Edith Roosevelt 1861–1948 | Ethel Roosevelt 1891–1977

Born Norwich Connecticut First Lady 1901–1909

Edith Kermit Carow and Theodore Roosevelt were teenage sweethearts, but they did not marry until later. His first wife, Alice Lee Roosevelt, died after childbirth on February 14, 1884, the same day he lost his mother. Two years later, Edith and Theodore Roosevelt married in London. In the White House, Edith Roosevelt focused on raising her stepdaughter, Alice, and the couple’s five rambunctious children while modernizing the role of first lady. She broke tradition by hiring a social secretary; appointed a chief usher; oversaw a major renovation of the White House; and established the East Wing, creating a suite of offices for the First Lady.

This double portrait of Edith Roosevelt and her daughter Ethel was painted by Cecilia Beaux. Having trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and the Académie Julian in Paris, Beaux was one of the most prominent society portraitists of her generation.

Collection of Sarah Chapman