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Rose Cleveland

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Rose Cleveland
Acting First Lady of the United States
In role
March 4, 1885 – June 2, 1886
PresidentGrover Cleveland
Preceded byMary McElroy (acting)
Succeeded byFrances Cleveland
Personal details
Born
Rose Elizabeth Cleveland

(1846-06-13)June 13, 1846
Fayetteville, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 22, 1918(1918-11-22) (aged 72)
Bagni di Lucca, Tuscany, Kingdom of Italy
EducationHoughton Academy

Rose Elizabeth "Libby" Cleveland (June 13, 1846 – November 22, 1918) served as first lady of the United States from 1885 to 1886, during the first term of her brother, President Grover Cleveland's two administrations. The president was a bachelor until he married Frances Folsom on June 2, 1886, fourteen months into his first term.[1]

Early life

Rose Elizabeth Cleveland was born in Fayetteville, New York, on June 13, 1846. The ninth and youngest child of Reverend Richard Falley Cleveland and Ann Neal Cleveland, she was known as "Libby" within her family. The Clevelands moved to Holland Patent, New York, in 1853, and their father died shortly afterward when Rose was seven years old.[2]: 181 

Rose's brother Grover Cleveland saw to it that she was well-educated, personally paying for her schooling.[3]: 392  Growing up, she attended the Houghton Academy, and she then took a teaching position at the school. She later taught at the Collegiate Institute in Lafayette, Indiana, and at a girls school in Muncy, Pennsylvania.[2]: 181  She also became a public lecturer, speaking on issues such as women's rights.[4][3]: 141  She then returned to her mother in their home in Holland Patent, "The Weeds", to care for her until Ann died in 1882. While in Holland Patent, Cleveland taught Sunday school.[2]: 181 

When her brother Grover was elected to be the governor of New York in 1882, Cleveland declined a teaching job in New York City so that she could assist him at the Executive Mansion.[5]: 266  She was with her brother at the Executive Mansion when he learned that he had been elected president,[6]: 248  and she stood by him during his presidential inauguration.[7]

Acting first lady of the United States

Rose Cleveland

When Cleveland's brother Grover became president of the United States, he had no wife to serve as first lady, so he asked her to fulfill the role.[2]: 181  She accepted the position, though she had little interest in it; she preferred academic life to social life.[7] She grew bored with White House reception lines, and she once said that to pass the time she would conjugate Greek verbs in her head.[4]

Cleveland was more academically-inclined than most women of her era, which was a distinction she held from the first ladies before her.[4] Among the prominent guests that visited the White House, she was more interested in speaking to those such as historian George Bancroft.[2]: 182  Shortly after her time as acting first lady began, she published her first book: George Eliot's Poetry, and Other Studies.[7][5]: 267  She also published a novel, The Long Run, in 1886.[7] Her writings were treated less seriously because she was a woman.[4] Despite this, her national renown as first lady helped sales, and she ultimately earned $25,000 (equivalent to $847,778 in 2023) in royalties across twelve published editions.[6]: 248 [3]: 393 

The president kept the press from taking pictures of Cleveland, meaning that descriptions of her were often second-hand.[5]: 248  She was described by contemporaries as "masculine" and as a "bluestocking".[6]: 248 [5]: 268  Public descriptions of her short hair and her strong views on women contributed to this image. Many who knew her found her firm demeanor to be intimidating.[6]: 248  Her seriousness was beneficial to her brother, as it gave a respectable image to the White House that the president was sometimes unable to convey.[8] Cleveland held strong opinions, and she continued to express them while she was acting as first lady. She publicly supported women's suffrage, and she supported the temperance movement, banning wine in the White House.[6]: 248 [3]: 141  She also advised her brother not to appoint a significant number of Catholics to government positions.[6]: 249  Using her influence as first lady, she expressed support for the Women's Anthropological Society, which advocated the inclusion of women in science. She was praised for her ability to remember everyone who she interacted with.[5]: 266 

While she was acting as first lady, Cleveland became the subject of a ballad by Eugene Field in which she asked President Cleveland about whether he intended to marry.[6]: 250  When her brother's bride, Frances Folsom, arrived in Washington in June 1, 1886, Cleveland met her and her mother at the train station and escorted them to the White House. Cleveland approved of the marriage, in large part because it meant that she could return to her previous life.[3]: 141  She left the White House after the wedding.[4]

Later life

The graves of Cleveland and Whipple in Bagni di Lucca, Italy

A month after Cleveland left the White House, she moved to Chicago to become the editor of the magazine Literary Life. Her brother urged her to decline, fearing that the magazine only wished to take advantage of her relation to the president. He reportedly offered her an annual sum of $6,000 (equivalent to $203,467 in 2023) to decline such a position.[5]: 267  She served as editor for only a few months before leaving, as she fell ill and the magazine was having financial problems.[2]: 186  The following year, she moved to New York City to teach history at Sylvanus Reed's School for Girls,[2]: 189  and she moved to Lafayette, Indiana, to serve as the head of the Collegiate Institute.[7] In the final days of Grover's presidency, the first lady held a lunch in Rose's honor.[3]: 144  Cleveland continued to express her political beliefs after leaving the White House. In 1887, published a short story that was critical of women's fashion, which she believed was detrimental to women's health. In 1909, she signed the national petition supporting women's suffrage.[5]: 266 

In 1889, Cleveland began a romance with Evangeline Marrs Simpson while staying in Florida.[5]: 267  Their relationship progressed over the following years, and their correspondences became more explicitly sexual.[9] The relationship was known by their families,[8] but there is no indication that the public knew of their relationship's romantic nature.[5]: 267  Their relationship ended in 1896, when Simpson was engaged to the bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple, despite Cleveland's protests. After the wedding, Cleveland moved to Europe, where she lived privately for the following three years. Her correspondences with Evangeline Whipple were formal and emotionless.[8]

Cleveland and Whipple reunited after the bishop's death in 1901. When Whipple's brother fell ill in Italy in 1910, they moved to the country to care for him.[8] They chose to remain in the country afterward, settling in Bagni di Lucca.[5]: 267  Together, they contributed to relief efforts in response to World War I and the Spanish flu.[4] Cleveland contracted the flu, and she died on November 22, 1918.[5]: 267  By Whipple's request, she was buried beside Cleveland upon her own death twelve years later.[9]

Cleveland's romantic letters to Whipple were acquired by the Minnesota Historical Society as part of their collection on Henry Benjamin Whipple. They were kept sealed until American Library Association's Gay Task Force requested that they be catalogued.[5]: 267–268  They were published as a full collection in 2019.[8]

Selected works

Rose Cleveland wrote or contributed to multiple literary works in her lifetime. Several of her works of fiction involve a doctor treating an unknown illness. In some cases, the illness is an allegory for subjugation of women.[2]: 188 

  • George Eliot's Poetry, and Other Studies – An 1885 collection of essays[5]: 267 
  • The Long Run – An 1886 novel[7]
  • Literary Life – A literary magazine of which Cleveland was the editor for several months in 1886[5]: 267 
  • "The Dilemma of the Nineteenth Century" – A satirical 1886 poem about women's rights, published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine[2]: 187 
  • "Woman in the Home" – An 1886 essay about women's rights, published in The Chautauquan[2]: 187 
  • "Robin Adair" – An 1887 short romance story, published in Godey's Lady's Book; Cleveland used the story to criticize women's fashion[5]: 267 
  • How to Win: A Book for Girls – An 1887 book co-authored by Cleveland with suffragist Frances Willard[7]
  • The Social Mirror – An 1888 etiquette guide with an introduction written by Cleveland[2]: 183 
  • "My Florida" – An 1890 essay encouraging readers to visit Florida[2]: 190 
  • Soliloquies of Augustine – Translated by Cleveland in 1910 with annotations[7]

References

  1. ^ "Frances Cleveland Biography :: Rose Elizabeth Cleveland". firstladies.org. National First Ladies' Library. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hardy, Rob (2007). "The Passion of Rose Elizabeth Cleveland". New England Review (1990-). 28 (1): 180–193. ISSN 1053-1297.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Schneider, Dorothy; Schneider, Carl J. (2010). First Ladies: A Biographical Dictionary (3rd ed.). Facts on File. ISBN 978-1-4381-0815-5.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Caroli, Betty Boyd (2010). First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama. Oxford University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-19-539285-2.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Scofield, Merry Ellen (2016). "Rose Cleveland, Frances Cleveland, Caroline Harrison, Mary McKee". In Sibley, Katherine A. S. (ed.). A Companion to First Ladies. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 265–282. ISBN 978-1-118-73218-2. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Anthony, Carl Sferrazza (1990). First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents' Wives and Their Power, 1789-1961. William Morrow and Company. ISBN 9780688112721.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Strock, Ian Randal (2016). Ranking the First Ladies. Carrel Books. p. 88. ISBN 9781631440601.
  8. ^ a b c d e Brockell, Gillian (June 24, 2019). "A gay first lady? Yes, we've already had one, and here are her love letters". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Faderman, Lillian (2012). Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America. Columbia University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-231-53074-3.

Further reading

  • Ehrenhalt, Lizzie; Laskey, Tilly, eds. (2019). Precious and Adored: The Love Letters of Rose Cleveland and Evangeline Simpson Whipple, 1890–1918. Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 9781681341293.
  • Hardy, Rob. "The Passion of Rose Elizabeth Cleveland." New England Review 28.1 (2007): 180, 193, 207
  • Lillie, Lucy C. "The Mistress of the White House." Lippincotts Monthly Magazine 1887: 81–94
  • "Society Stars." Boston Daily Globe (Mar 14 1886): 4.
Honorary titles
Preceded by First Lady of the United States
Acting
1885–1886 		Succeeded by
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