First Lady Grace Coolidge seems lost to history, much like her husband, “Silent Cal,” who is best known for what he didn’t say. She was a trend setter during her time in the White House but also suffered a terrible loss when her son died there. She persevered through adversity and a hard marriage while keeping her gracious, sunny disposition that was so admired.
Each month, I’ll detail the life of the first lady and their legacy. Then I’ll share what I learned while studying them, along with ways you can travel in their footsteps through historical sites and museums. I’ll also share books, podcasts, TV shows, and websites where you can learn even more about that first lady. Read all of the way through the blog post or click on the links below to go straight to those sections.
Life
Childhood
Grace Anna Goodhue was born on January 3, 1879 in Burlington, Vermont to Andrew and Lemira Goodhue. She had a happy childhood as the adored only child of Andrew, who was an electrical engineer in a cotton mill, and Lemira, who was tight-strung and introverted. Her father suffered a horrific injury at the mill when she was little, sending Grace to live with a neighbor while he recovered. He soon opened a new business, a machine shop, and also became the inspector of all passenger vessels with steam boilers on Lake Champlain.
Grace was a good student but only excelled in the subjects she liked, such as piano. She was highly religious and outgoing, a popular student with a fun personality. She attended the University of Vermont after taking a year off for health reasons, and she graduated in 1902. She enjoyed her college years, especially socializing with friends, and helped organize the Vermont chapter of the first women’s fraternity, Pi Beta Phi.
After graduation, Grace moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take a teaching job at the Clarke School for the Deaf. She had worked with a deaf child at her neighbor’s house and wanted to continue this work at the Clarke School which was unique in its teaching of lip reading and speaking. Her mother wasn’t happy that she moved away.
Courtship and Marriage
Grace met Calvin Coolidge while he was a boarder at a home near Clarke’s campus. He said he heard her laugh and looked out the window to see a vivacious, attractive young woman in a garden. He was immediately smitten, and at 33, he was ready for a commitment. Even thought they lived in rooms separated by only the garden, they sent letters back and forth. While only his have survived, they are surprisingly sweet and verbose.
Calvin was an odd choice for the gregarious Grace – he was quiet and older, a lawyer looking to make a mark on politics. In fact, many people thought he was one of her deaf students because he was so silent! Her mother didn’t like him, putting Grace in the middle of their disagreements. Her best friend, Ivah, took a three-hour buggy ride with him and he didn’t speak the entire time! Even Grace was surprised at their union, saying it was between people of “vastly different temperaments and tastes.”
On October 4, 1905, Grace married Calvin at her family home in Burlington. She wore a gray suit and high pompadour with a comb and velvet bow. The couple honeymooned in Montreal and moved back to Northampton. They first lived in a hotel, then moved to a modest home at 5 Crescent Street. Eventually they moved to a duplex at 21 Massasoit Street.
Grace ran an organized house but never enjoyed cooking. Cal liked to tease about her cooking, saying her baking was like what they used to build roads! She took it in good humor, but he was often difficult to live with as his temper got the best of him in private. She was his safety valve and would let him blow off steam with her.
One cute story has Cal bringing a basket of socks that needed mending to Grace soon after they married. When she asked him if he only married her to get her to darn his socks, he replied, “No, but I find it mighty handy!” (Note the pair of socks on the Coolidge White House Christmas ornament!)
She gave birth to two boys in the Massasoit home, John on September 6, 1906 and Calvin, Jr. on April 13, 1908. She was often left home alone as Cal started climbing the political ladder
Political Life
Cal’s first foray into politics occurred on their honeymoon which they had to cut short so he could return to campaign for his school board seat. He lost that race but won every other race of his political career, taking him to the state legislature, Northampton mayor, lieutenant governor, and then governor.
Throughout his races, Grace was close by but did not serve as an adviser, focusing instead on home and family. She chaperoned a school field trip to Washington in 1912 where she played the piano on a White House tour, getting reprimanded by the guard. She also went to Washington with Cal to meet important people after he won the lieutenant governor’s race.
When he became governor, she stayed in Northampton with the boys and only went to Boston for social occasions. Cal lived in a dismal hotel room, but she loved visiting to eat dinners at the Copley Plaza Hotel.
He was nominated for vice president in 1920 on the ticket with Warren G. Harding, and she thought he was joking when he told her. She said, “You aren’t going to accept it, are you?” and was surprised when he did. She didn’t participate in the campaign but did write hundreds of letters and thank you notes to well wishers.
After he won, they went to Grove Park Inn in Asheville to rest. Grace loved walking through the city and mountains, which reminded her of her childhood, and enjoyed meeting the ladies of the city at a reception given in her honor.
Washington
Cal and Grace came to Washington and took over the outgoing vice president’s rooms at the Willard Hotel (there was no official vice presidential residence yet). The boys came for the inauguration but went back to Northampton for school. They soon moved to Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, which was close enough to visit from Washington.
Grace enjoyed the Willard, especially the dining room. She had a maid and even tolerated a little mice family which lived in their rooms! The ladies of the Senate welcomed her with a tea, and she set up formal receiving hours on Wednesdays where everyone was welcome. One week, over one thousand people visited! She called on the wives of the Supreme Court justices, cabinet officers, and heads of diplomatic missions. Grace hired a secretary to help keep this frenzied life organized, and Cal’s reticence on socializing ensured early exits from most events.
Grace got along with Florence Harding, who was jealous of Grace’s youth and vitality. When a mansion was considered as the vice president’s home, Florence declared that she didn’t want them to have that house! President Harding invited Cal to cabinet meetings, but the Coolidges were surprised to learn of his sickness during his 1923 western trip.
Grace and Cal were at his family’s home in Vermont when they learned of the president’s death, and she was by his side as he took the oath of office in the home’s parlor, administered by his father who was a notary public. She was now first lady of the land.
First Lady
“There was a sense of detachment – this was I and yet not I, this was the wife of the president of the United States and she took precedence over me; my personal likes and dislikes must be subordinated to the consideration of those things which were required of her.”
Grace and Cal arrived at the White House on August 21, 1923 in a state of shock. She immediately hired a social secretary and fired the housekeeper (who wrote a tell-all book the following year).
She was gracious and welcoming, a far cry from her austere and silent husband who suffered under the pressure of the office. She charmed everyone and was a style setter who wore the latest in fashions (Cal’s one splurge). She didn’t involve herself in politics or controversy and contributed to the prestige of the administration. One newspaper said she was worth $1 million to the Republican Party!
“Grace Coolidge has it. She is well named. Grace sits upon her brow.”
Grace wanted to share the White House with everyone, hosting 20,000-25,000 people a year at her informal receptions. She had lots of houseguests and loved using presidential yacht, the Mayflower, to sail down Potomac. She also hosted musicales including her favorite piano player, Rachmaninoffand presided over the first White House Christmas tree on the Ellipse in 1923, the first in what is now the annual Pageant of Peace.
She attended First Congregational Church and loved visiting children at the hospital. She said she was the “national hugger” and would hug any child she visited.
She continued to champion the plight of the deaf and met with Helen Keller.
She also loved animals, including her White House dog, Rob Roy, and pet raccoon named Rebecca.
Her boys were her pride and joy with John being more attached to her while Calvin, Jr. was favored by his father. They came to the White House from school in the summer of 1924 and enjoyed playing tennis on the White House courts.
It was there that Calvin, Jr. got a blister which quickly became infected. In the course of just a few days, he worsened and died at the age of sixteen on July 7, 1924 (the photos abover were taken just days before his death). His parents were heartbroken. They held a small ceremony in the East room and then buried him in Vermont.
The Coolidge marriage went through a hard time as Calvin and Grace didn’t talk to each other about their grief. They spent the following summers on tense retreats in Massachusetts and upstate New York and he and John were at odds.
Grace tried to continue her work as first lady, focusing on the needed repairs of the White House. She got a $25,000 appropriation from Congress to update the systems and furniture, but the family had to move out in 1927 to repair the roof. The temporary White House was the Patterson Mansion on Dupont Circle. When she returned, she loved her sky parlor that had been added in the attic renovation.
Grace was honored when her fraternity donated a White House portrait of her with Rob Roy to the White House collection. It is one of the most stunning portraits of a First Lady!
She was an avid fan of baseball and was known as the First Lady of Baseball.
After all of the heartache, she was happy when Cal decided not to run for reelection in the summer of 1927 even though he didn’t tell her first! She was with him on a trip to South Dakota to dedicate Mount Rushmore when he made the decision and announced it to the press. After South Dakota, they traveled to Yellowstone where she and John hiked.
In early 1928, Cal and Grace visited Cuba, their only trip outside of the United States while in office. Later that year, Grace became sick with a kidney disease (much like her predecessor!) after a long reception. She had two serious attacks where the president never left her bedside. They spent February of 1929 in Florida then went back to Washington for the inauguration of President-elect Herbert Hoover.
“She is the one woman in official life of whom I have never heard a single disparaging remark in the course of nearly twenty years.” Washington hostess
Post-White House Years
The Coolidges returned to Northampton with thousands of well wishers lining up to greet them. Cal set up an office in his former law practice, and he and Grace traveled to New Orleans, Florida, and California where they visited the infamous Hearst Castle.
Their Massasoit Street house was too exposed, so Cal bought an estate on nine acres named “The Beeches” without consulting Grace. She commented, “No one knows what plans are taking shape in his mind.” They also renovated his childhood home in Vermont.
Cal was ill at the end of 1932 and died suddenly of a heart attack on January 5, 1933. Grace was quoted, “I am just a lost soul. Nobody is going to believe how I miss being told what to do.”
Their son, John, was married and had two little girls, but they didn’t need Grace to help. After Cal’s death, she felt useless until she met a neighbor, Florie Adams, a divorcée who was outspoken and loved to travel. She and Grace traveled to North Carolina and all over Europe, taking six months and 12,000 miles to see England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. Grace fell in love with Lucerne, Switzerland and Sweden.
She sold The Beeches and built a new home in Northampton called Road Forks across the street from Florie. When WWII started, she gave her home to the war effort to house the captain leading the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES) school located in the town. Grace volunteered with war efforts, working to welcome the WAVES and say goodbye to soldiers. She also helped with the Red Cross and was a civil defense watcher.
After the war, she was a fixture in Northampton where she would walk to town and would often give autographs if asked. She helped local causes and was present at the dedication of a Coolidge room at the local library in 1956. It was her last public outing as she died of heart failure on July 7, 1957, the 33rd anniversary of Calvin. Jr.’s passing, at the age of 78. She was buried beside Calvin and Calvin, Jr. in the Plymouth Notch cemetery.
Legacy
Grace Coolidge is not well-known in first ladies history, and it’s difficult to get to know her through books. She wasn’t outspoken and never spoke to the press, unlike many of her predecessors. There are not many places to visit about her nor are there many events from her time as first lady which were memorable.
She also is forgotten thanks to her husband’s reticence. He’s known as “Silent Cal” for a reason, and his more placid time in the White House is bookended by the scandals of the Harding administration and the doldrums of the Great Depression in the Hoover administration. The Coolidges are forgotten between these big events.
Grace’s role has been relegated to having the most beautiful White House portrait and not much more. However, her impact on the presidency was immense as she softened Cal’s hard exterior and enabled him to ascend to the office even while saying few words. By taking care of the homefront, he was freed to focus on important political matters, and many of his ideas on limited government and cutting wasteful spending are still the bedrock of the Republican Party.
My Time with Grace
I had a hard time truly getting to know Grace this month. I was only able to read one book about her and there are really not many other ways to get to know her. I enjoyed reading about her teasing relationship with Cal, a big difference from the way their marriage is usually portrayed.
As a mother, I ached for her as I read about the death of her sixteen year old son. I can’t imagine the heartbreak she endured, yet she then had to continue to serve as first lady for four more years. It had to be so hard, and Grace endured it, along with Cal’s rocky silence, with dignity. She was the epitome of grace.
Travels with Grace
Grace loved the mountains whether it was her native Vermont or the Blue Ridge of North Carolina.
Vermont
Burlington
Grace was born and raised in this beautiful town on the shores of Lake Champlain. 123 Maple Street was her first home, but the majority of her early life was spent at 312 Maple Street where she also married Cal. You can visit the latter home as it is now part of Champlain College. You can also see Coolidge Hall named after Grace on the University of Vermont’s campus.
Plymouth Notch
President Calvin Coolidge Historic Site
While Grace did not live here, she visited many times, including the night Calvin took the oath of office in the parlor. The entire little town is preserved as it would have been during her life, and the historic site includes the birthplace, homestead, dance hall (which served as a summer White House), cheese factory, and other original buildings. Read how to plan your visit here.
See Grace and Calvin’s simple graves here.
Massachusetts
Northampton
This city was the Coolidges home their entire marriage except for their time in the White House. It has a Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum dedicated to their memory (the only public library that houses a presidential collection) as well as their home at 21 Massasoit Street (a private residence). Her other homes, The Beeches (16 Hampton Terrace) and Road Fork (10 Ward Avenue), still exist but are privately owned. Check out this walking tour which takes you by many of the sites important to Cal and Grace.
North Carolina
Asheville
Grace loved the North Carolina mountains and spent time at the breathtaking Grove Park Inn. It’s one of my favorite places, and I had no idea I was walking in Grace’s footsteps when I visited!
Washington, DC
Step into the Willard Hotel where Grace lived as second lady of the United States and the Mayflower where she attended the 1925 inaugural ball. You can also walk by the Patterson mansion at 15 Dupont Circle which served as the White House for months while they replaced the White House’s roof. You can also see a historical marker at the Morrison-Clark Inn which served as a club for airmen that was presided over by many first ladies, including Grace.
Don’t miss Grace’s beautiful dress at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
To Learn More
Books to Read:
Links are Amazon affiliate links. Be sure to see my Bookshop.org list for all of the books related to my Booking It Through History: First Ladies project.
Nonfiction
Grace Coolidge: The People’s Lady in Silent Cal’s White House by Robert H. Farrell
The only modern biography I found about Grace. It was not written in exact chronological order, but I learned alot about her life.
TV Shows/Movies
C-SPAN First Ladies: Influence and Image
Podcasts
Presidential – it is especially interesting to hear how President Coolidge changed after his son’s death
Here’s Where It Gets Interesting – The Thanksgiving Episode – learn about her pet raccoon!
The White House 1600 Sessions – 12 Deaths in the White House (January 25, 2018)
Websites
Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation
White House Historical Society
- Ornament: The White House ornament celebrates the Coolidges’ time in the White House and includes their love of baseball and their pet raccoon!
Grace Coolidge may be lost to history, but her poise, graciousness, and warmth helped steer her husband, and the country, after the tumultuous Harding administration. While undergoing extreme personal loss, she was the epitome of her name – grace.
One thought on “Booking It Through History: First Ladies – Grace Coolidge”