Many First Ladies have supported education and even worked as teachers before they went to the White House. One of these was First Lady Lucy Hayes, who taught deaf and speech-impaired orphans.

Many of our nation’s presidential wives supported education and even worked as teachers before their husbands were elected to the highest office of the land. One of these was Lucy Hayes, wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes, our country’s 19th President. After serving in the US House of Representatives and as the Governor of Ohio, Hayes served as President from 1877 to 1881.

Lucy Webb was born on August 28, 1831, in Chilicothe, Ohio, the daughter of Dr. James Webb and Maria Cook.

As First Lady, Lucy Hayes was widely considered the role model of a modern educated woman. In fact, she was the first First Lady to have earned a college degree, having graduated from Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College in 1850

When her husband served as the Governor of Ohio, Lucy worked as a teacher of hearing and speech-impaired orphans. She often accompanied her husband on his visits to prisons, correctional institutions for boys and girls, hospitals for the mentally ill, and facilities for the deaf and mute. She was also part of a group that established a home for the orphans of soldiers.

As First Lady, she regularly visited schools in all corners of the young democracy. She made a special effort to include visits to schools dedicated to the education of African American men and women, Native Americans, and impoverished white students. Lucy supported her husband’s commitment to public education, and served as president of the Women’s Home Missionary Society, an organization dedicated to educating and improving the living conditions of the poor.

To read more about First Lady Lucy Hayes, see the  book From Classroom to White House: The Presidents  and First Ladies as Students and Teachers by James McMurtry Longo, available on amazon.