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“Oh how I wish he [Franklin Pierce] was out of political life! How much better it would be for him on every account!”
First Ladies of the US Jane Pierce Full Image

Jane Pierce

Jane Means Appleton Pierce
Years of service: 1853-1857
Born: 1806

First Ladies of the US Jane Pierce Full Image

Jane Pierce had already experienced the deaths of two sons when her husband, Franklin Pierce, was elected president. Then, two months before the inauguration in 1853, their only surviving child, Benjamin, was killed before her eyes in a train accident. She never recovered from her loss. Desperate to communicate with her dead son, she had mediums hold a séance at the White House. It took her two years before she could fulfill her official White House hostess duties for her husband’s presidency. Though Jane disliked politics, she supported the abolitionist movement and disapproved of Franklin’s signing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

 

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Leaders in Literacy

4/30/2024 through 4/30/2025

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First Ladies as Teachers, Educators, and Librarians.

The right to an education is a foundational principle of America’s history, and many First Ladies have taken up this cause. We celebrate National First Ladies Day by kicking off this featured exhibit, presented by Huntington Bank.