Harrison, Caroline Scott (1832-1892), was the first wife of Benjamin Harrison, who served as president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. She had a strong interest in painting and music, and especially enjoyed painting on china. As first lady, she designed her own china. She gathered china pieces from earlier presidencies that were in storage to start the White House china collection. The collection is displayed in the China Room of the White House.
Mrs. Harrison believed in education for women. While first lady, she helped raise funds to open a medical school at Johns Hopkins University on the condition that it would admit women.
Mrs. Harrison, whose maiden name was Caroline Lavinia Scott, was born in Oxford, Ohio, on Oct. 1, 1832. She was often called “Carrie.” Her father was a Presbyterian minister and a college professor. Both of her parents promoted education for women and girls. Her father founded a college for women, which came to be called Oxford Female Institute. Caroline graduated from the school in 1852. While attending college, she sometimes taught music classes to other students. After graduating, she taught at a school for girls in Carrollton, Kentucky. She worked there for less than a year, and then returned to Oxford.
Caroline Scott met Benjamin Harrison in the late 1840’s, when Benjamin was a student of Caroline’s father. The couple became engaged in 1852, when Harrison was a senior at Miami University in Oxford. They married on Oct. 20, 1853. The Harrisons had two children, Russell Benjamin, born in 1854; and Mary, born in 1858. The family settled in Indianapolis in 1854.
When she became first lady in 1889, Mrs. Harrison wanted to make structural changes to the White House and enlarge the building. But Congress did not approve funds for this project. The first lady settled for some remodeling. Electric wiring was first installed in the White House while Mrs. Harrison was first lady. But she and the president feared electric shocks from the new development and would not touch the switches.
Mrs. Harrison fell ill shortly after becoming first lady, but she worked hard to carry out her White House hostess duties. She died on Oct. 25, 1892, about four months before President Harrison’s term ended. Benjamin Harrison remarried in 1896.
See also Harrison, Benjamin .
