Rose Cleveland

Rose Elizabeth "Libby" Cleveland (June 13, 1846 – November 22, 1918) was an American author and lecturer. She was acting first lady of the United States from 1885 to 1886, during the presidency of her brother, Grover Cleveland. Receiving an advanced education in her youth, Cleveland rejected traditional gender norms and sought a career for herself in a variety of literary and academic positions. When her unmarried brother was elected president, she acted in the role of first lady until his wedding with Frances Folsom. She used the role of first lady as a platform for her support of women's suffrage, expressing little interest in the household management associated with first ladies.

After leaving the White House, Cleveland authored several fiction and nonfiction works, many relating to women's rights. She was editor of a literary magazine for several months, and she continued teaching and lecturing elsewhere. She met Evangeline Marrs Simpson in 1889, and the two became romantic partners, interrupted for several years by Simpson's marriage to Henry Benjamin Whipple. After reuniting, they moved to Italy in 1910, where Cleveland spent her final years engaged in relief efforts for war refugees during World War I and then for Spanish flu patients before contracting the disease herself and dying in 1918.

Rose Elizabeth Cleveland was born in Fayetteville, New York, on June 13, 1846. The ninth and youngest child of Reverend Richard Falley Cleveland and Ann Neal Cleveland, she was known as "Libby" within her family.^[1] The Cleveland family first arrived in the present-day United States with Moses Cleveland, who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 after emigrating from Ipswich.^[2] As a young child, Cleveland rejected gender norms where she encountered them, preferring an active lifestyle outdoors over more traditional women's activities.^[3] The Clevelands were poor, and their father struggled to support the family. They moved to Clinton, Oneida County, New York, in 1850 so he could work as a district secretary for the American Home Missionary Society.^[4] They moved to Holland Patent, New York, in 1853, and their father died shortly afterward when Rose was seven years old.^[1] He had raised Cleveland and her siblings as Presbyterian, and she remained devoted to the religion her entire life.^[5]

By the start of the American Civil War when Cleveland was fourteen years old, all of her siblings had moved out except for her eighteen-year-old sister Susan. Their brother Grover paid for them to go to college.^[6] Cleveland attended Houghton Academy in Buffalo, New York, from 1864 to 1866.^[3] Shortly after graduating, she took a position at the school teaching history and literature. The following year, in 1867, she taught literature, math, and Latin at the Collegiate Institute in Lafayette, Indiana. She then taught at Hamilton College and at a girls school in Muncy, Pennsylvania, before returning home to her family home in Holland Patent, called The Weeds, during a period of illness.^[7] Here she returned to Houghton Academy to again teach history,^[7][8] and she also began teaching Sunday school.^[1] Two of Cleveland's brothers, Frederick and Louis, died in 1872 while on a ship from Nassau.^[9] Eventually, her time in Holland Patent was spent caring for her mother until her death in 1882.^[1] Besides teaching, Cleveland became a prominent lecturer in the state of New York, speaking at schools about things such as history and women's rights.^[10][11]

When her brother Grover was elected to be the governor of New York in 1882, Cleveland declined a teaching job in New York City so that she could assist him at the Executive Mansion.^[12] Their mother died the same year, and Cleveland inherited their home, The Weeds.^[13] During this time she published her first two poems in The Independent.^[10] Cleveland was with her brother at the Executive Mansion when he learned that he had been elected president,^[14] and she stood by him during his presidential inauguration.^[15]

When Cleveland's brother Grover became president of the United States in 1883, he had no wife to serve as first lady, so he asked her to fulfill the role.^[1] She accepted the position, though she had little interest in it; she preferred academic life to social life.^[15][16] As was typical of first ladies of the time, she was responsible purely for domestic aspects of the White House, including the organization of social events.^[17] She most commonly held receptions in the Blue Room.^[17] She grew bored with White House reception lines and once said that to pass the time she would conjugate Greek verbs in her head.^[18] She was sometimes assisted by her sister, Mary Hoyt.^[19]

Cleveland was more academically-inclined than most women of her era.^[18] Among the prominent guests who visited the White House, she was more interested in speaking to academics like historian George Bancroft.^[20] Her education served her well in the White House, where knowledge of history and foreign languages was an asset when speaking to dignitaries from around the world.^[21] Shortly after her time as acting first lady began, Cleveland published her first book: George Eliot's Poetry, and Other Studies.^[15][22] She then published a novel, The Long Run, in 1886.^[15] The press did not treat her seriously as an intellectual because she was a woman,^[18] but her national renown as first lady helped sales, and she ultimately earned $25,000 (equivalent to $875,000 in 2024) in royalties across twelve published editions.^[14][23]

Cleveland kept several friends while she lived in the White House, including Annie C. Van Vechten, historian Laura Carter Holloway, and two unknown women with the surnames Hamilton and Nelson.^[24] Holloway was Cleveland's editor for George Eliot's Poetry and other Studies and later wrote a book on first ladies of the United States.^[24] Cleveland also befriended her predecessor Mary Arthur McElroy; both were the sisters of presidents who became White House hostess.^[25]

The president kept the press from taking pictures of Cleveland, meaning that descriptions of her were often second-hand.^[26] She was described by contemporaries as "masculine" and as a "bluestocking".^[14][27] Many who knew her found her firm demeanor to be intimidating.^[28] Cleveland was generally well-liked by the public for what they saw as a moral lifestyle.^[16] In Washington, she was addressed as "Miss Rose".^[29] Her seriousness and respectability contrasted with her brother, particularly after he was discovered to have fathered a child out of wedlock.^[30] She was also praised for her ability to remember everyone who she interacted with.^[12] The increased attention meant that false rumors spread about her, including that she was to be married to Representative Benjamin Le Fevre or to a clergyman.^[24]

Cleveland kept up-to-date on political issues.^[8] She held strong progressive opinions, and she continued to express them while she was acting as first lady.^[31] She lived by the ideal of the New Woman that was advocated by the feminist movement of the time.^[32][33] Cleveland publicly supported women's suffrage, and she supported the temperance movement, banning wine in the White House.^[14][11] She was sympathetic to the Victorian dress reform movement, but she limited herself to wearing low-cut dresses that exposed her shoulders—still a controversial choice.^[34] She held a love of fashion and opted for bright dresses.^[35] Cleveland used her platform as first lady to promote the Women's Anthropological Society, which advocated the inclusion of women in science.^[12] Cleveland supported Indigenous sovereignty in the United States.^[16] She still held other prejudices common of the time, advising her brother not to appoint a significant number of Catholics to government positions.^[28] Later correspondences also indicates discriminatory views toward African Americans and the working class.^[36]

While she was acting as first lady, Cleveland became the subject of a ballad by Eugene Field in which she asked President Cleveland about whether he intended to marry.^[37] When her brother's bride, Frances Folsom, arrived in Washington in June 1, 1886, Cleveland met her and her mother at the train station and escorted them to the White House. Cleveland approved of the marriage, in large part because it meant that she could return to her previous life.^[11] She helped organize their wedding, and she left the White House after they were married, though she often returned in a social capacity.^[38]

A month after Cleveland left the White House, she moved to Chicago to become the editor of the magazine Literary Life. Her brother urged her to decline, fearing that the magazine only wished to take advantage of her relation to the president. He offered her an annual sum of $6,000 (equivalent to $209,978 in 2024) to not take any such position.^[22] She refused any income from her brother, wishing to be financially independent.^[39] To be the editor of a magazine was rare for women at the time.^[40] Cleveland served as editor for only a few months before leaving, as she fell ill and the magazine was having financial problems.^[41] To complicate matters further, her family home, The Weeds, had caught fire.^[40]

In 1887, Cleveland moved to New York City to teach history at Sylvanus Reed's School for Girls.^[42] She rarely went out while teaching at the boarding school, instead focusing on her writing.^[43] Her brother Grover disapproved of the career.^[13] She left the following year after a disagreement with Reed regarding salary.^[44] In the final days of Grover's presidency, the first lady held a lunch in Rose's honor.^[45] Cleveland made several trips to Europe over the following years.^[46] Her prominence allowed her to socialize with celebrities and important political figures.^[47] Cleveland continued to express her political beliefs after leaving the White House. In 1887, she published a short story that was critical of women's fashion, which she believed was detrimental to women's health. In 1909, she signed the national petition supporting women's suffrage.^[12]

Florida was a favorite destination for Cleveland, and she traveled there each year starting in 1888. She kept an orange grove in Dunnellon that became profitable shortly after these trips began.^[48] While staying in Florida in 1889, Cleveland met Evangeline Marrs Simpson and began a romance with her.^[22] The two had similar interests and educational backgrounds.^[49] Both were wealthy; Simpson had married into wealth while Cleveland enriched herself through her writing career.^[50] Their relationship had a sexual element beyond what was typical of the era's romantic friendship.^[51]

The earliest known letter between Cleveland and Simpson was sent on April 13, 1890.^[52] Their relationship progressed over the following years, and their correspondences became more explicitly sexual.^[53] Cleveland was in constant anticipation of these letters and always demanded further contact from Simpson.^[54] The relationship was known by their families,^[30][55] but there is no indication that the public knew of its romantic nature.^[22] The couple took trips together, both within the United States and in Europe, between 1891 and 1893.^[56] They built a group of friends ten to twenty years their junior that accompanied them, including Evelyn Ames Hall, the daughter of Governor Oliver Ames and wife of artist Frederick Garrison Hall, and Amelia Candler Gardiner, the daughter of Congressman John W. Candler. They were also sometimes accompanied by Adelaide Hamlin Thierry and Katherine Willard Baldwin.^[57]

The romance between Cleveland and Simpson ended in 1892, when Simpson was engaged to the bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple.^[58] Their contact with one another decreased in 1893.^[56] Cleveland felt betrayed by Simpson's decision to marry. She traveled to Europe for a year to escape the situation before returning to the United States to work as a teacher.^[59] Cleveland began spending more time with their friend Evelyn Ames in 1895.^[24] It is unknown whether they had a romantic relationship.^[60]

The wedding of Evangeline Marrs Simpson and Henry Benjamin Whipple took place on October 22, 1896.^[61] Cleveland unsuccessfully urged Simpson not to go through with it.^[58][62] She decided on a trip to Europe afterward, and Ames joined her on the USS Normannia on December 5, 1896.^[63] Cleveland's correspondences with her friend, now named Evangeline Whipple, were formal and emotionless.^[30] Cleveland and Ames visited the home of Ames' sister, Islesboro, Maine, in 1898. They later purchased two houses here and co-owned a 220 acre farm.^[47] Cleveland returned to The Weeds in 1899, living there with Ames.^[64] She founded the Florida Audubon Society along with the Whipple and Marrs families and served as its vice president.^[65]

The bishop died on September 16, 1901, and Cleveland again insisted on a romance between her and Whipple.^[66] They began visiting one another and traveling the United States together in 1902.^[47] Their correspondence became frequent again, and a romantic element returned to their relationship by 1905.^[67] Whipple chose not to live with Cleveland this time, staying in Minnesota where she had lived with the bishop.^[66] Cleveland managed her Islesboro farm and her Dunnellon grove until 1907, when she became too old to manage them both and sold the grove with Whipple's assistance.^[68]

When Whipple's brother fell ill in Italy in 1910, Cleveland accompanied her there to care for him.^[30] They boarded the SS Saxonia on July 20, and they stayed in Florence until the brother died in 1912.^[69] They chose to remain in Italy afterward, settling in Bagni di Lucca.^[22] Cleveland felt less of an inclination to write while living in Italy, as social norms were more relaxed in a way that allowed expats to have same-sex relationships.^[70][33] By 1914, they were joined in Bagni di Lucca by the English artist Nelly Erichsen.^[71]

Cleveland, Whipple, and Erichsen contributed to the war effort during World War I, both before and after Italy's entry into the conflict. She and Whipple petitioned the American consulate to let them travel between Italy, France, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.^[72] Cleveland worked to recruit more physicians and nurses to help refugees during the war.^[73] Bagni di Lucca was overwhelmed by refugees from Gorizia and Veneto, with the town of about 2,000 people receiving about 1,000 refugees, and the three women took charge of the operation.^[74]

In 1918, Cleveland and Whipple founded a girls school in Bagni di Lucca.^[75] The Spanish flu occurred this year, and the women worked with the mayor to organize the town's response. Erichsen contracted the disease and died days later on November 15, 1918.^[76] Cleveland contracted the flu while caring for Erichsen and died on November 22, 1918.^[77][75] Cleveland's funeral was attended by many of the refugees whom she had helped during World War I and the Spanish flu, as well as the American consul and the mayor of Bagni di Lucca. Her coffin was draped with the 13-star flag of the United States, and the mayor ordered all businesses closed for the day.^[78] Whipple was buried beside Cleveland upon her own death twelve years later.^[53]

Cleveland's romantic to Whipple were acquired by the Minnesota Historical Society as part of their collection on Henry Benjamin Whipple.^[79] The set included correspondences from 1890 to 1910, though only a few letters exist from the final five years.^[80] As the letters were sexual in nature and documented a same-sex relationship, the Minnesota Historical Society chose to remove them from the collection and seal them away until 1980.^[81] An anonymous researcher at the historical society became aware of the letters in March 1978 and sent a tip to the Gay Task Force of the American Library Association.^[82] The Gay Task Force had the historian of sexuality Jonathan Ned Katz negotiate the release of the letters, and they were unsealed the same year.^[83]

Several studies have been published analyzing Cleveland's relationship with Whipple. The first was in December 1978 when Paula Petrik, a graduate student at Binghamton University, studied Cleveland's letters in her term paper.^[83] They were then discussed by historians John D'Emilio and Estelle Freedman in Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America and by Katz in a 1989 article in The Advocate.^[84] Rob Hardy wrote about their relationship in his biographical article "The Passion of Rose Elizabeth Cleveland" in 2007. A biography of Cleveland was published in 2014.^[36] Her letters to Whipple were published as a full collection in 2019.^[30] Study of their relationship has primarily focused on its timeline and periodization.^[36]

Rose Cleveland wrote or contributed to multiple literary works in her lifetime. Her writings often explored themes of women's rights and social norms surrounding gender and sexuality.^[85] She wrote multiple works of fiction about a doctor treating an unknown illness. In some cases, the illness is an allegory for subjugation of women.^[86]

The works written or co-written by Cleveland include:

• Sketches of History– An 1885 collection of lectures^[87]
• George Eliot's Poetry, and Other Studies – An 1885 collection of literary analysis essays^[22]
• The Long Run – An 1886 novel^[15]
• "The Dilemma of the Nineteenth Century" – A satirical 1886 poem about women's rights, published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine^[88]
• "Woman in the Home" – An 1886 essay about women's rights, published in The Chautauquan^[88]
• "Robin Adair" – An 1887 short romance story, published in Godey's Lady's Book; Cleveland used the story to criticize women's fashion^[22]
• How to Win: A Book for Girls – An 1887 book co-authored by Cleveland with suffragist Frances Willard^[15]
• "My Florida" – An 1890 essay encouraging readers to visit Florida^[89]

Cleveland also contributed to writings by others:

• You and I: Or Moral, Intellectual and Social Culture – An 1886 collection of essays about etiquette with an introduction written by Cleveland^[39]
• Literary Life – A literary magazine of which Cleveland was the editor for several months in 1886^[22]
• American Magazine of History – A magazine with which Cleveland was involved^[90]
• The Social Mirror – An 1888 updated edition of You and I with a modified introduction written by Cleveland^[43]
• Our Society – An 1893 etiquette book that uses a variation of Cleveland's introduction from You and I and The Social Mirror^[43]
• Soliloquies of Augustine – Translated by Cleveland in 1910 with annotations^[15]

Cleveland wrote poetry for Whipple, and rather than describing their love, she told of her inability to find words that describe it.^[91] Cleveland's romantic letters to Whipple were collected and preserved, but much of Whipple's correspondence to Cleveland has been lost.^[92]

• Anthony, Carl Sferrazza (1990). First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents' Wives and Their Power, 1789–1961. William Morrow and Company. ISBN 978-0-688-11272-1.
• Brockell, Gillian (June 20, 2019). "A gay first lady? Yes, we've already had one, and here are her love letters". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on June 20, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
• Caroli, Betty Boyd (2010). First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-539285-2.
• Ehrenhalt, Lizzie; Laskey, Tilly (2019). "Introduction". Precious and Adored: The Love Letters of Rose Cleveland and Evangeline Simpson Whipple, 1890–1918. Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-1-68134-129-3 – via Project Muse.
• Faderman, Lillian (2012). Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-53074-3.
• Hardy, Rob (2007). "The Passion of Rose Elizabeth Cleveland". New England Review (1990–). 28 (1): 180–193. ISSN 1053-1297. JSTOR 40244938.
• Hendricks, Nancy (2015). America's First Ladies: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61069-883-2.
• Jeffers, H. Paul (2000). An Honest President: The Life and Presidencies of Grover Cleveland. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-380-97746-8.
• Nevins, Allan (1933) [1932]. Grover Cleveland: A Study in Courage. Dodd, Mead & Co.
• Salenius, Sirpa (2014). Rose Elizabeth Cleveland: First Lady and Literary Scholar. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-45288-7. S2CID 183053295.
• Schneider, Dorothy; Schneider, Carl J. (2010). First Ladies: A Biographical Dictionary (3rd ed.). Facts on File. ISBN 978-1-4381-0815-5.
• Scofield, Merry Ellen (2016). "Rose Cleveland, Frances Cleveland, Caroline Harrison, Mary McKee". In Sibley, Katherine A. S. (ed.). A Companion to First Ladies. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 265–282. ISBN 978-1-118-73218-2.
• Slattery, Charles Lewis (1919). Rose Elizabeth Cleveland: A Sermon Preached to the Colonial Dames of the State of New York in Grace Church in New York on Sunday, January 26, 1919 – via HathiTrust.
• Strock, Ian Randal (2016). Ranking the First Ladies. Carrel Books. ISBN 978-1-63144-060-1.
• Willard, Frances E.; Livermore, Mary A. (1893). A Woman of the Century. Charles Wells Moulton.

• Lillie, Lucy C. (1887). "The Mistress of the White House". Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. Vol. 40. pp. 81–93.
• "Society Stars: Feminine Leaders of Fashion at the Capital". The Boston Sunday Globe. Vol. 29, no. 73. March 14, 1886. p. 4.

• Rose Elizabeth Cleveland works at Hathi Trust