Frances Cleveland with the Wives of President Cleveland’s Cabinet Members

This group portrait was taken by Frances Benjamin Johnston, one of the first prominent women photographers in the United States. It is one of several that documents the regular meetings of the Washington wives who had the power to both influence and impact their husbands’ careers in often unexpected ways. In addition to these meetings, Frances Folsom Cleveland held weekly Saturday afternoon receptions so that working women could attend official functions at the White House.

Throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth, it was expected that the first lady would socialize with the wives of her husband’s cabinet members.

Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864–1952)

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution