page_title: Caroline Harrison
section_title: First Lady of the United States
hierarchical_section_title: Caroline Harrison / First Lady of the United States
context_page_description: Caroline Lavinia Harrison, was a teacher of music, the wife of Benjamin Harrison and mother of two surviving children; after his election as President of the United States, she was the First Lady of the United States from 1889 until her death.
  She secured funding for an extensive renovation of the White House and oversaw the work. Interested in history and preservation, in 1890 she helped found the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and served as its first President General.
context_section_description: During the Harrison administration, their daughter Mary Harrison McKee, her two children; Caroline's father, and other relatives lived at the White House. The First Lady tried to have the overcrowded mansion enlarged, but was unsuccessful. She did secure $35,000 in appropriations from Congress to renovate the White House; and she oversaw an extensive project making up-to-date improvements.
  She had the mansion purged of the problem of rodent and insect populations, laid new floors, installed new plumbing, painted and wallpapered, and added more bathrooms. In 1891 she had electricity installed but was too frightened to handle the switches. She left the lights on all night and a building engineer turned them off each morning.
  In 1889 Caroline Harrison raised the first Christmas tree in the White House, as the custom was becoming more popular. She introduced the use of orchids as the official floral decoration at state receptions. A talented artist, she conducted china-painting classes in the White House for other women; it was a popular craft of the time.
  With other ladies of progressive views, she helped raise funds for the Johns Hopkins University Medical School on the condition that it admit women.
  The centennial of President Washington's inauguration in 1889 heightened the nation's interest in its heroic past, and in 1890 she lent her prestige as First Lady to the founding the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) and served as its first President General. She took a special interest in the history of the White House.
  She had a dog named Dash, who was a mixed breed collie. It was reported that he was always wanting to play with his owner, but Harrison couldn't because he feared his colleagues would think of him as less of a man.
caption: Dog house and resident Dash
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