First Ladies library and the McKinley house

I must’ve been searching the national parks website when I found the First Ladies library information because I had never heard of it. It’s in Canton and consists of a building featuring an exhibition and the Saxton-McKinley house. The current exhibition was Rising to the Occasion. They focused on the first ladies that served during times of war, assassinations, and national tragedies. Dolley Madison, Mary Lincoln, Edith Wilson, Barbara Bush, Lucretia Garfield, Jacqueline Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt, Laura Bush were the eight first ladies featured. We saw gifts Laura Bush received during the 9-11 attack like prayer shawls and jewelry with flag designs. We listened to Eleanor Roosevelt’s speech to the country after Pearl Harbor was bombed and saw a letter from the Queen encouraging Lucretia Garfield when her husband was shot. We learned about Edith Wilson using sheep to keep up the White House lawn during WWI. She donated the wool to charitable organizations that auctioned it off and raised money for Red Cross.

The Saxon-McKinley house was Ida Saxton-McKinley’s family home where President and Mrs. McKinley lived. The house was scheduled to be demolished in the late 1800s when a man whose family purchased it from the McKinley’s made it known that the former president lived there. It had a great banister railing, period pieces and some original pieces.

Our guide was full of information about various first ladies like Ruth Pierce who begged her husband not to run for president. They’d lost two boys and their third son was lost when their train derailed so she was in mourning the whole time her husband was in office. Theodore Roosevelt’s children brought a horse up in the elevator to the second floor which is where meetings used to be held. During his term he added the oval office in the west wing; this might not be a coincidence. The Harrison’s were the first to have electricity in the White House, but they were afraid of it and had the servants turn it on and off. It was another enjoyable afternoon of learning, but pictures were prohibited. Darn! Here’s the McKinley’s home.