Welcome to part 2 of the First Ladies of the 20th Century series!! Next up in the series is Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, wife of President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909). Edith was born in Connecticut in 1861 to Charles and Gertrude Tyler Carow. The Carows and Roosevelts were old family friends and neighbors and as a toddler, Edith became playmates with Teddy's younger sister Corinne. As a young girl, Edith, Corinne, Theodore, and his brother had their earliest schooling at the Roosevelt family home. Later, Edith attended Miss Comstock's finishing school where she acquired an intense love of books. (Theodore would often say that his wife had a more refined taste in books than even he did.) Edith and Theodore would often attend parties together in their teenage years, but this ended when Theodore went off to Harvard. While at Harvard, Theodore met Alice Lee. The two were married in 1880 and Edith attended their wedding. After the death of Alice in 1884, Edith and Theodore began to rekindle their relationship the following year. The two were married in St. George's, London on December 2, 1886. Together, the couple raised Theodore's daughter, Alice, as well as their children Theodore Jr., Kermit, Ethel, Archibald, and Quentin (I love that name! :D). In 1888, Theodore was appointed to the United States Civil Service Commission and the family moved to Washington D.C. Edith loved their life In Washington and when the opportunity for Theodore to run for Mayor of New York came up, she talked him out of it. In 1895 however, they did move back to New York when Teddy became the New York City police commissioner. This period was brief, however, and the family moved back to Washington D.C. two years later when Teddy was chosen as assistant secretary of the Navy. When the Spanish American War broke out, Edith traveled to see her husband off in Tampa, FL. Upon his return from Cuba, she defied a quarantine to meet him at the train station in New York. While there, she assisted veterans at the hospital. Later that year, Roosevelt won the governorship of New York. Edith thoroughly enjoyed her role as first lady of New York. She modernized the governor's mansion, helped her husband with correspondence, and was apart of women's clubs. While the governor's wife, she began a tradition which she continued as First Lady. Instead of shaking hands with guests, she would hold a bouquet of flowers in each hand and only bow her head in greeting. She considered shaking hands to be too "familiar" of a gesture. After Teddy won the Vice Presidency, Edith moved back to Washington with him. Upon President McKinley's assassination, Theodore became President and Edith, First Lady. While the nation was in mourning, Edith did not do any entertaining but intead focused on enlarging the White House to fit her family. She hired McKim, Mead, and White to enlarge the living quarters and separate them from the offices, enlarge and modernize the public rooms, redecorate the interior, and re-do the landscaping. Mrs. Roosevelt took a historical view to the re-decorating of the public areas and made sure that period antiques were used. She also instituted a portrait collection of every First Lady from Martha Washington to herself and created a display of china from all 25 previous administrations. Edith's Inaugural Ball gown was made of lace, net, and silk brocade. Edith's style was generally simple and she did not have a large wardrobe, but she always dressed beautifully and fashionably! She was always a very frugal person and would often cut up her old dresses to save the material. When asked to donate her inauural ball gown, she was only able to donate the top part. Years later, her daughter found the skirt and donated it. The dress was reconstructed using origianal photographs. Edith often advised her husband on difficult political decisions. Her office was located right next to his so they could communicate throughout the day. The two would meet privately from 8-9 a.m. every morning to confer.
Her most historic contribution came when she acted as an informal liason between Teddy and British diplomat Cecil Spring Rice which gave important information of the Russo-Japanese War. Teddy won the Nobel Peace Prize in honor of the treaty he helped negotiate as a result of this conference. When Theodore lost re-election to a third term, Edith consoled him and traveled with him to Brazil to see him off on his expedition of the River of Doubt. Edith's later years were full of travel. She toured many places in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. During WWI, she was involved in many home-front activities and was a strong advocate for women voting after the passage of the 19th amendment. Edith died on September 30, 1948 and was buried at the Youngs Memorial Cemetery in Oyster Bay. I hope you have enjoyed this little peek into the life of Edith Roosevelt! Be sure to check back soon for the next installment of this series! Have a lovely day! -Emma
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AuthorHi everyone! I am Emma, the owner of The Lovely Shoppe Co. I share shop updates, vintage outfits, and vintage photos of everything from fashion to sports to travel to music to cars to actors and everything else! Archives
September 2021
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