62 Facts About Rose Cleveland

Rose Elizabeth "Libby" Cleveland was an American author and lecturer.

Rose Cleveland was acting first lady of the United States from 1885 to 1886, during the presidency of her brother, Grover Cleveland.

Rose Cleveland used the role of first lady as a platform for her support of women's suffrage, expressing little interest in the household management associated with first ladies.

Rose Cleveland was editor of a literary magazine for several months, and she continued teaching and lecturing elsewhere.

Rose Cleveland met Evangeline Marrs Simpson in 1889, and the two became romantic partners, interrupted for several years by Simpson's marriage to Henry Benjamin Whipple.

Rose Elizabeth Cleveland was born in Fayetteville, New York, on June 13,1846.

Rose Cleveland had raised Cleveland and her siblings as Presbyterian, and she remained devoted to the religion her entire life.

In 1853, they moved to Holland Patent, New York, and their father died shortly afterward when Rose Cleveland was seven years old.

Rose Cleveland attended Houghton Academy in Buffalo, New York, from 1864 to 1866.

Rose Cleveland then taught at Hamilton College and at a girls school in Muncy, Pennsylvania, before returning to her family home in Holland Patent, called The Weeds, during a period of illness.

Besides teaching, Rose Cleveland became a prominent lecturer in the state of New York, speaking at schools about things such as history and women's rights.

When her brother Grover was elected to be the governor of New York in 1882, Rose Cleveland declined a teaching job in New York City so that she could assist him at the Executive Mansion.

Rose Cleveland inherited The Weeds when their mother died the same year.

Rose Cleveland was with her brother at the Executive Mansion when he learned that he had been elected president, and she stood by him during his presidential inauguration.

Rose Cleveland accepted the position, though she had little interest in it; she preferred academic life to social life.

Rose Cleveland grew bored with White House reception lines and once said that to pass the time she would conjugate Greek verbs in her head.

Rose Cleveland was sometimes assisted by her sister, Mary Hoyt.

Rose Cleveland was more academically-inclined than most women of her era.

Rose Cleveland's education served her well in the White House, where knowledge of history and foreign languages was an asset when speaking to dignitaries from around the world.

Shortly after her time as acting first lady began, Rose Cleveland published her first book: George Eliot's Poetry, and Other Studies.

Rose Cleveland then published a novel, The Long Run, in 1886.

Rose Cleveland befriended her predecessor Mary Arthur McElroy; both were the sisters of presidents who became White House hostess.

The president kept the press from taking pictures of Rose Cleveland, meaning that descriptions of her were often second-hand.

Rose Cleveland was described by contemporaries as "masculine" and as a "bluestocking".

Rose Cleveland was generally well-liked by the public for what they saw as a moral lifestyle.

Rose Cleveland was praised for her ability to remember everyone who she interacted with.

Rose Cleveland held strong progressive opinions, and she continued to express them while she was acting as first lady.

Rose Cleveland lived by the ideal of the New Woman that was advocated by the feminist movement of the time.

Rose Cleveland publicly supported women's suffrage, and she supported the temperance movement, banning wine in the White House.

Rose Cleveland held a love of fashion and opted for bright dresses.

Rose Cleveland used her platform as first lady to promote the Women's Anthropological Society, which advocated the inclusion of women in science.

Rose Cleveland still held other prejudices common of the time, advising her brother not to appoint a significant number of Catholics to government positions.

When her brother's bride, Frances Folsom, arrived in Washington on June 1,1886, Rose Cleveland met her and her mother at the train station and escorted them to the White House.

Rose Cleveland approved of the marriage, in large part because it meant that she could return to her previous life.

Rose Cleveland helped organize their wedding, and she left the White House after they were married, though she often returned in a social capacity.

Rose Cleveland's brother urged her to decline, fearing that the magazine only wished to take advantage of her relation to the president.

Rose Cleveland offered her an annual sum of $6,000 to not take any such position.

Rose Cleveland refused any income from her brother, wishing to be financially independent.

Rose Cleveland served as editor for only a few months before leaving, as she fell ill and the magazine was having financial problems.

In 1887, Rose Cleveland moved to New York City to teach history at Sylvanus Reed's School for Girls.

Rose Cleveland rarely went out while teaching at the boarding school, instead focusing on her writing.

Rose Cleveland left the following year after a disagreement with Reed regarding salary.

Rose Cleveland made several trips to Europe over the following years.

Rose Cleveland's prominence allowed her to socialize with celebrities and important political figures.

Rose Cleveland continued to express her political beliefs after leaving the White House.

Rose Cleveland kept an orange grove in Dunnellon that became profitable shortly after these trips began.

Rose Cleveland was in constant anticipation of these letters and always demanded further contact from Simpson.

Rose Cleveland traveled to Europe for a year to escape the situation before returning to the United States to work as a teacher.

Rose Cleveland began spending more time with their friend Evelyn Ames in 1895.

Rose Cleveland unsuccessfully urged Simpson not to go through with it.

Rose Cleveland decided on a trip to Europe afterward, and Ames joined her on the USS Normannia on December 5,1896.

Rose Cleveland returned to The Weeds in 1899, living there with Ames.

Rose Cleveland founded the Florida Audubon Society along with the Whipple and Marrs families in 1900 and served as its vice president.

The bishop died on September 16,1901, and Rose Cleveland again insisted on a romance between her and Whipple.

Rose Cleveland managed her Islesboro farm and her Dunnellon grove until 1907, when she became too old to manage them both and sold the grove with Whipple's assistance.

When Whipple's brother fell ill in Italy in 1910, Rose Cleveland accompanied her there to care for him.

Rose Cleveland felt less of an inclination to write while living in Italy, as social norms were more relaxed in a way that allowed expats to have same-sex relationships.

Rose Cleveland worked to recruit more physicians and nurses to help refugees during the war.

Rose Cleveland contracted the flu while caring for Erichsen and died on November 22,1918.

Rose Cleveland wrote or contributed to multiple literary works in her lifetime.

Rose Cleveland wrote multiple works of fiction about a doctor treating an unknown illness.

Rose Cleveland wrote poetry for Whipple, and rather than describing their love, she told of her inability to find words that describe it.