First Ladies’ Day Should Rival Presidents’ Day
One of the holidays we celebrate in February is President’s Day. This year I think we should also pay a tribute to the hard-working women behind the scenes - America’s First Ladies.
How many can you name? I did all right with those that have been in the White House during my lifetime, but farther back? Not so well. Of course, I could name Martha Washington. Mary Todd Lincoln and Dolley Madison made the list. And I thought John Adams’s wife was Abigail. (I was right.) And that was as far as I could go.
So - here are a few others:
Elizabeth Monroe, wife President James Monroe, did not enjoy the publicity that surrounded the man in the White House and was unpopular in Washing ton, D.C., social circles. However, she did manage to save Madame Lafayette of France, whose husband was instrumental in winning the Revolutionary War, from being beheaded during the French Revolution.
Louisa Adams, wife of John Quincy Adams, liked to write. She spent her four years in the White House “scribbling, scribbling, scribbling,” as she put it. Her writing has given us a valuable picture of what was going on in Presidential circles during the early 1800s. She was ahead of her time in the quest for women’s rights, as she wrote: “...the world would discover that the mind of a woman ‘is as capable of solid attainment as that of a man.’”
Sarah Polk, wife of James K. Polk, was accurately called her husband’s political partner. She talked over issues with him, gave him advice, and often wrote his letters for him. She wasn’t too popular in Washington, however, because she felt dancing was frivolous and would not allow dancing in the White House.
Abigail Fillmore was the first First Lady who ever worked outside of her home. She taught school for seven years. However, after she married Millard Fillmore and had her first child, she gave up her teaching. At that time, in the 1820s, it was unheard of for a married woman who was a mother to work outside the home.
Lucy Hayes, “Lemonade Lucy,” did not allow alcoholic drinks to be served in the White House of her husband, Rutherford B. Hayes. She was the first First Lady to have graduated from college. She lent her support to several charitable causes, including the care of soldiers’ orphans, and decorating the graves of soldiers. However, she did refuse to publicly lend her support to the growing demand for women’s right to vote. (That didn’t happen for another 40+ years.)
Frances Cleveland, at the age of 21 and out of college for just a year, married Grover Cleveland, already the President of the United States. Every Saturday, she opened the White House to women who supported themselves, regardless of their social standing. (Her husband wasn’t so sold on this idea; he had the old-fashioned notion that women did not belong in the work place.)
Carrie Harrison, wife of Benjamin Harrison, was a skilled artist, and especially excelled at china painting. She is credited with establishing the collection of presidential china used by previous Presidents, which today is a valuable resource of early American decorative arts. She also believed in volunteerism, and did volunteer work for a hospital and an orphans’ home in Washington.
While Helen Taft was First Lady, she requested American nurseries to send flowering cherry trees that she wanted planted along the Potomac River shoreline. This first batch died, but the mayor of Tokyo, where she had first seen the beauty of these trees, sent thousands of Japanese cherry trees as a gift. Their beauty is still enjoyed in a Washington, D.C. spring.
These are tidbits. Almost all of the First Ladies have had an interesting background, and most contributed something positive to our country.
Not all First Ladies were wives. We had one bachelor President, James Buchanan, and several were widowers or their wives died during their tenure, in which case a relative usually served as First Lady.
Anna Harrison, Lucretia Tyler, Margaret Taylor, Jane Pierce, Eliza Johnson, Julia Grant, Lucretia Garfield, Ellen Arthur, Ida McKinley, Edith Roosevelt, Helen Taft, Ellen Wilson, Edith Wilson, Florence Harding, Grace Coolidge, and Lou Hoover are among those who bring us up to “modern times,” which for now I’ll consider the World War II era, when Eleanor Roosevelt was First Lady in the White House - truly one of the most remarkable women who ever lived.
So for this President’s Day in February, Old Stuff is recognizing First Ladies Day!
Donna Miller
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Rookwood Pottery Is Back In
Production Once Again
In the previous issue, we carried information about the activities of the recently revived Rookwood Pottery, founded in Cincinnati in 1880. Following some ownership issues earlier this year, the pottery is moving forward with production. At this time, Patrick Dougherty, one of the world’s most-recognized and awarded ceramic artists, has been appointed to the newly created position of Vice president: Art, Design and Development.
In this role, Dougherty will draw on almost 30 years of experience to lead several projects designed to continue Rookwood’s revival as an American leader in fine art pottery, fireplaces and architectural projects. “Patrick is recognized as one of the top-38 artists internationally in the 2010 book, Masters in Earthenware,” said Chip DeMois, CEO of Rookwood Pottery. “It is only fitting that one of the best names in art tile and pottery should have one of the world’s most accomplished artists under its roof.”
Rookwood is also partnering with the largest family-owned supplier in funeral service, Aurora Casket Company, to make an exclusive line of cremation urns.
The deal marks Rookwood’s return to the funeral industry. In the 1940s, when World War II caused a severe shortage of metals in the United States, Rookwood produced ceramic urns to meet demand. One of the designs in the Aurora line is a modernized version of a 1940s classic.
Under the agreement, Aurora commissioned Rookwood to create a line of eight urns, comprising two designs in four colors. Rookwood’s artisans will produce the urns, which will bear the Rookwood logo and time stamp, at its Over-the-Rhine facility in Cincinnati.
“In our research we find that most urns come from overseas and they are not ceramic,” DeMois said. “Aurora gives Rookwood a chance to revive American-made ceramic urns... and is one of the new business cornerstones of Rookwood’s current revival...”
Our thanks to Carol Bross-McMahon of the Rookwood Pottery for forwarding this information to us.
Donna Miller
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Powder Horns Used In Many Ways
Powder horns were widely used from the 1600s to the 1930s. They were made from the horns of cows, bullocks and oxen. The average size was six to ten inches, although some were as large as twenty inches and some as small as three inches.
The littlest ones were priming horns, used with finely ground powder to fill the flashpan of a flintlock. The large ones were supply horns, and used with a funnel to fill the carrying horn.
Most of the early powder horns were handmade, although some were sold by hornsmiths or gunsmiths. In addition to the horn itself, a powder horn had a base plug, which was permanently attached to the larger rim; this had a protrusion to which was fastened one end of a carrying strap; the other end of the strap was attached to the small end, which had a removable stopper.
Some powder horns were engraved, with the engraving filled with grease wax, soot or gunpowder dust to bring out the design. Some early horns served a secondary purpose with a map used for the engraving. Other designs included historic forts, towns and battle scenes. Later, designs such as eagles, ships and deer were used.
Other fine powder horns were reinforced along the edges with German silver or copper, instead of the engraving.
In addition to being used by hunters, powder horns were used by miners for carrying explosives; as water canteens; and even for carrying vinegar for sharpening scythes in the field.
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