Grace Coolidge

Grace Coolidge
Coolidge in 1924
First Lady of the United States
In role
August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929
PresidentCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byFlorence Harding
Succeeded byLou Hoover
Second Lady of the United States
In role
March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923
Vice PresidentCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byLois Marshall
Succeeded byCaro Dawes
First Lady of Massachusetts
In role
January 2, 1919 – January 6, 1921
GovernorCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byElla McCall
Succeeded byMary Cox
Second Lady of Massachusetts
In role
January 6, 1916 – January 2, 1919
Lieutenant GovernorCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byBeatrice Barry (1915)
Succeeded byMary Cox
First Lady of Northampton
In role
January 3, 1910 – January 1, 1912
MayorCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byMargaret O'Brien
Succeeded byCatherine Feiker
Personal details
Born
Grace Anna Goodhue

(1879-01-03)January 3, 1879
Burlington, Vermont, U.S.
DiedJuly 8, 1957(1957-07-08) (aged 78)
Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Resting placePlymouth Notch Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
(m. 1905; died 1933)
Children2, including John
EducationUniversity of Vermont
Signature

Grace Anna Coolidge (née Goodhue; January 3, 1879 – July 8, 1957) was the wife of the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge. She was the first lady of the United States from 1923 to 1929 and the second lady of the United States from 1921 to 1923. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 1902 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in teaching and joined the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech in Northampton, Massachusetts, to teach deaf children to communicate by lip reading, rather than by signing.[1] She met Calvin Coolidge in 1904, and the two were married the following year.

As her husband advanced his political career, Coolidge avoided politics. When Calvin Coolidge was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1919, she remained at home in Northampton with their children. After her husband's election as vice president in 1920, the family moved to Washington, D.C., living at the Willard Hotel. Coolidge did not speak out on political issues of the day, including women's rights. Instead, she dedicated herself to supporting popular causes and organizations, such as the Red Cross and the Visiting Nurse Association. Following the unexpected death of her young teenage son Calvin in 1924 from blood poisoning, she won the sympathy of the country. Unlike previous first ladies, who had withdrawn almost entirely from the public spotlight after personal tragedies, Coolidge resumed her role after a few months.

In 1929, Calvin Coolidge's term as president ended, and the couple retired to Northampton. After her husband's death in 1933, Coolidge continued her work with the deaf and wrote for several magazines. She served on the boards of Mercersburg Academy and the Clarke School. After the start of World War II, Grace joined a local Northampton committee dedicated to helping Jewish refugees from Europe, and loaned her house to WAVES. In 1957, she died of heart disease, and was buried in Plymouth, Vermont, beside her husband and her son.

  1. ^ "Grace Coolidge | biography - American first lady". Retrieved 2015-05-18.