Edith Roosevelt

Edith Kermit Carow and Theodore Roosevelt were childhood playmates and teenage sweethearts. They renewed their relationship after Theodore’s first wife, Alice Lee’s, sudden death in 1884. She was a protective but adoring mother to her stepdaughter, Alice, and her five rambunctious children. Edith modernized the role of First Lady by hiring the first White House social secretary, Isabella Hagner. During her tenure, Edith orchestrated a record number of events at the White House, from garden parties to musicals. She carefully oversaw a major renovation and expansion of the White House. Edith began the tradition of hanging president and first lady portraits along the hallway walls of the historic mansion. In addition, she searched for rare presidential china pieces so that all former administrations could be represented and displayed in large cabinets for visiting guests to admire.