Ellen Axson Wilson

Ellen Axson Wilson

Infobox First Lady
honorific-prefix =
name = Ellen Louise Wilson
honorific-suffix =


imagesize =
small

caption =
order =
office = First Lady of the United States
term_start = March 4 1913
term_end = August 6 1914
predecessor = Helen Herron Taft
successor = Edith Wilson
birth_date = birth date|1860|5|15
birth_place = Savannah, Georgia
death_date = death date and age|1914|08|6|1860|5|15
death_place = White House, Washington, D.C.
nationality = America
party =
spouse = Woodrow Wilson
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

Ellen Louise Axson Wilson (May 15, 1860 – August 6, 1914),cite web|title = First Lady Biography: Ellen Wilson|publisher = National First Ladies' Library|url = http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=28|accessdate = 2006-10-06] first wife of Woodrow Wilson, was First Lady of the United States from 1913 until her death.

Ellen Louise Axson was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1860. She grew up in Rome, Georgia, where her father, the Reverend S.E. Axson, was a Presbyterian minister. Thomas Woodrow Wilson first saw her when he was about six and she only a baby. In 1883, as a young lawyer from Atlanta, "Tommy" visited Rome and met "Miss Ellie Lou" again -- now keeping house for a bereaved father. He thought, "what splendid laughing eyes!"fact|date=December 2007 Despite their instant attraction they did not marry until 1885, because she was unwilling to leave her heartbroken father.

That same year Bryn Mawr College offered Dr. Wilson a teaching position at an annual salary of $1,500. He and his bride lived near the campus, keeping her little brother with them. Humorously insisting that her own children must not be born Yankees, she went to relatives in Georgia for the birth of Margaret in 1886-(1944) and Jessie in 1887-(1933). But Eleanor was born in Connecticut in 1889-(1967), while Wilson was teaching at Wesleyan University.

His distinguished career at Princeton University began in 1890, bringing his wife new social responsibilities. From such demands she took refuge, as always, in art. She had studied briefly in New York, and the quality of her paintings compares favorably with professional art of the period. She had a studio with a skylight installed at the White House in 1913, and found time for painting despite the weddings of two daughters within six months and the duties of hostess for the nation.

The Wilsons had preferred to begin the administration without an inaugural ball, and the First Lady's entertainments were simple, but her unaffected cordiality made her parties successful. In their first year she convinced her scrupulous husband that it would be perfectly proper to invite influential legislators to a private dinner, and when such an evening led to agreement on a tariff bill, he told a friend, "You see what a wise wife I have!"

Descendant of slave owners, Ellen Wilson lent her prestige to the cause of improving housing in the capital's Negro slums. Visiting dilapidated alleys, she brought them to the attention of debutantes and Congressmen. (These efforts are portrayed briefly and sympathetically in the telefilm "Backstairs at the White House", based on a memoir of one African-American family's 52 years of service to the presidents.) Her death spurred passage of a remedial bill she had worked for. Her health failing slowly from Bright's disease, she died in the White House on August 6, 1914. On the day before her death, she made her physician promise to tell Wilson "later" that she hoped he would marry again; she murmured at the end, "...take good care of my husband." Struggling grimly to control his grief, Wilson took her to Rome for burial among her kin. The President would later marry Edith Bolling Galt in 1915.

References

*"Original text based on [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/ew28-1.html White House biography] "

External links

* [http://www.american-presidents.org/2007/03/president-wilsons-other-wife.html President Wilson's Other Wife] - discusses Ellen Wilson with particular attention to her painting


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ellen Louise Axson Wilson — Ellen Wilson Ellen Wilson (* 15. Mai 1860 in Savannah, Georgia als Ellen Louise Axson; † 6. August 1914 im Weißen Haus, Washington D.C.) war die erste Ehefrau von US Präsident Woodrow Wilson und die First Lady der USA von 1913 bis zu ihrem Tod.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ellen Wilson — is the name of:*Ellen Axson Wilson (1860 1914), American First Lady *Ellen Bernice Wilson (born 1976), American judoka …   Wikipedia

  • Wilson, Ellen — ▪ American first lady née  Ellen Louise Axson  born May 15, 1860, Savannah, Georgia, U.S. died August 6, 1914, Washington, D.C.  American first lady (1913–14), the first wife of Woodrow Wilson (Wilson, Woodrow), 28th president of the United… …   Universalium

  • Wilson, Woodrow — ▪ president of United States Introduction in full  Thomas Woodrow Wilson  born December 28, 1856, Staunton, Virginia, U.S. died February 3, 1924, Washington, D.C.  28th president of the United States (1913–21), an American scholar and statesman… …   Universalium

  • Ellen Wilson — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Ellen et Wilson. Ellen Louise Axson Wilson, née le 15 mai 1860 et morte le 6  …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Woodrow Wilson — Infobox President name=Thomas Woodrow Wilson order=28th office=President of the United States term start=March 4, 1913 term end=March 4, 1921 vicepresident=Thomas R. Marshall (1913 1921) predecessor=William Howard Taft successor=Warren G. Harding …   Wikipedia

  • Ellen Wilson — (* 15. Mai 1860 in Savannah, Georgia als Ellen Louise Axson; † 6. August 1914 im Weißen Haus, Washington D.C.) war die erste Ehefrau von US Präsident Woodrow Wilson und die First Lady der USA von 1913 bis zu ihrem Tod …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wilson,Ellen Louise Axson — Wilson, Ellen Louise Axson. 1860 1914. First Lady of the United States (1913 1914) as the first wife of President Woodrow Wilson. She died during Wilson s first term. * * * …   Universalium

  • Eleanor Wilson McAdoo — Eleanor Randolph Wilson McAdoo (16 October 1889 – 5 April 1967) was an American author who wrote about her famous father, Woodrow Wilson. She usually went by the nickname Nellie …   Wikipedia

  • Edith Bolling Galt Wilson — Infobox First Lady honorific prefix = name = Edith Bolling Galt Wilson honorific suffix = imagesize = caption = order = office = First Lady of the United States term start = December 18 1915 term end = March 4 1921 predecessor = Ellen Axson… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”