Skip to Main Content

U.S. First Ladies: Caroline Harrison

This guide will give you information about the First Ladies of the United States.

Picture

Caroline Scott Harrison

(1832-1892)

Profile

Occupation
  • Women's Rights Activist
  • U.S. First Lady (April 30, 1789 - March 4, 1797)
Date of Birth October 1, 1832
Date of Death October 25, 1892
Place of Birth Oxford, OH
Place of Death Washington, D. C.
Nickname "Carrie"
Parents
  • Mary N. Scott
  • John W. Scott
Spouses Benjamin Harrison
Number of Children Two

Biography

Caroline Harrison was born on October 1, 1832, in Oxford, Ohio. She studied at schools in Ohio and had a talent for painting and music. She married future U.S. President Benjamin Harrison in 1853, and they had two children. They moved to Washington, D.C., when he was elected to the Senate, and stayed there throughout his presidency. Caroline died of tuberculosis during her husband's re-election campaign in 1892.

Quotes

 “Since this society has been organized, and so much thought and reading directed to the early struggle of this country, it has been made plain that much of its success was due to the character of the women of that era. The unselfish part they acted constantly commends itself to our admiration and example.”

—Caroline Harrison
 
“We have within ourselves the only element of destruction; our foes are from within, not without. It has been said 'that the men to make a country are made by self-denial,' and is it not true that this society, to live and grow and become what we would desire it to be, must be composed of self-denying women? Our hope is in unity and self-sacrifice.”
—Caroline Harrison

Books Located in the Library