On April 11, 1924, one of the most unique events took place at the White House. It did not involve the President, a Phi Gamma Delta from Amherst College, and he was not a part of the festivities. It was the First Lady’s day to shine. The President did visit with some of their Massachusetts friends in the White House private quarters that day. They had socialized at Pi Beta Phi alumnae events when the couple lived in Massachusetts.
The day honored the First Lady, a charter member of the Vermont Beta Chapter of Pi Beta Phi at the University of Vermont. She had been an active member of the organization from her first days wearing the arrow. One of the women who met with the President that day was Anna Robinson Nickerson, Pi Phi’s Grand Vice President. She and the First Lady had met when they were chapter delegates at the 1901 Syracuse Convention.
The President and First Lady were initiated into Greek-letter organizations while enrolled in college, making them the first First Couple to have this designation. Grace and Calvin Coolidge were both proud of their affiliations with Phi Gamma Delta and Pi Beta Phi, respectively. When his fraternity gave him a new badge, he quipped that it was fortuitous because his wife was always wearing his.
Grace Goodhue Coolidge became First Lady on August 3, 1923 when President Warren G. Harding died unexpectedly in California. The Coolidges were at the family’s homestead in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, and the news made it to them four hours after Harding’s death. President Coolidge was sworn in by the light of a kerosene lamp in the sitting room of his father’s home; his father, a notary, administered the oath of office.
The excitement that the Fraternity members felt in having a dedicated, life-long member of Pi Beta Phi as the First Lady must have been incredible. News of the event appeared in the March 1924 Arrow. Every Pi Phi was invited to attend. The Fraternity made plans to purchase a portrait of the First Lady that was being painted by Howard Chandler Christy. Funds were sought from the membership and the financial goal was met quickly.
Mrs. Nickerson played an integral role in planning the event and acted as Toastmistress at the Banquet. She wrote to her friend asking her for permission to hold the event. The First Lady responded that she “would be deeply touched and greatly pleased to receive such a mark of affection and recognition” from Pi Beta Phi. With the help of May Brodhead Wallace, Iowa Gamma, wife of Secretary of Agriculture Henry C. Wallace, plans were made to entertain the Pi Phis at the White House. More than 1,300 Pi Phis made their way to Washington, D.C., to be a part of the Eastern Conference. The portrait of the First Lady painted by Howard Chandler Christy was paid for by her sorority sisters and was being presented to the United States. In the portrait, the First Lady is wearing her Pi Beta Phi arrow.
The Eastern Conference was the largest gathering of fraternity women up until that time. The Willard Hotel did not have enough room to serve all the attendees at the Saturday evening banquet. A second banquet at the Raleigh Hotel, with an identical menu and program, was arranged. After the meal, the Raleigh Hotel group adjourned to the Willard Hotel group for the speeches and ceremonies.
The Willard Hotel’s Red Room was the registration and reunion center; concerts were given there each afternoon. A tenth-floor ballroom served as the conference hall. At the ballroom’s south end, there was an exhibit of Pi Beta Phi Settlement School products. Black and white replicas of the Grace Coolidge portraits were sold for the benefit of the School’s library.
On Friday morning, the group met for a business session, but the business was mainly fun. Former Grand President Emma Harper Turner called the meeting to order. The group sang the Anthem. The Chicago Alumnae Club and Illinois Epsilon presented a special radio program featuring Kathryn Browne, Illinois Zeta. A Grand Opera star, she received special permission so that she could sing fraternity songs from a radio station in Chicago. Along with eight Illinois Epsilons as the chorus, she sang Speed Thee, My Arrow and Anthem. The banquet took place on Saturday evening. It culminated with a speech by another of the organization’s most prominent members, Carrie Chapman Catt, Iowa Gamma.
Between Friday morning’s fun session and Saturday’s trip to Mount Vernon and evening banquet was the capstone of the gathering, the presentation of the portrait. A group of Pi Phi notables processed from the Willard Hotel to the White House. An Arrow correspondent described the events:
The guests assembled in the historic East Room, forming a semi-circle about the panel on the west wall, where hung the curtains, in wine red velvet, with cords of silver blue, which covered the portrait. The presentation party was assembled in the Green Room. Promptly at four-thirty a section of the Marine Band began to play, announcing the opening the opening of the simple ceremony. The presentation group, led by Miss Onken and Mrs. Nickerson, came first from the Green Room, taking their places on the inner side of the circle, facing the portrait. On either side of the portrait stood the two active girls who were to draw the curtains.
Through the double doorway appeared the Army, Naval, and Marine Aides to the president. With the Senior Aides as escort, came Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the Land. She wore a soft grey georgette crepe afternoon dress trimmed with crystal, and, as jewels, a diamond eagle on her shoulder, a chain with a crystal pendant, a gold bracelet, her wedding ring, and the diamond studded arrow, which had been presented the day before by a group of personal friends in Pi Beta Phi. Wonderfully slim and straight, with arms at her side, she stood very still through the entire ceremony, except for a constant play of understanding appreciation, which lighted her expressive face.
The representatives of Vermont Beta and Michigan Beta drew the silver blue cords, the heavy wine-red curtains parted, and the portrait was revealed. Then, as Mrs. Nickerson put it, “to express a little of what was in their hearts,” the Anthem was sung, with Mrs. Coolidge joining in. After the portrait was presented, they moved to the Blue Room. There the guests were presented by name to the First Lady, and being her gracious self, she greeted each member.
The lower floors of the White House were open, so that the attendees had an opportunity to see the staterooms. At the conclusion of the reception, the group headed to the gardens, where a panoramic photo was taken. As the First Lady left the grounds after the picture, she spoke to the nearby Pi Phis, “This is the loveliest thing I have seen here. I should like to keep you here always, to make beautiful the White House lawn.”
The day the Pi Phis visited Mrs. Coolidge at the White House was a happy and memorable one. Three month later the Coolidge’s world was shattered. Their youngest son, Calvin Junior, died on July 7, 1924, from blood poisoning stemming from a blister that formed on his foot following a tennis game he played without socks. The day the Pi Phis visited one of its most loyal members remained one of the highlights of Grace Goodhue Coolidge’s life.
