"In turn, Grandmother Bolling oversaw Edith's education, teaching her how to read, write, speak a hybrid language of French and English, make dresses, and instilled in her a tendency to make quick judgments and hold strong opinions, personality traits Edith would exhibit her entire life.... When Edith was 15, her father enrolled her at Martha Washington College (a precursor of Emory and Henry College), a finishing school for girls in Abingdon, Virginia.... Edith proved to be an undisciplined, ill-prepared student. She was miserable there, complaining of the school's austerity: the food was poorly prepared, the rooms too cold, and the daily curriculum excessively rigorous, intimidating, and too strictly regimented. Edith left after only one semester. Two years later, Edith's father enrolled her in Powell's School for Girls in Richmond, Virginia.... Unfortunately for Edith, the school closed at the end of the year after the headmaster suffered an accident that cost him his leg. Concerned about the cost of Edith's education, William Bolling refused to pay for any additional schooling, choosing instead to focus on educating her three brothers. While visiting her married sister in Washington, D.C., Edith met Norman Galt (1864–1908), a prominent jeweler of Galt & Bro. The couple married on April 30, 1896... In 1903, she bore a son who lived only for a few days. The difficult birth left her unable to have more children. In January 1908, Norman Galt died unexpectedly at the age of 43. Edith hired a manager to oversee his business, paid off his debts, and with the income left to her by her late husband, toured Europe. In March 1915, the widow Galt was introduced to recently widowed U.S. President Woodrow Wilson at the White House by Helen Woodrow Bones (1874–1951)... the president's first cousin....Wilson took an instant liking to Galt and proposed soon after meeting her...."
Edith Wilson died 60 years ago today.
Some people say she was President of the United States!
Here's an announcement — in the NYT, October 7, 1915 — of the marriage engagement:
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49 comments:
Proposal after the first meetup? Bad judgment from the guy who started the Progressive plague in America.
Are you Making the (somewhat obvious) connection between her and Doctor Jill?
Or perhaps between Mao and Honey? Herself controlled by Raoul Duke.
John LGBTQBNY Henry
He was 63 and she was 38 when they got married. I’d like to marry a 38 year old woman!
Reading those headlines hinkle, I don't think I'd ever seen the term bride-elect before. Also odd to see remark on her beauty in the headlines.
"He was 63 and she was 38 when they got married."
At least it fits the half-your-age-plus-7 test.
She was a Red Bolling, descended from Pocahontas via Jane Rolfe, a second wife. There are also White Bollings from the first wife and (out of the) Blue Bollings, whose claims of descent from Pocahontas were not recognized and eventually disproven.
Edith insisted on being addressed as "Squaw Princess Edith" by the press and public.
Why does her bust's stencil have weird appendage at the bottom left looking like a mickey mouse' ear?
"Reading those headlines hinkle, I don't think I'd ever seen the term bride-elect before."
Yes, we were marveling at that, here at Meadhouse.
"Also odd to see remark on her beauty in the headlines."
Really goes to show how beauty standards change. She looks completely ordinary, doesn't she?
Also weird:
• The curly shape at the bottom of the photograph.
• Referring to her by her dead husband's name — Mrs. Norman Galt — as she's about to marry another man.
Ann:
I’d never heard of that test. Now I can marry my 40 year old friend! But first, she’ll have to agree to a date!
I just looked at some 40 year old women on Zoosk. Yeah, I’d jump their bones.
The Oct 7, 1915 article was wrong about her age.
She was almost 43. Not 38.
"At Hallam Street every morning the door would be opened by Mrs. Tims, the housekeeper. The first morning Sir Quentin introduced her to me as “Beryl, Mrs. Tims,” which she in a top-people’s accent corrected to Mrs. Beryl Tims, and while I stood waiting with my coat on, they had an altercation over this, he maintaining politely that before her divorce she had been Mrs. Thomas Tims and now she was, to be precise, Beryl, Mrs. Tims, but in no circumstances was Mrs. Beryl Tims accepted usage. Mrs. Tims then announced she could produce her National Insurance card, her ration book and her identity card to prove that her name was Mrs. Beryl Tims. Sir Quentin held that the clerks employed in the ministries which issued these documents were ill-informed. Later, he said, he would show her what he meant under correct forms of address in one of his reference books. After that, he turned to me." - Loitering With Intent, Muriel Spark
Also, he was not 63. Age gap only 16 years. (Tyler holds record, followed by Cleveland and Trump.)
WTF is with that illustration on the NYT front page?
“Let’s see, we need to crop it just so. Oh crap. No let’s just draw a border in this inexplicable shape and, oh hell! Nevermind! Just print it.” Maybe their illustrator was the guy who did gerrymanders in his other job.
Dave Begley-
The full form of the equation is:
Minimum acceptable age of the bride, in years=
(Age of groom)/2 + 7 - (amount in 401k)/10^5
Seems to be laying the ground work for all those articles to come praising #FakeDoctor Jill for taking on the wilsonian burden of running the Executive branch from a back room.
Edith, another of those fairly common names that collapsed in popularity in the 40s and 50s. (I had one Edith in my K-12 classes, and she became a "weird" drama person in high school and college.)
You would think being the name of the first woman President, that 70s feminists would have tried to bring back the name like they did with Emily.
I want to know more about the canaries.
Referring to her by her dead husband's name — Mrs. Norman Galt — as she's about to marry another man.
That is perfectly correct for a widow. If they'd divorced, she would go by Mrs. Edith Galt, but I doubt Wilson would have married her--certainly not before his reelection. There's a late Edith W(harton) short story about a woman still shunned for divorcing long after they've become common in Society.
Gay Capital Season--Sure!
I came across her name the other day. Edith Bolling Galt (and the Presidential Bushes) were "White Bollings," descended from the second wife of a Bolling ancestor. His first wife was Pocahontas's granddaughter, so they were "Red Bollings." This does not make the Great White Father Bush's family more Native American than Liz Warren, but it might give her something to ponder.
I wrote all that before seeing that someone else had already said it, and don't feel like changing it.
Growing up, I thought it was cool that Woodrow Wilson's widow had lived virtually into our own era, but I suppose that by the end she wasn't in much condition to think that anything was cool.
I can't believe a woman over 50 has never heard "bride-elect." Didn't you read engagement notices?
Invitations before the wedding were always sent to the "Office of the Bride-Elect."
I also see now that she was indeed a "Red Bolling," as were the Byrd Brothers. I'd add that Robert Byrd wasn't even a real Byrd, but I'm feeling shaky about genealogy and my reading skills right now.
@ David Begley, The "Progressive plague" started well before Wilson became president in 1913. Much progressive federal legislation was passed between 1901 and 1913. And even before that, there was a lot of activity at the state level.
"Edith met Norman Galt (1864–1908), a prominent jeweler of Galt & Bro."
Success on the gold-digger front.
Time now to move on to the acquiring-power front.
Someone should look into Mr. Galt's "sudden death".
"I want to know more about the canaries."
They were sent to the coal mines.
Serious Questions (not like Yancey's snarkiness)
were there 26 cages? 13 cages?
Did they fly around the house?
Was there a special conservatory for them to fly around in?
Did it have double doors (a canary lock, like they have at dog parks)
Most Serious of ALL did they all have names? (or, just call letters?)
And finally.... Just how LOUD would 26 canaries be?
Cheep! Cheep!! CHEEP!!!!
When will the Wilson Bridge on the beltway around DC be torn down, as social justice requires?Wilson segregated the federal government by race! Tear that bridge down!
Oh Mikee, segregating by race is a progressive goal now and one reason parents are revolting against their school boards adopting CRT derivatives. Parents hate when their children are segregated by race. Most of the prog white women pushing it are childless scolds anyway.
What's with the headmaster's leg? Asking as an historian.
Let's not forget that Progressivism was a bipartisan movement-- La Follette and TR being the best examples offhand-- and part of a worldwide trend of nationalist schemes of social welfare, hygiene, and control. And Progs could be racist as hell (the Sainted Woodrow h/t HLM) or not (Bully!)
Here in the US, it was essential to Americanize (as the elites defined it) as quickly as possible, unprecedented numbers of immigrants from formerly marginal sources. New standards of public health and education were established, the lawyers, doctors, and other whitecollars got credentialed, and modern America was born.
On balance, a good thing IMO.
I thought the comments about the red, white and blue Bollings was a joke jumped from the white, green and blue lies in an earlier post.
I’m still not 100% sure!
I agree w/the canary curiosity…
Did she have them at the same time or serially?
Not much meat on them, but those were lean years in most of the South.
Farmgirl, I made up the squaw princess edith part in honor of Dr. Jill.
Coincidentally, I came across a memoir yesterday written by the housekeeper who worked in the White House under four presidents. She said that the first Mr. and Mrs. Wilson slept in separate beds. When Woody remarried, he had them replaced with a single large bed.
when did Indorses change to Endorses? Also, Interesting that NJ was passing women's suffarage in 1915
Would anyone describe Wilson as handsome? He was lucky to get such a "beauty".
How long between the single large bed and POTUS's stroke?
There was also a "White" Edith Bolling (1879-1958) Jones, whose lawyer/aviator brother was the first high-ranking American officer killed in WW I. The former Bolling AFB on the Potomac in DC was named for him.
had Wilson already resegregagted the Military before this wedding? would Edith have any input in that?
first Mr. and Mrs. Wilson slept in separate beds
He had an affair during his first marriage when he was still a professor (IIRC). Shocking, I know, for a politician and a preacher's kid.
Wiki: "While segregation had been present in the army prior to Wilson, its severity increased significantly under his election. During Wilson's first term, the army and navy refused to commission new black officers.... Commissioning of African-Americans officers resumed [during WWI] but units remained segregated and most all-black units were led by white officers.... Unlike the army, the U.S. Navy was never formally segregated. Following Wilson's appointment of Josephus Daniels as Secretary of the Navy [in 1913], a system of Jim Crow was swiftly implemented; with ships, training facilities, restrooms, and cafeterias all becoming segregated."
I'd say it's on Woodrow. Daniels also banned alcohol on Navy ships.
Also odd to see remark on her beauty in the headlines."
Really goes to show how beauty standards change. She looks completely ordinary, doesn't she?
Standards maybe didn’t change. It’s quite possible that most of her contemporaries didn’t think she was particularly beautiful just as many of us didn’t think Michelle Obama had an impeccable fashion sense. It could be that was the way newspapers described the wives of politicians they adored in the early twentieth century., whether it was true or not.
I guess EBG Wilson was more handsome than her husband, but beautiful? Not hardly.
Re bride-elect: Do you not know the song from "The Mikado," where Katisha keeps interrupting the Emperor?
From every kind of man
Obedience I expect!
I'm the Emperor of Japan --
AND I'M HIS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW ELECT!
...
BOW, BOW, TO HIS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW ELECT!
I think the description of her as "Beautiful" has to do with two things. First, in 1915 movies were still in their infancy, and needless to say TV didn't exist. And while there were photographs and magazines with illustrations they were much less common. Today, we are bombarded constantly with images of some of the most beautiful women in the USA (or even the world) who are models and actresses. Go to grocery store and there they are on the magazine covers near the checkout. Watch TV, watch movies, surf the the net. There they are.
Not so in 1915. Most people didn't see many "Beauties" because they aren't many in Real Life. Further as noted above, the NYT supported Wilson and was a Democrat Party mouthpiece. They aren't going to call liberal Wilson's wife homely.
Then as now, if a woman is young, and relatively neat and clean, and not noticeably deformed, she will have admirers. The difference is that back then, you didn't even have to be thin.
But yes, it's not really much of a story if the newspapers call her ugly, plain, or undistinguished. She has to be described as beautiful to sell papers.
If Wilson really did ask her to marry him shortly after meeting him it's not surprising. He was rather impulsive and headstrong.
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