printed later. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress. 

slatevault:

The fiercely independent Eleanor Roosevelt had a permit to carry a pistol. Here it is: http://slate.me/14IGr07

oupacademic:

Eliza Johnson stayed out of the public eye as First Lady to President Johnson, partly due to Mary Lincoln’s poor public opinion and partly due to grief and illness. But “her invisibility should not be taken for inactivity.”  When Eliza and Andrew first met in their teens, Eliza tutored him and helped him overcome his lack of formal education. In their White House years, “she clipped articles she thought he would see, shrewdly separating the good news which she gave at the end of each day, from the bad, which he got the next morning. One historian concluded that Andrew Johnson “may have consulted his wife and daughters more than he did any fellow statesman.”  

Facts from First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama by Betty Boyd Caroli. C-SPAN is exploring the influence of First Ladies in its new series

Image: Mrs. Andrew Johnson  engraved by J.C. Buttre, published 1883. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.  

ourpresidents:

Happy Mother’s Day weekend!

Lady Bird Johnson with daughters Lynda and Luci, and their husbands. (L-R) Charles Robb, Lynda Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, Luci Johnson Nugent (holding the dog Yuki), Patrick Nugent. 9/30/67.

-from the LBJ Library

More — First Ladies as mothers and daughters

life:

On this day in LIFE — May 6, 1966: Jackie in Spain

See more photos of Jackie here.

fdrlibrary:

Day 56: May 5

ourpresidents:

Lady Bird’s Beautification of Washington D.C.

Beautification Luncheon in the State Dining Room of the White House.   Secretary Stewart Udall, Lady Bird Johnson, and Laurance Rockefeller looking at an architectural model of the Washington DC Mall area. 4/27/67.

More - Lady Bird’s Society for a More Beautiful Capitol

First Lady Helen Herron Taft (1861-1943)

First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda planted the first two Japanese cherry trees at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC on March 27, 1912.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival runs through April 14.  The cherry blossoms are expected to reach peak bloom between April 3 and April 6.

Today is the 100th anniversary of New York’s Grand Central Station. Jackie Kennedy Onassis played a significant role in preserving Grand Central and other New York City landmarks.  A plaque in Grand Central commemorates Jackie’s role in preserving the station:

In an age when few people sought to preserve the architectural wonders that are a daily reminder of our rich and glorious past, a brave woman rose in protest to save this terminal from demolition. Because of her tireless and valiant efforts, it stands today as a monument to those who came before us and built the greatest city known to mankind. Preserving this great landmark is one of her many enduring legacies. The people of New York are forever grateful.

In the 1975 photo above Jackie is pictured with Ed Koch who was at the time serving in the House of Representatives.  He went on to serve as Mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989.  Ed passed away today at age 88.