Caroline Harrison

With a degree in music from the Oxford Female Institute, Caroline briefly taught college in Kentucky before marrying Benjamin Harrison. However, painting was her passion, and Caroline devoted more time to it as her children grew older. Her art studio on the third floor of the White House was a haven from her busy life as First Lady. She took particular interest in the White House China collection. Caroline designed her White House China with golden rods and corn stalks, symbols of her mid-west roots. Caroline helped found the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. As the first DAR President-General, her speech at the White House marked the first national address for a sitting First Lady. She was so publicly active that Americans were shocked when Caroline succumbed to tuberculosis on October 25, 1892.