Grace Coolidge, former teacher of the deaf and charismatic First Lady.
Several of our First Ladies have had experience as educators. One of these was Grace Coolidge, wife of President Calvin Coolidge. She taught at the Clarke Institute for Hearing and Speech in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Grace Goodhue was born and raised in Burlington, Vermont, She earned her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Vermont. Following her graduation, she traveled to Massachusetts to study and teach at the Clarke Institute. The school was made famous by Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, and other prominent educators of the deaf. There she worked first with students in the primary grades and later with middle school students. As a teacher, Grace had a reputation for being charismatic, and for bringing energy and warmth to her classroom. Her students loved her, and she felt she had truly found her calling.
While teaching at the Clarke Institute, she began to date a man who was known for being exceedingly shy and quiet. His name? Calvin Coolidge. In fact, he was so reserved that he became known as “Silent Cal.” During the time Grace and Calvin were dating, he gifted the young teacher with a beautiful illustrated children’s book to share with her students. In the book he wrote this inscription: “I wonder if your students realize what a good teacher you are.”
Grace and Calvin married in 1905, and, following the custom of the day, she retired from the teaching profession. Once they returned from their honeymoon, the ambitious but introverted man launched his career in politics. When President Warren G. Harding passed away in office in 1923, Calvin became president. Grace became First Lady, serving in that roll until her husband left office in 1929. During her tenure, Grace Coolidge did volunteer work for the Red Cross, the Civil Defense, and the Visiting Nurse Association. For this work, she garnered a gold medal from the National Institute of Social Science. In 1931 she was voted one of America’s twelve greatest living women.
To learn more about this amazing educator and First Lady, click on this link to the Encyclopedia Brittanica.
