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August 28, 2025
Lucy Webb Hayes
August 28, 1831
Lucy Ware Webb Hayes – Born August 28, 1831 (Chillicothe, OH). Died June 25, 1889 (Fremont, OH).
o Lucy was well-educated for a woman of her times and is credited with being the first to complete a higher education program. At the Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College, she received a liberal arts and sciences background.
o Lucy was an abolitionist and an early supporter of the Republican party.
o During the Civil War she visited her injured husband at his encampment in Maryland to help nurse him back to health. She also assisted in caring for other soldiers and earned the title of “Mother of the Regiment.”
o While her husband served in Congress, she split her time between Ohio and Washington, D.C. When he was governor of Ohio, Lucy Hayes accompanied him to state reform schools, prisons, and asylums.
O A temperance advocate, she banned alcohol in the White House. After she left the White House, the nickname “Lemonade Lucy” was given to her, although her husband was just as keen an advocate of a dry White House, as were many other residents of the mansion before and after.
o Because of her active involvement in the White House, numerous friends, and cheerful disposition, Lucy Hayes was regarded as one of the most-liked women to ever serve as first lady.
o She is credited with having the first documented schedule of independent appearances for a first lady while the couple visited Philadelphia.
o She began the Easter Egg Roll.
Quote:
“Women’s minds are as strong as man’s – equal in all things and superior in some.”
