Women of the Roosevelt World
Theodore Roosevelt's story is full of remarkable women. A mother from Georgia. Two sisters he leaned on all his life. A first wife lost too soon. A second wife who ran the White House, and a daughter who was a force in Washington for six decades. A younger daughter who served in wartime France, and a niece who became First Lady herself.
Here are their stories, each in its own right.
Martha "Mittie" Bulloch Roosevelt
T.R.'s mother grew up in Georgia and filled her children's heads with stories of the South. She died on February 14, 1884, the same day as T.R.'s first wife.
Anna "Bamie" Roosevelt Cowles
T.R.'s older sister raised his infant daughter, Alice, after her mother's death, and became one of his most trusted sounding boards.
Corinne Roosevelt Robinson
The youngest of the four Roosevelt children championed her brother all her life, published books of poetry, and spoke up for his causes.
Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt
T.R.'s first wife died on February 14, 1884, two days after giving birth to their daughter, Alice.
Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt
His childhood friend and second wife ran the White House for seven and a half years and set the 1902 renovation in motion.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
T.R.'s eldest child was a celebrity at 17 and a force in Washington for six decades.
Ethel Roosevelt Derby
His younger daughter nursed wounded soldiers in Paris in World War I and helped preserve Sagamore Hill.
Eleanor Roosevelt
The daughter of T.R.'s brother Elliott married her distant cousin Franklin in 1905, with T.R. giving the bride away, and became First Lady in 1933.
First Lady Edith Roosevelt, photographed in 1902 by Frances Benjamin Johnston. (Frances Benjamin Johnston / Library of Congress)
Edith Roosevelt, in Depth
Edith Roosevelt, First Lady
A social secretary, weekly Cabinet wives’ meetings and East Room musicales gave the job its modern shape.
Remaking the White House, 1902
How her call to architect Charles McKim produced a restored White House and a new West Wing.
Edith Roosevelt After the White House
War, widowhood, a journey around the world and a surprise turn in the 1932 campaign.
Edith Roosevelt in Her Own Words
Her travel writing, her family history and her words from the 1932 campaign, each with its source.
Running the White House
How Edith took stock of the house, fixed its social calendar and opened a new door for guests.
Edith Roosevelt and the Presidential China
Presidential dinnerware goes on view for visitors, and Edith refuses to let the chipped state china be auctioned.
Edith Roosevelt’s Colonial Gardens
The fight over the greenhouses, and the old-fashioned flowers that grew where the Rose Garden is today.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth, in Depth
Alice and the 1905 Taft Mission
An emperor, an empress dowager, a canvas pool on deck and a shipboard romance.
Mrs. L. of Washington
The League of Nations fight, a famous embroidered pillow and six decades of holding court.
A Complicated Legacy
America First, family feuds and her hardest years, told plainly.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth in Her Own Words
What she really said, what she didn’t, and where each line first appeared in print.
Alice Roosevelt in 1902. The press called her "Princess Alice." (Frances Benjamin Johnston / Library of Congress)
Continue Reading
- Women of the Roosevelt World: A Primary-Source Lesson: Letters, a portrait and newspapers for grades 6–12, with guiding questions
- The Roosevelt Family
- Theodore Roosevelt's Children
- The People in Roosevelt's Life
- The White House Family
Primary Sources
- Family and Friends, Theodore Roosevelt Center encyclopedia
- Alice Roosevelt Longworth Papers, Library of Congress
Recommended Reading
- Betty Boyd Caroli, The Roosevelt Women (Basic Books, 1998). ISBN 978-0-465-07133-3
- Lewis L. Gould, Edith Kermit Roosevelt: Creating the Modern First Lady (University Press of Kansas, 2013). ISBN 978-0-7006-1902-3
- Stacy A. Cordery, Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker (Viking, 2007). ISBN 978-0-670-01833-8