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Grace Coolidge

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Grace Anna Coolidge (née Goodhue; January 3, 1879 – July 8, 1957) was the wife of the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge. She was the first lady of the United States from 1923 to 1929 and the second lady of the United States from 1921 to 1923. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 1902 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in teaching and joined the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech in Northampton, Massachusetts, to teach deaf children to communicate by lip reading, rather than by signing.[1] She met Calvin Coolidge in 1904, and the two were married the following year.

Grace Coolidge
Coolidge in 1924
First Lady of the United States
In role
August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929
PresidentCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byFlorence Harding
Succeeded byLou Hoover
Second Lady of the United States
In role
March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923
Vice PresidentCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byLois Marshall
Succeeded byCaro Dawes
First Lady of Massachusetts
In role
January 2, 1919 – January 6, 1921
GovernorCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byElla McCall
Succeeded byMary Cox
Second Lady of Massachusetts
In role
January 6, 1916 – January 2, 1919
Lieutenant GovernorCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byBeatrice Barry (1915)
Succeeded byMary Cox
First Lady of Northampton
In role
January 3, 1910 – January 1, 1912
MayorCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byMargaret O'Brien
Succeeded byCatherine Feiker
Personal details
Born
Grace Anna Goodhue

(1879-01-03)January 3, 1879
Burlington, Vermont, U.S.
DiedJuly 8, 1957(1957-07-08) (aged 78)
Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Resting placePlymouth Notch Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1905; died 1933)​
Children2, including John
EducationUniversity of Vermont
Signature

As her husband advanced his political career, Coolidge avoided politics. When Calvin Coolidge was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1919, she remained at home in Northampton with their children. After her husband's election as vice president in 1920, the family moved to Washington, D.C., living at the Willard Hotel. Coolidge did not speak out on political issues of the day, including women's rights. Instead, she dedicated herself to supporting popular causes and organizations, such as the Red Cross and the Visiting Nurse Association. Following the unexpected death of her young teenage son Calvin in 1924 from blood poisoning, she won the sympathy of the country. Unlike previous first ladies, who had withdrawn almost entirely from the public spotlight after personal tragedies, Coolidge resumed her role after a few months.

In 1929, Calvin Coolidge's term as president ended, and the couple retired to Northampton. After her husband's death in 1933, Coolidge continued her work with the deaf and wrote for several magazines. She served on the boards of Mercersburg Academy and the Clarke School. After the start of World War II, Grace joined a local Northampton committee dedicated to helping Jewish refugees from Europe, and loaned her house to WAVES. In 1957, she died of heart disease, and was buried in Plymouth, Vermont, beside her husband and her son.

Early life

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Childhood

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Grace Anna Goodhue was born in Burlington, Vermont, on January 3, 1879, as the only child of Andrew Issachar Goodhue and Lemira Barrett Goodhue.[2] Through her father, she was descended from the Goodhue family descended from the 1635 colonist William Goodhue.[3] Each summer, she joined all of the Goodhues for a family reunion in Hancock, New Hampshire, until 1899 when the last of the Goodhue grandparents died. She also visited her maternal grandfather in the summers where she listened to his stories of the Civil War.[4] Grace was close to her mother as a child, following her where she went and taking up the same household chores like sewing.[5]

Grace's father was an engineer at a mill, and the family rented a house from his employer. Then in the early 1880s, her father built them a new home near the mill at 123 Maple Street.[5] He made the house a luxurious one by installing several desirable features: a bathtub of tin and wood, a furnace that heated the entire home, and electric lights.[6]

When Grace's father was injured in a work accident in 1886, she stayed with their neighbors, the Yale family.[7][3] Here she bonded with their adult daughter, June Yale.[3] June began teaching at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts, and she sometimes brought students to Vermont in the summers.[8] By her teenage years, Grace was helping June care for them.[9]

Grace's father left the mill after his accident and co-founded a machine shop.[7] He was a Democrat, and with this experience he was appointed by Democratic President Grover Cleveland as a steamboat inspector later in 1886.[10] This brought money and status to the family in their small town.[11] Grace had a deeply religious upbringing, raised on Puritan values and spending most of the family's social outings at church events. The family was Methodist until she was a teenager, when she convinced them to convert to Congregationalism.[12] Andrew built a new home for the family at 312 Maple Street in 1899.[5]

Education

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Grace began her education at age five at a local public grade school in Burlington and attended Burlington Public Grammar School. In 1893, she entered Burlington High School. There she studied Latin and French, as well as geology, biology, and chemistry.[13] Grace also received private lessons in piano, speech, and singing.[12][3] She spoke at her school's commencement in 1897, delivering a speech she titled "Tramp Instinct".[14]

Grace enrolled at the University of Vermont in 1897, but she dropped out that November because of an eye condition. She returned to the school in 1898.[12] She took little interest in her academics.[15] Instead, Grace was involved with several activities in and out of the university, including dance, skating, tobogganing, sleighing, Bible class, Christian Endeavor, and poetry.[12] She participated in theater, appearing in productions of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night,[13] and she joined the glee club where she performed as a contralto.[8] She became her class's vice president in her sophomore year.[16] Grace gained a reputation for being likeable and outgoing,[17] and she was courted by several men over the course of her schooling.[12] One relationship, that with Frank Joyner, was serious enough that marriage seemed inevitable. She ended the relationship in 1903 when she met Calvin Coolidge.[13]

Noticing a lonely-looking woman on the University of Vermont campus, Grace befriended Ivah Gale.[3] Gale eventually moved into the Goodhue home where she shared a bedroom with Grace. The two women were among those who co-founded the university's chapter of Pi Beta Phi, a women's fraternity.[12] The group held its meetings in Grace's home.[3] In 1901, Grace traveled to Syracuse, New York, to attend the fraternity's national convention.[9] She graduated from the University of Vermont the following year.[18] This would make her the first of the first ladies to have earned a four-year undergraduate degree.[13]

Once Grace graduated from university, she decided to teach at Clarke School for the Deaf. She wrote to the school's principal, June Yale's aunt Caroline Yale, about training as an instructor for the deaf. She moved to Northampton where she taught at the school for three years, first instructing the primary school children before working with middle school students. Grace's mother opposed the decision, wishing that Grace would be a teacher at a local school.[12][8] Rather than teaching sign language, Grace followed the school's philosophy of instructing the students in lip reading.[19][9]

Marriage and family

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Grace met Calvin Coolidge in her second year at Northampton.[20] While watering flowers outside of the dormitory, she first saw the young man through a window across from the school, where he was shaving wearing only long underwear and a derby hat.[21] Calvin noticed her when she laughed, and he subsequently asked his landlord, the school's steward Robert Weir, to introduce them.[20] They began a romantic relationship with her shortly afterward. [12] Calvin, active in local politics, took her to a Republican Party event at city hall for their first date. From then on, he could be found accompanying her to all of her picnics and dances, though he did not participate himself.[20] To those around them their relationship was defined by their contrasting personalities, as Calvin was quiet and reserved as opposed to her more outgoing demeanor.[12][22] Despite this, they bonded over several shared qualities: their background as college educated Vermonters, mischievous sense of humor,[23] religious sensibilities, and feelings of idealism and public service.[24]

The first time Calvin met Grace's parents, he asked permission to marry her.[20] Calvin proposed to Grace by telling her "I'm going to be married to you".[12] Grace's mother was not fond of Calvin and sought to delay the wedding, but Calvin stood firm on a date no later than October.[25] The couple married at the Goodhue family's home on October 4, 1905.[26] The newlyweds took a short honeymoon in Montreal, but time was limited as Calvin had to return to Northampton to run as a candidate for the school board.[27] They first lived in the Norwood Hotel for three weeks before staying in a home owned by a professor at Smith College. Afterward, they moved to their long-term home at 21 Massasoit Street.[28] The Coolidges had very little money in these early years of their marriage, but Grace was often the recipient of desirable clothes and hats as gifts from her husband.[27]

Grace had two sons: John Coolidge on September 7, 1906, and Calvin Coolidge Jr. on April 13, 1908. She was their sole caretaker.[29] Calvin was elected to the Massachusetts legislature shortly after their first son was born, so he spent much of his time in the state capital, Boston. They felt it was important not to let Calvin's career be a burden on the children, so the rest of the family stayed in Northampton and Calvin returned home on the weekends.[27] Even when he was home, Calvin had Grace address the needs of their children. She engaged them in activities traditionally associated with the father, teaching them baseball and constructing wooden cars for them to ride in.[29]

Calvin left the state legislature and returned to Northampton in 1909. He became mayor the following year, giving him a job that let him return to his family each night. He was elected to the state legislature again in 1911 and went back to Boston.[30] Grace was a regular participant in church activities while Calvin was away and attended card parties with her friends, where she sewed while the others played. She visited Washington, D.C. for the first time in 1912 when she chaperoned a trip for students of Northampton High School.[27] She is quoted as saying that she would one day return to the White House to play its piano, after a guard rebutted her attempt to do so.[31] When World War I began, Grace worked with the other women in the community to conduct bond drives and support Red Cross,[29] where she became co-chair of the Women's War Committee of Northampton.[27]

Entering political life

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Grace ascended in her own political career within the ranks of Pi Beta Phi. She became president of the Western Massachusetts Alumnae Club in 1910, vice president of the fraternity's Alpha Province covering the entire East Coast in 1912, and president of the Alpha Province in 1915.[32] She went on a tour of California for Pi Beta Phi that year, but her trip ended early when she received a telegram informing her that Calvin was a candidate for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.[33]

After three years as lieutenant governor, Calvin was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1918.[27] Despite being the governor's wife, Grace refused to move to Boston, choosing to stay with her sons in Northampton, which caused some displeasure in the state.[32] She instead made periodic trips to the city.[29] Grace was responsible for entertaining at times in the capital and became popular among guests despite her lack of experience.[32]

Grace supported Calvin's decision to accept the Republican Party's nomination to be vice president of the United States in 1920 as the running mate of Warren G. Harding,[34] though she felt that he should accept nothing short of the presidential nomination.[35] The Republican ticket won, and Calvin became vice president in 1921. Grace decided to move to Washington D.C. with him and enrolled their sons in boarding school at Mercersburg Academy.[34] Grace and Calvin moved into a suite on the top floor of the Willard Hotel.[36]

Being second lady of the United States presented Grace with a larger national profile. She began appearing at ceremonial events with Calvin, and her entertaining duties became much greater than they had been when she was the wife of a governor.[34] Lois Irene Marshall and Emily Clark Stearns, the previous second lady and the wife of Calvin's political ally, respectively, both became mentors for Grace as she acclimated to her new role.[29] Grace was president of the Senate Wives Club as second lady, and through this she continued her activity supporting the Red Cross.[37] She also began taking dancing classes, though Calvin asked that she not be seen dancing in public and risk controversy.[38]

The first lady, Florence Harding, felt resentment toward Grace's youth and popularity.[39] Grace became responsible for Florence's hosting duties for a period of time in late 1922, after the first lady was fell ill with life-threatening nephritis.[37] The Coolidges were on a trip to Calvin's family home in Vermont when they received news that President Harding had fallen ill and died.[40] Grace became first lady of the United States on August 2, 1923.[41]

First Lady

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After Harding's death and Calvin Coolidge's succession to the Presidency, Grace planned the new administration's social life as her husband wanted it: unpretentious and dignified.

As First Lady, she was a popular hostess. She was also the first First Lady to speak in sound newsreels.[42] The social highlight of the Coolidge years was the party for Charles Lindbergh following his transatlantic flight in 1927. The Coolidges were a particularly devoted couple, although the president never discussed state matters with her. She did not even know that he had decided not to seek re-election in 1928 until he announced it to the press. She received a gold medal from the National Institute of Social Science. In 1931 she was voted one of America's twelve greatest living women.

The first family was given a raccoon in 1926 as a Thanksgiving gift, and the family raised it as a pet. President Coolidge even gave the animal a collar that was sewn with the words "White House Racoon." After the Coolidges left the White House, the raccoon went to live at a zoo.[43]

Later life and death

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Calvin Coolidge summed up his marriage to Grace in his autobiography: "For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces."

For more privacy in Northampton, the Coolidges purchased The Beeches, a large house with spacious grounds. The former president died there after a sudden heart attack on January 5, 1933, at the age of 60. After her husband's death, Grace Coolidge continued her work on behalf of the deaf. She was also active in the Red Cross, civil defense, and scrap drives during World War II. Grace kept her sense of fun and her aversion to publicity until her death on July 8, 1957, at the age of 78. She is buried next to her husband in Plymouth, Vermont.[44]

Legacy

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First lady biographer Betty Boyd Caroli said that Grace "epitomized current flapper style" and credited her among the other first ladies of the 1920s whose more public views prepared the role of first lady for the more active Eleanor Roosevelt.[45] Grace kept away from politics throughout her life and is not seen as having influenced Calvin's political positions.[46] She was more likely to speak about religion on the political stage, believing that it was an essential part of American society.[47]

Biographers Robert Hugh Ferrell and Kristie Miller attribute Grace's presence as a reason for Calvin's success, describing her personality as a necessary balance to Calvin's reservedness that may have otherwise lost him support.[48][49] Ferrell also cited her ability to provide Calvin a calm home-life without arguments or marital problems.[48] He was quick to anger, and she was often the one tasked with de-escalating him.[50] Frank Stearns, one of Calvin's backers, credited Grace's ability to quickly make friends and her decision to "not meddle with" Calvin's political activity as assets.[29][51] She followed her husband's request that she not express opinions publicly or speak to the press.[52]

By the time she was second lady, Grace had already become one of the most popular social figures in the history of Washington D.C., inviting comparison to Dolley Madison. She was described as "the college type of woman" by journalists.[52]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Grace Coolidge | biography - American first lady". Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  2. ^ Schneider & Schneider 2010, pp. 211–212.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Miller 1996, p. 385.
  4. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 5.
  5. ^ a b c Ferrell 2008, p. 7.
  6. ^ Ferrell 2008, pp. 7–8.
  7. ^ a b Ferrell 2008, p. 8.
  8. ^ a b c Miller 1996, p. 386.
  9. ^ a b c Ferrell 2008, p. 18.
  10. ^ Ferrell 2008, pp. 8–9.
  11. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 248.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Schneider & Schneider 2010, p. 212.
  13. ^ a b c d "Grace Coolidge Biography :: National First Ladies' Library". www.firstladies.org. Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  14. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 9.
  15. ^ Ferrell 2008, pp. 14–15.
  16. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 15.
  17. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 285.
  18. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 12.
  19. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 285–286.
  20. ^ a b c d Miller 1996, p. 387.
  21. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 20.
  22. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 286.
  23. ^ Miller 1996, p. 388.
  24. ^ Ferrell 2008, pp. 20–21.
  25. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 25.
  26. ^ Schneider & Schneider 2010, pp. 212–213.
  27. ^ a b c d e f Miller 1996, p. 389.
  28. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 28.
  29. ^ a b c d e f Schneider & Schneider 2010, p. 213.
  30. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 39.
  31. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 332.
  32. ^ a b c Miller 1996, p. 390.
  33. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 358–359.
  34. ^ a b c Miller 1996, p. 391.
  35. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 381.
  36. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 388.
  37. ^ a b Anthony 1990, p. 393.
  38. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 393–394.
  39. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 383, 388.
  40. ^ Miller 1996, p. 392.
  41. ^ Schneider & Schneider 2010, p. 214.
  42. ^ "Little-known facts about our First Ladies". Firstladies.org. Archived from the original on 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
  43. ^ "White House pets: Cats, dogs and raccoons through the years". BBC News. 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  44. ^ text copied from White House biography Archived 2010-05-30 at the Wayback Machine
  45. ^ Caroli 2010, p. 157.
  46. ^ Caroli 2010, p. 170.
  47. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 10.
  48. ^ a b Ferrell 2008, p. 27.
  49. ^ Miller 1996, pp. 388–389.
  50. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 34.
  51. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 368.
  52. ^ a b Anthony 1990, p. 394.

References

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Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grace Coolidge.
Honorary titles
Preceded by First Lady of Northampton, Massachusetts
1910–1911 		Succeeded by
Vacant
Title last held by
Beatrice Barry 		Second Lady of Massachusetts
1916–1919 		Succeeded by
Preceded by First Lady of Massachusetts
1919–1921
Preceded by Second Lady of the United States
1921–1923 		Vacant
Title next held by
Caro Dawes
Preceded by First Lady of the United States
1923–1929 		Succeeded by
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