Advertisement

Alice Lee <I>Roosevelt</I> Longworth

Advertisement

Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth Famous memorial

Birth
New York, New York County, New York, USA
Death
20 Feb 1980 (aged 96)
Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA
Burial
Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA GPS-Latitude: 38.9456838, Longitude: -77.0115317
Plot
Section F, Lot 51
Memorial ID
View Source
American Socialite, Folk Figure. She was a mainstay of the Washington D.C. scene for decades, unconventional, irreverent, witty, liberated and politically influential. She held court and lobbied for change at her home near Dupont Circle on Massachusetts Avenue, Washington's Embassy Row. It was the meeting place of many high-ranking politicians. She publicly quarreled with many famous Americans and chastised them with an acid tongue in the form of witty sarcastic remarks. In the forefront were members of her own family, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. An utterance toward Franklin Roosevelt..."I'd rather vote for Hitler than to vote for him." Her best was reserved for Eleanor Roosevelt, who she vilified her entire life and imitated perfectly at various high Republican gatherings. She heaped disparaging remarks, using every opportunity, upon her United State Congressman husband's home district of Cincinnati, Ohio calling its residents "ignorant savages." When asked if she would consider burial in Cincinnati, her response was "This would be a fate worse than death itself." She was born Alice Lee Roosevelt, the only daughter of the 26th President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt and his first wife Alice Hathaway Lee at 6 West 57th St, the family mansion in New York City. Her mother died two days after her birth of Bright's disease, a type of renal failure. Her father simply abandoned her until his remarriage to Edith Carrow when she was reunited at age three through the insistence of her new step-mother to the family. Alice had been living with her caretaker aunt. Her education was minimal; however, she rejected religion and remained a nonbeliever for her entire life. At the time her father became President, she was still a teenager. She shattered precedents in an era when women conformed to a strict code of conduct. She roamed the halls of the Executive mansion smoking and danced the fox trot publicly with a cigarette dangling from her lips, gaining national attention. Her father banned smoking in the White House but she countered by indulging on the roof. She drove her own car and was the bell of the ball when fully clothed, she plunged into the swimming pool. She was seen placing bets at local racetracks then in public wearing a boa constrictor around her neck. She set off firecrackers on the White House lawn and on a rail trip, shot at telegraph pole insulators with a pistol. Romance would enter her life while living in the White House and she would marry Nicholas Longworth, a Congressman from Ohio, in a dazzling White House wedding. Her residence became the family home in Cincinnati when not in Washington. She would return to the Capitol upon the death of her husband setting up residency on Massachusetts Avenue, which would be her home until her own death from emphysema and other old age symptoms in her decaying mansion, alone, at age 96, She was cremated and the urn was buried on top the grave of her daughter Paulina, who died years before. An author, she and Eleanor Roosevelt were competing newspaper columnists, but her "Capitol Comment" column was no match for her famous cousin's "My Day" and it was eventually cancelled. In 1932, she penned her autobiography, "Crowded Hours." In deference to her favorite color gray-blue, the song "Alice Blue Gown" was written. It became a hit song and sheet music sold as fast as printing allowed. She was a popular figure at public events during her entire life. She bore witness to the test flight of a Wright brothers biplane prototype in 1909 and was the 1926 California Rose Bowl Queen. After declining a dress rehearsal, Alice Roosevelt Longworth missed hitting the bow of the submarine repeatedly with the champagne bottle during the launch ceremony for the namesake nuclear submarine "Theodore Roosevelt," at Mare Island, San Francisco. She could have had a career in politics, however, she turned down offers to seek her husband's seat in Congress after his death but was a delegate to the Republican National Convention from Ohio in 1940. She worked against the entry of the United States into the League of Nations. Her dinners and receptions for Congressman and Senators are credited in a large measure to the derailment of America's membership in the League. After a 1960 burglary at her residence, she planted and trained poison ivy to climb the façade of the house as a deterrent to future attempts.
American Socialite, Folk Figure. She was a mainstay of the Washington D.C. scene for decades, unconventional, irreverent, witty, liberated and politically influential. She held court and lobbied for change at her home near Dupont Circle on Massachusetts Avenue, Washington's Embassy Row. It was the meeting place of many high-ranking politicians. She publicly quarreled with many famous Americans and chastised them with an acid tongue in the form of witty sarcastic remarks. In the forefront were members of her own family, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. An utterance toward Franklin Roosevelt..."I'd rather vote for Hitler than to vote for him." Her best was reserved for Eleanor Roosevelt, who she vilified her entire life and imitated perfectly at various high Republican gatherings. She heaped disparaging remarks, using every opportunity, upon her United State Congressman husband's home district of Cincinnati, Ohio calling its residents "ignorant savages." When asked if she would consider burial in Cincinnati, her response was "This would be a fate worse than death itself." She was born Alice Lee Roosevelt, the only daughter of the 26th President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt and his first wife Alice Hathaway Lee at 6 West 57th St, the family mansion in New York City. Her mother died two days after her birth of Bright's disease, a type of renal failure. Her father simply abandoned her until his remarriage to Edith Carrow when she was reunited at age three through the insistence of her new step-mother to the family. Alice had been living with her caretaker aunt. Her education was minimal; however, she rejected religion and remained a nonbeliever for her entire life. At the time her father became President, she was still a teenager. She shattered precedents in an era when women conformed to a strict code of conduct. She roamed the halls of the Executive mansion smoking and danced the fox trot publicly with a cigarette dangling from her lips, gaining national attention. Her father banned smoking in the White House but she countered by indulging on the roof. She drove her own car and was the bell of the ball when fully clothed, she plunged into the swimming pool. She was seen placing bets at local racetracks then in public wearing a boa constrictor around her neck. She set off firecrackers on the White House lawn and on a rail trip, shot at telegraph pole insulators with a pistol. Romance would enter her life while living in the White House and she would marry Nicholas Longworth, a Congressman from Ohio, in a dazzling White House wedding. Her residence became the family home in Cincinnati when not in Washington. She would return to the Capitol upon the death of her husband setting up residency on Massachusetts Avenue, which would be her home until her own death from emphysema and other old age symptoms in her decaying mansion, alone, at age 96, She was cremated and the urn was buried on top the grave of her daughter Paulina, who died years before. An author, she and Eleanor Roosevelt were competing newspaper columnists, but her "Capitol Comment" column was no match for her famous cousin's "My Day" and it was eventually cancelled. In 1932, she penned her autobiography, "Crowded Hours." In deference to her favorite color gray-blue, the song "Alice Blue Gown" was written. It became a hit song and sheet music sold as fast as printing allowed. She was a popular figure at public events during her entire life. She bore witness to the test flight of a Wright brothers biplane prototype in 1909 and was the 1926 California Rose Bowl Queen. After declining a dress rehearsal, Alice Roosevelt Longworth missed hitting the bow of the submarine repeatedly with the champagne bottle during the launch ceremony for the namesake nuclear submarine "Theodore Roosevelt," at Mare Island, San Francisco. She could have had a career in politics, however, she turned down offers to seek her husband's seat in Congress after his death but was a delegate to the Republican National Convention from Ohio in 1940. She worked against the entry of the United States into the League of Nations. Her dinners and receptions for Congressman and Senators are credited in a large measure to the derailment of America's membership in the League. After a 1960 burglary at her residence, she planted and trained poison ivy to climb the façade of the house as a deterrent to future attempts.

Bio by: Donald Greyfield



Advertisement

See more Longworth or Roosevelt memorials in:

Flower Delivery

Records on Ancestry

Sponsored by Ancestry

Advertisement

How famous was Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth ?

Current rating: 4.17323 out of 5 stars

254 votes

Sign-in to cast your vote.

  • Maintained by: Find a Grave
  • Added: Apr 25, 1998
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1656/alice_lee-longworth: accessed ), memorial page for Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (12 Feb 1884–20 Feb 1980), Find a Grave Memorial ID 1656, citing Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.