MARY L. WHITE
Mary White: Autobiography of an
Ohio First
Lady
As I hurriedly dressed I could hear the
commotion downstairs, while outside the
National Guard was forming with
appropriate commands and the neighing of
horses. It was Inauguration Day in
Columbus, Ohio, January 12, 1931--my
father would soon be Governor George
White. Because of the recent death of
Mother I was, at the age of twenty-four,
to be Father's official hostess and First
Lady of Ohio. Full of determination to
take the time to look my best, I was
applying my make-up when the voice of my
father came up the stairs above the
laughter of the newspaper men,
"Mary, where is my button hook?" I rushed into
his room and found it. With only one
cheek rouged and no powder on, I ran
down to present it to the new Governor
of Ohio. Yes, he was wearing his high
button shoes for the occasion.
I then went into the dining room in
quest of a cup of coffee. There sat the
family, my sister Charlotte, my three
brothers David, George and Bob, and Aunt
Florence, Uncle Bob and their daughter,
Peggy. Relieved, I noted that breakfast
was going smoothly and raised my cup for
a first sip. Just then one of the ten
newspaper men in the hall beckoned to me
and I went to see what he wanted. It
seemed the troops and horses of the
National Guard were feeling and looking very
pert so the Columbus Dispatch and
the Columbus Citizen wanted a picture of me
with them. Without slipping on a coat I
went out to the porte cochere to be with
the photographers. The Guard made a
pretty sight that crisp January morning.
Shivering, I took my stand among them
next to the captain whose horse became
overly excited and thrust his front hoof
against my shin. Fortunately this happened
after the pictures were taken.
Feeling a little shaken and slightly
bruised, I returned to the dining room and
retrived my coffee and a piece of toast.
Then I checked with the kitchen, for after
the reception downtown we were
entertaining the cabinet, the members of the
Even though Miss Mary White wrote of her
experiences as First Lady in 1958, every effort
was made to recall how she felt and
acted in 1931-1935 so that the reader may share with
her her experiences as they happened
along the way. Miss White's original manuscript is
titled, "Study in White," and
is deposited in the Ohioana Library in Columbus. It is a type-
script fifty-three pages in length. Most
of the manuscript is printed here, but certain portions
are not included, such as some minor
anecdotes and the details of the 1932 governors'
conference in Richmond, Virginia.
|
legislature and their wives, and a few friends for tea at four-thirty. Fortunately, I had brought Mrs. Mert Mason, Mrs. James Harding, and Margaret McCullough from Marietta, and my butler, Joseph Leatherbury who had been thoroughly trained, so again everything was running smoothly. At last I went back upstairs to finish my make-up and to don my hat. We went down to the Governor's Office in the State Capitol where many pictures were taken and then we met the members of the legislature at a small reception before lunch. At one-thirty we were seated in the reviewing stand on Broad Street to watch the inaugural parade. Even though it was a cold windy day, we were warmed by the tribute of the many people who marched by and saluted us--particularly the ones from our hometown, Marietta. Later we went to the rotunda of the Capitol for a public reception. A friend of mine told me he counted twenty-two hands a minute and that we.shook hands for two hours! I didn't know then what I later learned that the pressure on your hand is greatly relieved if you grasp a hand before it grasps yours. Also one should never wear rings. As a result of my ignorance, my right hand was badly swollen that inaugural afternoon when we returned to the Governor's Mansion for the tea. The only mishap at this very pleasant affair was a pitcher of cream spilled on my dining room table. Because we were living in depression times, the inaugural ball was eliminated to save expenses. Needless to say, I was relieved when the day was over and I could |
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eat dinner with my family, talk over our happy and eventful hours, and turn in for the night. My proverbial hat is off to the stalwart governors and their First Ladies who continue into the night arrayed in their best bib and tuckers! As the vice-chairman of the Democratic Women's Club, I had made a broad acquaintance in the state during Father's campaign. I worked in the office with Mrs. Bernice Pyke, Ohio's National Committeewoman, and I also went out to set up precinct headquarters in some of the towns. My original contribution for the campaign was a letter sent to all my fellow Smith College graduates in the state. In it I recounted the qualities in my father which would make him a good governor, and also the fact that he had the good taste to send his daughter to Smith College. The letter straddled party lines and reminded me of an incident in my freshman year at Smith. When President Coolidge visited Northampton, Massachusetts, a parade was organized and every girl in my house, all being Republicans, went off to join it. Finding myself a very lonely Democrat, I crossed party lines and marched along in the Coolidge parade, too. The Governor's Mansion, formerly the private residence of the Herman Linden- bergs, was a large handsome red brick edifice situated on the then beautiful elm lined Broad Street. Governor James Cox bought the property in 1918, and he and Mrs. Cox were the first occupants. I liked the house chiefly for its beautiful stairway and broad halls. The driveway was on the west side of the house, built for carriage days. It was |
very narrow and wound round to the porte cochere. Just inside the door was a combination powder and coat room. The hall ran the length of the house and was about twelve feet wide. Opposite each other were two rooms, a charming reception room and the dining room, adequate for the family but far too small and causing a bottleneck at our many large teas. Proceeding down the hall, at the front of the house, there was a large living room with a handsome big open fireplace. Off of this room and extending the width of the house was the solarium. This is where the receiving lines formed for mansion functions at which I entertained approxi- mately 25,000 persons in four years. The door at the back of the solarium led into the sunny breakfast room, and next came my study. The governor's den was a small attractive room with windows opening onto the solarium. My sister and I were in there listening the day that Fifi Dorsay, a nightclub entertainer, came calling on Father. As she slinked up to him, he asked her if she spoke French, to which she replied, "Oui, Governeur,-- Oui means you and me." We closed the windows hastily lest they should hear our guffaws. The Ohioana Library, a collection of books by Ohio authors, was housed in the solarium. The collection is also known as the Martha Kinney Cooper Ohioana Library Association because it was begun by Mrs. Cooper. The books became so |
Mary White 67
numerous that later I had them moved to
the State Office Building where they
remain today.
The butler's pantry was good sized,
fortunately, for we had two complete sets
of dishes--the Wedgewood for every day
and the Lennox for state occasions. The
kitchen was adequate, and off it was a
small dining room for the help.
The broad stairway divided half way up.
On the landing was a large window,
over which I placed a beautiful light
blue rayon curtain. The two sides of the
stairs curved on up to the second floor.
I can still clearly recall the thrill of seeing
and hearing Pop Hoenig's famous boys'
choir ranged on that stairway. The upstairs
hall was also spacious. The west wing
was occupied by Father and myself. His
room was furnished with mansion
furniture, while I brought all my furniture from
our home in Marietta. My room was truly
lovely, with mauve taffeta bedspreads
and drapes, my grandmother's handsome
pineapple beds and her Dutch inlaid
bureau. There was a very attractive and
convenient dressing room with a big mirror
and dressing table and many shelves and
drawers. The bedroom at the front of the
house was used by Charlotte. The east
wing had the same room arrangement as
the west wing--two bedrooms, a dressing
room, and a bath. I used this suite for
our guests. At the back of the house
were three maids' rooms and a bath.
The third floor was a finished ball room
which we did not use much because of
the depression. It was, of course,
suffocatingly hot in the summer. Father one day
announced that he wanted to get more
exercise and would like to put a punching
bag up in the ball room. I demurred with
horror at first, but eventually yielded,
and up went the punching bag, ridiculous
as it did look there. The next day the
newspapers sent photographers to take
the governor's picture in a characteristic
"punch the bag" pose. That was
the first and last time anybody paid any attention
to it!
In the front basement we had a play room
with comfortable furniture and a
pool table on which we also played ping
pong. The three-car garage had a small
apartment upstairs where Peter, the yard
man, lived.
The lawn and gardens were beautiful and
well cared for. I accepted all com-
pliments for my flowers and only now
confess that when I wanted to plant a new
flower, I sent the soil to Ohio State
University. There they examined it and
fertilized it properly to make the
flower flourish. My green thumb was really due
to that great institute of learning! The
sunken garden was formal and led to a
small pond. In another section of the
yard, in the shade of some large trees, were
some comfortable chairs and a table. The
reason I spent so much time there was
the wonderful rope swing which I found
to be most relaxing. My contribution to
the yard was a large rose garden. The
roses came from Texas and the little paths
through it were of the tan bark that I
had admired at French Lick Springs, Indiana.
The Governor's Mansion staff consisted
of five persons. My "right hand man"
was Margaret McCullough from Marietta.
On the drive up to Columbus I remarked
to her that I would miss the hills of
Washington County and I didn't care for the
flat country of Franklin County.
"Oh, Miss Mary," she replied, "in flat country
the Indians can't sneak up on you!"
Margaret stayed on at the mansion after we
left, and Jane Lausche said that she
couldn't have run the house without her.
The butler, Joseph Leatherbury, trained
by Mrs. B. G. Dawes' housekeeper,
Miss Sniff, was very efficient and
capable. He always invited my guests to "rest
their wraps," and in other ways
added considerable dignity to the household. Eva
68 OHIO HSTORY
Evans was my "second story
girl," as she called herself. She and Margaret took
care of the second floor and Eva served
breakfast. She was of invaluable help to
me on the days I had to change my
clothes many times. I became very fond of
Eva since she was so cheerful and sweet.
I had a difficult time finding the right
cook. I believe that Mrs. Carrie Barnett
was the fourth one and I am glad that I
kept on trying until she came because
she was truly a gem. Everybody loved
Carrie, and she stayed on at the mansion
with Mrs. Davey, Mrs. Bricker, Mrs.
Herbert, and Jane Lausche.
Ohio had a most novel and, to me, a
worthy custom. The Ohio Penitentiary was
located in Columbus and the warden's
wife, Mrs. Preston Thomas, trained a num-
ber of the young trusties to serve at
the mansion teas. Many of the governors used
convict help in the mansion. The yard
man, Peter, was a lifer from the penitentiary.
He was a Swede and talked about the
"waives" and the "wines." He was a very
hard worker and he was devoted to the
yard and gardens. Several days a week a
guard from the penitentiary brought some
prisoners to the mansion, and Peter put
them to work in the gardens. The large
gold fish from the garden pond were kept
in the garage in the winter. One day
when I returned from my shopping I smelled fish
cooking. The odor came from the garage
and I went to investigate. The convicts
were eating my goldfish! I rushed for
the encyclopedia because I feared the fish
might be poisonous, and was relieved to
read that they were harmless carp. Peter
and the guard had locked the convicts in
the garage while they went on an errand.
The fish were there and so was a little
stove, and they proceeded to have them-
selves a goldfish fry.
A lifer had to have full pardon from the
governor before he could be released
from prison since the parole system did
not apply to prisoners with life sentences.
Father gave Peter his pardon the
Christmas of 1934, and he was so grateful that
he wept. Peter took care of the furnace,
and he raised and lowered the American
flag each day. I had a ten dollar bet
with a friend that the flag at the mansion
would never be hung upside down. One
morning, some months later, I heard a
commotion outside my window. It was
newspaper photographers taking pictures of
our flag, and it was upside down! The
pictures later appeared in the paper under
the caption, "Governor's Mansion in
Distress." Little did they know that the
distress was of a financial nature--and
personal!
After the inauguration my life settled
down to a pattern. Each morning after
breakfast I went to the kitchen to
consult with Carrie about food matters. I had
to plan two menus, one for the help and
one for us. Father was seldom at the
mansion for dinner. Because of the
distressed times, his days were occupied by
interviews with the many people who
needed jobs. As a result, his cabinet meet-
ings and other important conferences had
to be held at night, and he returned
often very late. Sometimes he would join
my date and me for scrambled eggs
while we listened to Ann Leaf's organ
music on the radio. Of course, we went to
a great many banquets, too. Somebody
figured out the enormous amounts of
chicken parts, mashed potatoes, peas,
and ice cream which we consumed in four
years of banquets! When Father did come
home for dinner, he was never disturbed
by the phone--I thought he deserved an
hour of peace and quiet. He was equally
solicitous of my need for change and
relaxation and always made sure that none
of my engagements were disturbed by his
presence at dinner. Due to the large
volume of mail arriving daily, I was
very seldom able to clear my desk. A governor's
Mary White 69
wife or hostess really needs a
housekeeper-secretary, but I didn't realize that until
long after leaving the mansion, alas!
The telephone system at the mansion was
very complex. Jo answered the phone
and he could push a button and hold the
call while he phoned me to see whether
I wanted to talk or not. This was very
convenient. On one occasion I made the
mistake of answering the phone myself
and a crank showered me with disgusting
invectives. I appreciated the protection
our telephone system gave me after that
experience.
I usually went shopping at ten-thirty,
and then on to my luncheon engagement.
I was an honorary member of many
organizations--why, I was even an honorary
member of the Ohio State University
Mothers' Club. I enjoyed the many meetings
and programs to which I was invited, and
appreciated the cordiality and warmth
of the Columbus women. After lunch,
which usually lasted till two or three o'clock,
I had a little time to myself for tennis
or swimming with my friends. The Princeton
and Smith Clubs in Columbus welcomed
Father and me, and we became members
of the Broad Street Presbyterian Church.
Our circle of friends thus grew steadily
larger. I enjoyed being a member of the
Children's Hospital Twig and the
Pleasure Guild. During my third year in
Columbus I was invited to join the
Junior League, a worthy organization,
with a planned and efficient social service
program. I also enjoyed attending and
working in the Columbus Little Theatre.
Two or three afternoons a week I
entertained at tea at the mansion. The
Chamber of Commerce let me know what
organizations were convening and I
invited the wives of the delegates to
tea. Governor and Mrs. Cooper had provided
all the refreshments for these affairs,
but I told Father when we first came to the
mansion that because of our deflated
depression income, we would not be able to
afford the expense of this type of
entertainment. Father demurred at the change
because of the political aspect, but he
eventually yielded, and everybody was
most cooperative. I slowly got those
teas down to a fine science. We used, for
every hundred ladies, a pound of tea,
one-half pound of sugar, one pint of cream,
eight lemons sliced very thin by
our expert Jo, and two pounds of mints. Quite
often the teas were more elaborate, with
ice cream or ices and cake. Sometimes
the ladies brought their own flowers,
and I remember that one organization deco-
rated the whole downstairs for its
Christmas tea. We enjoyed the beautiful effect
all through the holidays.
In preparation for the teas, the
trusties were brought over from the penitentiary,
they donned their white jackets, and Jo
put them to work. In my afternoon dress,
including high heels, I joined the
officers of the organization being entertained in
the receiving line, and we were ready
for action. Often there was a musical pro-
gram provided by the Music Club. One
fine April afternoon we had eleven
hundred ladies! In summer the teas were
held in the yard with a large punch
bowl for cool drinks, and our inevitable
cookies and mints.
But back to my typical day--it is now
five o'clock. Cups and spoons are
being washed in the kitchen, and the
young convicts are laughing and enjoying
themselves. I always gave them a good
meal before sending them back to the
penitentiary. After the teas I went
swimming in the summer and played the
piano in the winter. After dinner I
usually had a date. As the Columbus Star
put it, "Mary White has enough men
to fill the Holland Tunnel." Of course I
always suspected that quite a number of
my swains wanted to brag about taking
Mary White 71
out the First Lady of Ohio. I managed to
have a very good time, and an un-
alcoholic one, too, because my father
was a strictly "dry" governor. When my
friends went to speak easies, I came
home. Although Father enjoyed a drink,
he always said that if he had the power
to take a pen and strike out all alcoholic
drinks, he would. Liquor has caused, and
will always cause, much discord and
suffering when used in excess.
Father and I had many pleasant times
while he was governor. We were
honorary members of all the Columbus
country clubs. We also received compli-
mentary tickets to the movies and sport
events. Our seats in the football stadium
were on the fifty yard line and so near
the field that we watched the team and the
coach close at hand. As a matter of
fact, it was suggested that I get a job as a
scout because I had studied and taught
lip reading. The football was good and
the two hundred piece band never failed
to thrill me. The college bands in the
East, to which I was accustomed, were
spirited and tuneful, but they did not
make the shivers go down my spine like
the great Ohio State band playing the
"Alma Mater." After the game,
and this did spoil us, we were promptly con-
ducted from the stadium by motorcycle
police.
There was one aspect of the governorship
that was not so pleasant. This
morning (1958) I read in the Ohio
State Journal that Senator George Bender
didn't want to be governor of Ohio
because he "abhored the idea of having to
decide on the plea for executive
clemency by a person condemned to die in
the electric chair." Indeed, I
sympathize with Mr. Bender, and I know that
Father would, too, were he alive. This
was the part of his power that was the
most upsetting to him. Few people
realize the strain on the human heart of a
mother pleading for her son's life, and
even asking what right the governor has
to let him die. The nights that Father
returned from such a scene, he would
be very shaken and practically in tears.
The first execution while he was in office
was that of three boys who had robbed
and killed a gas station owner.
The Governor's Mansion was always
guarded the night of an execution. On
the night of the triple execution when I
left with my date at eight o'clock, I told
the guards that my father and I were not
afraid and that they might as well go
home. When we returned to the mansion at
about one o'clock, I was frightened
by a bright red flare in the front yard.
I sent my date for a radio cruiser and as I
walked into the house a car back fired
outside, which, in my distraught state,
sounded exactly like a pistol shot. It was
so like a pistol shot that I rushed up-
stairs and hysterically clutched my
sleeping parent! We never did discover the
origin of that flare, but I surely was
cured of eliminating any safeguards for my
father's life.
I was interested in the convicts who
worked at the mansion and remember
one case which particularly affected me.
This young man, the assistant game
warden in one of the northern counties,
caught a hunter shooting a hen pheasant,
an illegal act any time. When the
offender saw the warden, he started running
up the hill and the warden ordered him
to stop. Thinking he would nip him in
the leg, the young warden took a shot at
him, but unfortunately he did not take
the slope of the hill in account and the
shot killed the hunter. It seemed unfair
that he should receive a sentence of ten
years because he was performing his
duty, but, of course, the family of the
deceased was perfectly justified in demanding
a penalty.
72 OHIO
HISTORY
There was one colored convict who came
frequently when we needed help
for housecleaning. He was very
industrious and he told me about his life and how
much he loved his family in Chillicothe.
I interceded with my father to parole
my friend. In due time his parole was
granted, and he came to me with tears of
gratitude in his eyes and said that
although he had enjoyed his "stay in Colum-
bus," he was very happy to be
returning to his loved ones. Two days later, Father
called to give the latest news on my
erring friend. He was back in the penitentiary!
He had returned to Chillicothe and
almost immediately beat up on his wife. That
was my first and last request for
parole. But I always was friendly and sympathetic
with the convicts, and several of them
made gifts for me. Two of them stopped
at the mansion on their way home to
thank me.
I had another experience with the
penitentiary which was most sad and un-
fortunate. As I said, Father's days were
filled interviewing people who needed
work. He had little time left for other
types of interviews. I suggested that I
could talk to the relatives of the
convicts, so a great many of them were turned
over to me. One mother told me that her
eighteen year old son was serving three
years for robbery, which she understood,
but she was horrified at the sexual
perversion to which he was subjected in
the prison. Needless to say, I was so upset
by this information that my penitentiary
interviews were stopped. It struck me as
strange then, and still does, that
Mexico is so far ahead of us in prison improve-
ments. For good behavior there a convict
may spend a night with his wife in
cubicles built especially for that
purpose. How wise that is and why do we not
grant the same normal privilege to our
convicts?
I also tried my hand at helping the
girls in the Women's Reform School at
Marysville. I suggested to Welfare
Director John McSweeney that some of the
more orderly girls be placed in approved
private homes. This experiment was
in due time carried out and the girls
were very happy about it. A year later I
was truly dismayed at the report that
eighty-five percent of them were pregnant!
My father was well versed in both
government and Democratic politics. Starting
in the Ohio General Assembly in 1905, he
was three times sent to Congress by the
Republican Fifteenth District. In 1920
Father was elected chairman of the Demo-
cratic National Committee during the
unsuccessful national campaign of James
Cox for President and Franklin D.
Roosevelt for Vice President. My father
changed politics during the Wilson
administration and we had many good friends
in the Democratic ranks: Governor Al
Smith, Senator Alben Barkley, Senator
Pat Harrison, Mr. Cordell Hull, Senator
Carter Glass, Vice President John
Garner, Mr. Joseph Tumulty, Mr. Bernard
Baruch, and Governor James Byrnes.
Father also had many friends among the
newspaper men, including Mr. Arthur
Krock and Mr. Frank Kent.
In an election Ohio voters are famous
for scratching their tickets. As a result,
Father was the only Democrat elected on
the state ballot in 1930--even the
lieutenant governor was a Republican.
The majority of the legislature was also
Republican, but on the whole Father had
fine cooperation from it, especially from
one of its members, Senator Robert Taft.
My father's cabinet appointments were
excellent ones and a large share of
the accomplishments of his
administration was due to them. The Director of
Commerce was Mr. Theodore Tangeman; of
Finance, Mr. Howard Bevis; of High-
ways, Mr. O. W. Merrell; of Education,
Mr. B. O. Skinner; of Agriculture, Mr.
Earl H. Hanefeld; of Public Welfare, Mr. John McSweeney. In his four years as governor Father inaugurated a great deal of legislation. He also set up Ohio's Highway Patrol system under the able leadership of Colonel Lynn Black. After the repeal of the Volstead Act, Father was responsible for the enactment of a system for the dispensation of liquor in Ohio. He appointed a State Liquor Board and he delegated Colonel John Hughes to establish the State Liquor Stores. Because Ohio was prohibited by its constitution from borrowing money in excess of $750,000, Father had to figure out the fairest way to raise money so that the school teachers would receive their salaries. A retail sales tax of three percent was the result of his efforts, and while it was the most immediate and efficient way, it was also politically disastrous. Its "popularity" was demonstrated after we returned to Marietta. The morning after Hallowe'en the hedge around our house was littered with torn up sales tax stamps! Our most interesting trips were those to the governors' conferences. In 1931 we were entertained by Governor and Mrs. Harry G. Leslie of Indiana. The cordial citizens of Indianapolis gave us a round of parties and other interesting entertainment. Of course, we attended the famous automobile races on Memorial Day. I knew Eddie Arnold, one of the drivers slated to win the race, and he had taken me for a ride in his racer in Columbus. I recognized his mother sitting directly in back of us in the reviewing stand, and went back to sit with her a while. Suddenly she stood up and screamed--the car that had just turned |
74 OHIO
HISTORY
over on the curve was her son's, and
Eddie was killed in that accident. I was
no admirer of speed, but I thought that
every precaution possible was taken for
the safety of the drivers, and I was
fascinated watching the incredibly fast changing
of tires on the race cars while the
driver munched on an orange.
In 1933 the governors' conference was
invited to California by Governor and
Mrs. James Rolph. I was very excited
about flying all that way. I shall never
forget the beauty of the sunrise on the
many colorful western canyons. After we
landed at Los Angeles, we immediately
took another plane to San Francisco. That
is a beautiful flight up the Pacific
Coast, and I remember passing over Bakersfield
and seeing its myriads of oil derricks.
We came down at Fresno, located in the
midst of the large vineyards, and the
passengers were given a glass of California's
delicious wine--all except me. For some
unaccountable reason I had a glass of
buttermilk! At Oakland we were met by a
limousine and were driven that un-
forgettable trip to Sacramento, through
one of the most verdant and fertile
valleys in the United States. A
reception was held in the Governor's Mansion at
Sacramento, where we were welcomed by
Governor and Mrs. Rolph. The next
day we returned to San Francisco and, as
the governor had been a most popular
mayor of the city, we were greeted with
much acclaim as we drove through the
streets. There were a great many former
Ohio residents who cheered Father and
me; then and there I proceeded to fall
in love with San Francisco.
Governor Rolph was known as the
"flying" governor of the United States, and
his pilot was Roscoe Turner, who was
also well known for another important
passenger in his plane--a lion! Although
I had never met Roscoe Turner, I had
a score to settle with him. Several
months before I had been rudely awakened
at five o'clock in the morning by the
motor of a plane which sounded as if it
were flying right through my room. I
believe that many in Columbus were also
aroused since the noise was so loud and
frightening. Mr. Turner admitted his
guilt and explained that he was making a
record speed flight across the United
States. He had stopped in Columbus for
fuel and found everybody at the airport
asleep. This infuriated him so much that
he took off right over the tree tops.
Another interesting person that I met at
the California conference was George
Holmes, the young and brilliant head of
the INS News Service. Due to my
predilection to newspaper men, we struck
up a fine friendship. I was even allowed
to help him with his syndicated column.
I also spent the evening and a good part
of the night in the observation car of
the train, which was taking our party to
Yosemite National Park, with the
journalists. When I first learned that we were
going to California, I was particularly
pleased because I had always wanted to see
Yosemite. Therefore, the next morning
when Father came to see if I was ready
for breakfast he was very surprised and
not pleased when I told him I was not
even interested in getting up. Anyone
who has imbibed with newspaper reporters
will understand the reason!
Father duly breakfasted and returned to
my berth to urge me to hurry and get
dressed. Finally I peeped out of the
window and saw the governors' busses de-
parting. On the platform, pacing up and
down, was the Governor of Ohio. Feeling
very guilty I hastily dressed and
shakily appeared. By then Father was talking to
a man. He was the director of the park
and he kindly offered to take us with
him, so we rode in the luxury of a
roadster convertible. He, of course, was the
best informed person on the wonders of
Yosemite. I was not scolded for my
delinquency-- had the choice trip because I was late. The next day the conference again entrained, this time for Los Angeles where we were met by Jean Harlow and Will Rogers. I must say that Jean was an eyeful in her white satin dressing gown trimmed with boa. I don't know about the ladies, but I am sure that the governors felt most welcome. Father and Will Rogers had been friends for many years, and I especially enjoyed his observations and humor. Who else, either before or since, could comment on our Senators and Congressmen, and even criticize them, with such good grace that they accepted it and even smiled. Of the many stories that Father told about him, I believe the one I liked best was about the night that he was invited to a dinner party. Over after-dinner coffee and brandy his host asked Will Rogers to say a few words, which he obligingly did. As he was bidding his host and hostess goodnight, he said, "Thank you for a fine dinner and I will send you a bill for three hundred dollars." "But you were an invited guest," ejaculated his host. To which Mr. Rogers replied quietly, "You forgot to invite Mrs. Rogers." Father also told me about a banquet where he sat next to Will Rogers at the speakers table. To his surprise, Mr. Rogers, attired in full evening tails, was chewing gum! Father remarked to him that chewing gum was a little out of order in such a setting. He countered that Father would, too, if someone were paying him ten thousand dollars a year to do it. In Los Angeles we stayed at the Beverly Hills, a truly excellent and exciting hotel. Again we were most hospitably entertained. I remember particularly the tour of the Fox Studios where we saw the setup for train wrecks, a Paris street |
76 OHIO HISTORY
right next to one from Deadwood, South
Dakota, and the dock leaving the ship
instead of the ship leaving the dock. We
also visited MGM set of the movie,
"Dancing Daughters," which
starred Joan Crawford. The scene was a night club
and there were about twelve chorus girls
standing around waiting for the director
to call for their dance. They were
gorgeous creatures and their decolletage was
most beauteous, but the effect of each
one licking an ice cream cone was one of
the funniest I have ever seen.
The largest luncheon ever staged in
Hollywood up to that time was the one
given for the visiting governors. Every
actor and actress was present, many of
them in costume. We sat on a raised
platform, and it was very thrilling to look
down and spot the many favorite movie
personalities of the day. Father sat next
to Marie Dressler and came away loving
her as did everybody. Before the
luncheon Will Rogers asked me which
movie star my father was especially anxious
to meet, and I told him it was Greta
Garbo. In his speech, he said, "Governor
White wants to meet Greta Garbo, well, I
have been around the lot for over
twenty years and I haven't seen her yet
myself!"
Mr. Louis B. Mayer asked a few of us to
go to his daughter's home in Santa
Monica. Since Clark Gable came from
Cadiz, Ohio, he was invited to swim with
Father and me in the pool. I was, of
course, thrilled, and we had a good time with
him. Governor George H. Dern of Utah and
Mrs. Dern were with our party there.
The governor told me about the best
political slogan that I have ever heard. He
ran against a man named Maybe and his
slogan was, "We need a Dern good Gov-
ernor and we don't mean Maybe."
After the conference was over and we
were eating breakfast before boarding the
plane back to Columbus, a familiar
figure came into the hotel dining room, headed
for our table. It was our friend Will
Rogers. He had come into town to urge Father
and me to stay over for a luncheon that
he was giving for about ten of the governors at
his ranch. Luckily we were able to
change our reservations, and we drove out to
his place. As we approached we heard
shouting and we could pick out Mr. Rogers'
voice above the rest. A field came in
sight where cowboys were roping calves. We
watched Will Rogers and his son get
theirs in the finest style, and then went on up
to the ranch house to meet Mrs. Rogers
and their daughter Mary, a pretty blonde
in dark glasses. Would that I could
describe that house and the many interesting
things in it that Mr. Rogers had
collected.
We did not go to the governors'
conference held in Michigan in 1934 because
Father was too busy trying to get the
sales tax passed. Our first two years in office
sped by. In 1931 we entertained Governor
and Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt of New
York for dinner. Mrs. Roosevelt had
befriended me in many ways, principally by
teaching me to help my father. For
instance, every Sunday morning she looked
through the New York Sunday newspapers
and picked out the articles that would par-
ticularly interest her husband.
Henceforth, I did the same with the Columbus
Dispatch and Citizen, the Cincinnati Enquirer, and
the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Mrs. Roosevelt was the most interesting
and vital woman that I have ever met.
To return to the dinner party, when I
learned the Roosevelts had accepted our
invitation, I had the necessary ramps
built on all the steps. Governor Roosevelt
couldn't lift his feet at all and he had
to be lifted over a very small step between
the living room and the solarium. I do
not recall the guest list that night, but I
do recall that Judge Robert Marks of
Cincinnati was there. I sat next to Governor
Roosevelt at dinner and inquired about his handsome German police dog that I remembered seeing in Washington when we lived on the same street, R Street. With tears in his eyes, he told me that this dog had died and how much he missed him. In the summer of 1931 President Hoover's wife came to Akron to christen the dirigible, Akron. Father and I had seen the Akron in the making and marveled at the size and complexity of its structure. My faith in airships, however, had been considerably shaken the time I saw the carnage in Noble County of the ill-fated Shenandoah zepplin in September 1925. The Navy called my friend, Lieutenant John Thomas, in Marietta at four o'clock that morning of the crash and instructed him to make a report of the wreck. We drove to Ava and saw half of the Shenan- doah strewn over the country side. The control car, which at that time hung sepa- rated and below the ship, had crashed to the ground, killing all thirteen of the officers in it. I strongly advised Father to stay out of the Akron and to stick to nice safe Navy blimps. On the day of the christening we flew in our state plane, the Stinson (later we had a Waco), to Akron where we attended a luncheon re- splendent with Navy and air-minded celebrities. I remember especially talking to Amelia Earhart, a delightful, informal and young-looking woman. It was a thrill- ing sight when Mrs. Hoover released a large bevy of doves in the hangar, and later when the big dirigible was moved out of the hangar. |
Also that summer, on June 1, Father and I were hosts at the dedication of the Harding Memorial in Marion, Ohio. President and Mrs. Hoover and their son, Allan, were there. I liked them very much and I wish I had kept the handsome geometric doodle which President Hoover left at his place next to me at dinner. Among the many guests at lunch that day were ex-President and Mrs. Coolidge. I sat between Senator Simeon Fess of Ohio and Mr. Coolidge. Many observers marveled that the tactiturn ex-President and I carried on such a lively conversation. His son John was at Amherst College when I was at Smith, so we had many things to talk about. Of the numerous stories that have been attributed to Calvin Coolidge I believe my favorite is the following one told to me by Howard Chandler Christy. In a beautiful full-length portrait of Mrs. Coolidge which Mr. Christy painted, the First Lady's gown is a rich dark red and beside her is a handsome Russian wolf- hound. I complimented Mr. Christy on his portrait, and he told me that when Mrs. Coolidge posed for it he had suggested that she wear red as a contrast to the white- ness of the dog. She said that she did not have a red gown and that he should consult the President on the subject. Mr. Christy took up the matter with Coolidge, who, when he realized that the new dress was requested for the purpose of color contrast, quipped, "Why not dye the dog red?" In the summer Father and I often went up to Camp Perry on Lake Erie. In fact the Officer's Club there was our "Summer White House." It certainly felt refreshing to go swimming in the lake after hot Columbus days and nights. Once when Father was reviewing the troops at Camp Perry, he appeared on a beautiful |
Mary White 79
and spirited horse. The governor looked
handsome but uncomfortable, and when
he finally was able to bring his charger
to a reviewing position, I saw him lean over
to say something to a nearby officer.
Very soon afterwards he shifted from this
horse to a much calmer one. The officer
told me later that Father had said to him,
"Who is Commander and Chief of the
Army in Ohio?" "You, Sir," replied the
officer, and my father immediately
commanded him to change him to a quiet horse.
The governor was also Commander and
Chief of the Navy in Ohio, and when
we embarked on Lake Erie to dedicate the
Perry Memorial on August 1, 1931, I
expected a prestigious craft. Instead,
our boat was a converted rum chaser which
had obviously seen a lot of service, and
I kidded Father unmercifully on his exalted
position in the Navy. We had a beautiful
day for the ceremony, the band played,
and the airplanes maneuvered in the
clear bright sky over the impressive Perry
Monument.
My sister, Charlotte, two years younger
than I, and a graduate of Marietta
College, was a post graduate student at
the Ohio State School of Journalism when
we first came to Columbus. She dropped
the course a few months later and was
of invaluable help to me at the
Governor's Mansion. At a meeting of the Crichton
Club, which brought many excellent
speakers to Columbus, Charlotte represented
the governor. The speaker that evening
was the English playwright and novelist
J. B. Priestly. He was not overly
complimentary to our American culture, and as
the speech progressed my sister became
more and more disgruntled. She finally
ejaculated to her escort, "I feel
like going out and getting a big American hot dog!"
After his speech a reception line was
formed so that the guests could meet Mr.
Priestly. Charlotte was introduced as
the daughter of the governor and her escort
prankishly told the speaker about the
remark she had made. Mr. Priestly drew
himself up and commented dryly that he
didn't even like hot dogs. He must have
been intrigued, though, because he cut
in on her several times during the dancing
later.
Although I had done a considerable
amount of campaigning for Father's elec-
tion, I always dodged speechmaking
whenever possible. It was very difficult for
me to memorize a speech, and I was not
fast enough on my feet to ad lib. One of
the hardest things to do while speaking
is to tell a joke properly. My first one was
a dismal failure, so I asked Senator
Elben Barkley, a famous story teller, to teach
me. He was a delightful and able teacher
and I remember my first performance.
The story sounds very unfunny now, and I
was careful to have people spotted
to start the laughter. This is the story
I told: President Hoover has stabilized the
American farmers--they are forced to
sell their homes and move to the stables.
A speech that still seems very real to
me was one that I made to a large audience
in Sidney, Ohio, during the campaign.
Since I was the principal speaker of the
evening I not only took great pains with
it, but also memorized it. As I was being
introduced the spot lights were turned
on me and I became so frightened that I
couldn't remember one word of my speech.
I stood there trembling when sud-
denly a small boy in the balcony said a
loud, "Boo!" This amused me so much
that I relaxed and recited my speech
properly.
The whole picture of Father's two terms
as governor was colored by the dis-
tressing times which accompanied the
depression. My father and I tried in every
way to cut down the expenses. He lowered
his salary from $10,000 to $8,500. I
must have made a good record, too, for
in our second term the Cleveland Plain
80 OHIO
HISTORY
Dealer stated in an editorial that Mrs. Roosevelt could learn
something about
economy from Ohio's First Lady.
In March 1932 Charlotte and I were
driving in our car over the "back way" to
Ohio State University to pay a visit to
Mrs. Julius Stone, wife of the chairman of
the board of trustees. I was at the
wheel and Charlotte was reading a book. About
four blocks from the Governor's Mansion,
at an intersection where the street
which crossed ours came in diagonally, a
large sedan appeared so suddenly that we
collided. Our car turned around a number
of times, but the other car turned over.
I said, "Oh, Charlotte, we must go
over and help those people!" But Charlotte
was no longer beside me. She had gone
through the windshield and, to my horror,
was lying on her head against a
telephone pole. Fortunately, there was a small
store on the corner and I begged some of
the bystanders to call for an ambulance.
When the ambulance came and I sat in it
beside my sister, I could only pray
and hope that she would survive, she was
so badly cut about the head. Fortunately,
again, I picked Grant Hospital, where
one of the best plastic surgeons in Columbus,
Dr. Hugh Baldwin, was on the staff. His
surgery was so skillful that there is
hardly any trace of the cuts today. We
were also thankful to the resident physician
of the hospital, Dr. Frank Hamilton, who
took such good care of both of us,
although I was only slightly bruised.
The occupants of the other car, fortunately,
were also only slightly bruised. As time
went on we noticed that Dr. Hamilton
was very attentive to
"patient" Charlotte. This caused Father to wink at her and
remark, "It looks as if Mary had
the accident and you had the man!" A short time
after Charlotte returned from the
hospital she told us that she was going to marry
Hammy, as we called Dr. Hamilton. She recuperated
very quickly and enjoyed all
the excitement of an engaged girl.
On August 3, 1932, in the garden of the
Governor's Mansion, Charlotte was
married to Dr. Hamilton. Dr. Harry
Cotton, Pastor of the Broad Street Presby-
terian Church, performed the ceremony.
Cousin Peggy McKelvy and I were bride's
maids, and our two brothers, David and
Bob, were ushers. The newspaper men
and photographers, barred from the
grounds, were posted on the adjoining roof
tops. It was a beautiful day and after
the wedding ceremony the two hundred and
fifty guests had supper on the lawn.
Charlotte received the shortest cable I ever
saw from our brother, George. He was in
Paris with a Princeton orchestra, and
they were stranded there. After they had
arrived in France they discovered that
their contract had been invalidated by
French legislation which banned all foreign
orchestras. It was therefore dire
financial distress which caused the brevity of the
following cablegram:
GOVERNOR OHIO
HAPPINESS CHARLOTTE
GEORGE
After the bride and groom had departed,
I was looking at the wedding presents
with some of the guests when I heard an
ambulance siren at the side entrance.
Alarmed, I rushed to the door and was
vastly relieved to see that the ambulance
was occupied by interns from Grant
Hospital. They were disappointed that their
victims had escaped for they had planned
to kidnap Charlotte and Hammy and tie
them on separate hospital beds for the
night!
Father was Ohio's Favorite Son at the
Democratic National Convention, held in
Mary White 81
Chicago in 1932. We both wore our state
emblem, a buckeye, which many by-
standers mistook for a chocolate drop! I
drove to Chicago with Whitey Merrell,
the highway director. When we came to a
detour sign Whitey told the chauffeur
that since he was the highway director
we could skip the sign and drive right
through. We bumped along the road for
about four miles and then came to an im-
passe-he bridge was out! There was the
inevitable squabble of the seating of
delegates, particularly those of
Louisiana where the voluble Huey Long was much in
evidence. Then came the nominations of
candidates and favorite sons, which
started in the evening and lasted until
five o'clock the next morning. Inevitably, the
roll call came to Ohio. This was about
two o'clock and everybody was getting
sleepy. A good exhilarating nomination
speech, with Father's colorful background,
would have awakened the convention.
Unfortunately (or was it?), Senator Atlee
Pomerene was not the speaker to do that.
He scarcely touched on Father's life.
I was seething and was quieted only by
the fact that my candidate threaded his
way over to console me, and by the fine
seconding speech by Mrs. Bernice Pyke.
The next nomination was plenty colorful
and noisy--Will Rogers put on a cowboy
whooping demonstration for Alfalfa Bill
of Oklahoma [William H. Murray]. Very
soon after that the balloting started,
and the bandwagon for Roosevelt swept him into
the nomination. Governor Roosevelt came
to Chicago to accept his nomination and
was given a rousing ovation by the
convention. It was all over and the Ohio dele-
gation wended its way back to the
Buckeye State.
About the only physical prowess
exhibited by the governor was the throwing of
the baseball to open the Columbus Red
Bird baseball season, but once Father
was called upon to bowl. The National
Bowling Championship match was held in
Columbus and they asked him to bowl with
them the final night of the contest.
Now, he had not bowled since his college
days in the 1890's and he was expected
to perform in front of a large audience
made up of the best bowlers in the United
States. He bravely picked up the ball
and was about to throw it down the alley
when the national champion told him that
he was holding the ball incorrectly.
Father obediently changed his grasp and
threw the ball, but not accurately, for it
didn't even stay in the alley. When it
rolled parallel to the pins, however, they all
fell down--a phoney strike! This got a
big laugh from the audience, a fact which
lends truth to the saying that if you
can't be good, you had better be funny.
I represented Father at the first and
only women's air race held at Dayton dur-
ing his terms in office. We flew over
the race and it was frightening to watch the
aviatrixes dipping their planes down
dangerously to round the pylons. One of them
did meet her death in this manner. After
the race I went to the locker to con-
gratulate the winner. Most of the
contestants were in tears because of their friend's
fatal accident. That day I met Mr.
Orville Wright. As we stood chatting, I looked
at those fast modern planes and was
reminded of the amazingly short time that had
elapsed since the Wright brothers' first
flight in 1903 at Kitty Hawk.
Our second inauguration in January 1933
was a quiet one. Father and I enter-
tained his cabinet, the members of the
legislature, and other friends at a reception
at the Governor's Mansion. One of
Father's best speeches was the one he made at
the ninetieth General Assembly on
January 9, 1933, before the joint session of the
legislature. It was still a time of
economic distress, as can be seen from his efforts
to restore confidence. Bank failures in
Ohio already numbered 140, representing
$257,309,711 in deposits, and people
were consequently uncertain and frightened.
|
In a reassuring manner the governor began his message:
It would be neither wise nor helpful for use to minimize our difficulties but we must eradi- cate one of the disturbing phases of the situation and that is the fear that lurks in our hearts. One of the most significant signs of the times has been the magnificent poise with which the great majority of our citizens have faced heart breaking problems confident in the strength of our institutions, the wisdom of our ideals and the certainty of our destiny.... Why live in the shadow of fear when we know there is a definite end to the cause of our trouble; with personal and governmental frugality we shall gradually reduce the debt and steadily improve conditions. Problems that are debt created or fear created will both vanish when persistently attacked with stout and confident hearts. The executive and legislative branch of the government as chosen leaders of the people of our beloved state must banish fear and enter our task with confidence in the future of Ohio and the United States. [Senate Journal Appendix, (1933), 933, 939.] In January 1933 we journeyed to Washington to attend the inauguration of |
Mary White 83
Franklin D. Roosevelt. Inauguration Day
morning was very frigid when we took
Father to the Senate Chamber. One of the
aides assigned to us put a pint of
whiskey on his hip as insurance against
the cold. The traffic was, of course, congested
and our friend with the bottle stood on
the running board to direct the driver. I
thought that was dangerous and watched
him anxiously--suddenly I noticed a
pained, followed by a jocular,
expression come over his face. The bottle had
broken! Later in the morning Father and
I joined the other governors at a place
where we waited an hour for the
Inaugural Parade to start. There we visited with
our friends and walked up and down to
keep warm. It was very thrilling riding in
that parade, the streets were jammed
with people as far as the eye could see, and
very often we could hear, "Yea,
Ohio!" from the side lines. We were shown to the
seats assigned to us on the platform,
and very soon afterwards President-elect Roose-
velt appeared on the arm of his son,
James. He was duly sworn in and the United
States had, after a period of twelve
years, a Democratic President.
My dress for the Inaugural Ball had been
described and shown in pictures in the
Columbus papers. It was a yellow rough
crepe dinner dress with a high front
neckline and a very low decolletage in
the back, and the arm holes were trimmed
with sable. Some friends of mine planned
a dinner party for me that evening and
we had such a good time that I didn't go
to the Ball. Luckily for me, the news-
caster there described "my
entrance" with my father!
The last night of our stay in
Washington, Father and I had separate engage-
ments. I returned to our suite at about
midnight and there was a lot of excitement
everywhere. Governor William A. Comstock
of Michigan had closed the banks in
Michigan and Ohio bankers were calling
frantically about what they should do.
Father was still out and I talked to
many of the bankers without knowing what to
say to them. It was a time of near panic
in the country, and I felt sorry for
Franklin D. Roosevelt--what a
christening he had in the early days of his
Presidency.
We had hunger marchers in Columbus, and
that was one of the many times I
was worried about the safety of my
father. When I went down to the Governor's
Office, there was a menacing crowd
outside, and I could hear agitators spurring
them on. The newspaper reporters told me
that the governor had handled the
situation remarkably well. Four of the
marchers were chosen to confer with him,
and I believe they were somewhat
mollified by the dignity of the Capitol Building.
Nevertheless, they angrily
"demanded" certain conditions. Father looked at them
quietly and said that he was not used to
the word, "demand," in his office, but that
he would be glad to hear their requests.
I was very relieved by this account and
proud of my father. I cautioned the
police to guard him well and was on my way
out to the car when I was called to the
telephone. It was Jo, the butler, and he
said excitedly that a lady, who told him
that she liked me, had called to tell me
that the women and children of the
hunger marchers were on their way to the
mansion to trample down the gardens! I
do not know who my friend was but she
was certainly a "friend in
need" and I am most grateful to her. The police imme-
diately sent guards out to surround the
mansion and the women and children did
march by, but without any destruction.
An interesting trip we took in July of
1933 was to the Chicago World's Fair.
Father and I, of course, went on Ohio
Day and were proudly escorted from our
hotel to the fair by the Cleveland
Grays. Our tour of the grounds started with
84 OHIO HISTORY
the Ohio Building. We had been
interested in the plans to decorate it and Father
had "sat" for a bust which was
placed on a pedestal. I was very disappointed that
it was not there at the time of our
visit, but we had a good laugh over the explana-
tion of why it was not. It seems that a
few days before a woman had come into
the building, had announced that she
didn't like Governor White, and had marched
over to the bust and knocked it off the
pedestal!
One of the most spectacular sights' at
the World's Fair was the arrival of a flight
of twenty-five Savoia-Marchetti S-55X
seaplanes under the command of General
Italo Balbo of the Italian Air Force who
flew from Italy at the invitation of the
Chicago Fair Committee. We watched them
fly in from the top of the Stevens
Hotel, and it was a magnificent sight.
Both the Italians and our American escort
were flying in formation as they
appeared in a cloudless sky over the city. Mr.
Rufus Dawes was the chairman of the
Chicago Fair and he invited us to a luncheon
given in honor of the visiting Italian
aviators. General Balbo was indeed a good
looking man and so were the six of his
flyers at whose table I sat. They spoke
no English, but we got along quite well
in French, though my accent was "Ohioan"
and theirs was decidedly Italian. They
were very surprised to note that I had long
hair. It seems that all American girls
were supposed to have bobbed hair. Their
watches were set at Rome time and they
had brought their own Cognac with them.
As the speakers' table was introduced,
Mr. Dawes asked General Balbo to tell us
about their flight. I noticed the wrapt
expression on the faces of my aviator friends
when their General spoke. When he sat
down, I said, "I think he is swell!" One
of the flyers knew a little English and
made like the ocean swells. I proceeded to
try to explain the meaning of the word
"swell" by a number of French adjectives.
They nodded and we passed on to other
subjects. When I rose to leave, they all
jumped to attention and looking directly
at me said, "Swell!"
The summer of 1933 was a busy one for me
because President Roosevelt ap-
pointed me chairman of the Women's
Division of the NRA in Ohio. In order to
set up the women's organization I chose
chairmen in the large cities and then,
with brother Bob as my chauffeur, made
speeches throughout the state, explaining
the women's part in the National
Recovery Act. To be very truthful, I must admit
that since Father expected to run for
the U.S. Senate in 1934 I hoped that my
assignment would help him with
Republicans and Democrats alike.
In the fall I always gave my brothers a
carton of cigarettes and a serious talk
about speeding before they departed for
Princeton, so Bob received the full treat-
ment before he drove off in his flivver
one Sunday morning in November. Later
in the day, when I was playing the
piano, I suddenly grew fightened for Bob's
welfare, and I immediately wrote a
Special Delivery to wish him a happy twenty-
first birthday the next Friday and to
warn him to drive very carefully. Later in
November on a Saturday night Father flew
to Cleveland to make a speech and
stayed there all night. Sunday morning,
November 22, when I awakened Dr.
Andre Crotti, his daughter Elizabeth,
and "Weege" Burr were standing at my
bedside. I asked, "Something has
happened to Father?" When they denied that, I
say, "It's Bob!" They told me
that he had been killed in an automobile accident
at Somerville, New Jersey. My father, on
account of bad flying conditions, had
not been able to return to Columbus and
had asked our friends to tell me about
the accident. In a state of shock I
dressed and went downstairs where some of our
friends and some newspaper reporters were
standing around with cups of coffee.
Mary White 85
I bore up quite well for a while in this
kindly atmosphere but collapsed in tears
in about an hour. My warning of the
weekend before softened the blow somewhat,
but I felt lost without my darling young
brother--he had my Special in his pocket
when he died.
Somehow I got through the weeks after
Bob's death. When Christmas came I
spent the holiday appropriation for
outside Christmas decoration on all blue lights.
At the time the one-color effect was
very unusual and I thought quite beautiful.
Anyone who has seen the Governor's
Mansion knows how handsome the facade
was and how lovely it looked when
decorated. Everybody tried to help us through
that Christmas. Jack Orr and Jack Reese
had a chow puppy that looked like a
furry ball and we spent hours watching
him play with balloons. Our friend Herb
Mangert of the Cincinnati Enquirer said
he wanted to cut a special Christmas tree
for us. He sent it up from Cincinnati,
and it was the most magnificent one I have
ever seen, but it was too tall for the
solarium. I asked Peter to cut it off to make
it the right height, and he cut off the
top! Well, we fastened the top back on with
wires, affixed the angel, and proceeded
with the decoration of the tree. It was
really comical because four times that
angel took a bow. She was too heavy for
our wired repairs and we would look up
and see her slowly bowing down. I believe
we finally substituted a star, which
relieved the strain on the fabricated top and
stayed properly aloft.
In the spring of 1934 Father decided to
run for the Senate. His opponent for
the Democratic primary was "Honest
Vic" Donahey, who had three times been
governor and who had "taken the
farmers out of the mud" and given them pass-
able roads. He was very popular in Ohio.
I remember hearing how he campaigned
in Cincinnati. He took a suite at one of
the hotels and had plenty of spittoons
placed usefully about, and 1200 people
came to see him over the weekend. He
was a fine man and an excellent
politician, and I knew that he would be hard to
beat. For some reason President
Roosevelt didn't want my father to run for the
Senate, and he called him to Washington
for the purpose of dissuading him. He
offered him several diplomatic posts:
the Minister to Ireland, or to one of the
South American countries, or to Albania.
Father turned down the first two and
said he didn't even know where Albania
was! Much mortified by this shocking
avowal, I prepared for him a brochure on
Albania, complete with map and infor-
mation, such as, that the landscape was
rugged, the women beautiful, goat's milk
was plentiful, and it was wise to keep an
airplane warmed up in case of sudden
revolution. (King Zog knew what to do in
1939!)
In the late spring of 1934 two friends
of John Dillinger, Harry Pierpont and
Charles Makely, were brought to the Ohio
Penitentiary and imprisoned in death
row to await sentence. They were
dangerous men, and since they had helped
Dillinger escape from an Indiana prison,
everybody expected that Dillinger would
reciprocate by helping them to escape.
This prediction was strengthened by
anonymous letters to Father from
Chicago. All necessary precautions were taken
at the penitentiary and at the mansion,
which was guarded day and night and we
were, too. A special police radio was
placed in my car so I could hear all of the
reports. They were really something
because every sentence was repeated and I
found myself inclined to talk the same
way after a long ride. Well, I objected to
all the fuss made, particularly after a
guard even accompanied me to the circus.
Father listened to my complaints and
then told me that one of the threatening
86 OHIO
HISTORY
letters had warned that Dillinger would
kidnap me and hold me until Pierpont and
Makely were freed. Furthermore, he said
he refused to free those two killers for
any reason and that I therefore had best
stay near my guards. Shortly after his talk
with me, the newspapers carried the
kidnapping possibility and I even made the
movies on Fox Movie-tone News. I wore
pajamas every night to prepare for Mr.
Dillinger's arrival, and one evening a
boy friend came for me in an armoured bank
car! There was also a cut-up almost
every Saturday night who backfired his car
loudly as he passed the mansion, and
this brought the guards out on the run.
As time went on we heard through the
penitentiary "grapevine" that John
Dillinger was "no good"
because he had run out on his moll when the police
surprised their hideout in Michigan.
They therefore doubted that he would be man
enough to repay his friends. The two
convicts evidently agreed for they made a
break with a soap pistol, and one of
them was killed. The other was executed a
short time later. We were relieved when
it was all over--and we concentrated
once again on the senatorial campaign.
It is true that at the Governor's
Mansion I received only the most optimistic
reports of Father's chances, so my hopes
were high on primary night. I rounded
up some friends for my usual election
party, but as we listened to the radio reports
of the votes, I became more and more
alarmed. I phoned the Democratic Head-
quarters and talked to Chairman Heiney
Brunner who regretfully informed me that
Father was defeated. I was at first
stunned and then furious at the whole state of
Ohio for repudiating the man who had
worked so hard for their welfare in the
past three years. In fact, I became
quite irascible and Jo called Father and told
him that he had better come and calm me
down. Yes, it is hard to lose an election.
In the first place, campaigning is the
most exhausting work I have ever done, and
Ohio is a sizable state. In the second
place, campaigning is a very expensive
project for the candidate, even with
generous financial help of the Democratic
State Committee.
Time went by rapidly and soon it was our
last holiday season in the mansion.
It was a busy and a happy one for us
because so many of our friends entertained
us with farewell parties. On Christmas
Eve Father received a telephone call from
a Columbus West Side colored voter who
represented a large group who admired
Father and were sending him a pig to
have for Christmas dinner. On Christmas
morning a box duly arrived which
contained, to our amazement, the snout, the
hoofs, and the tail of a pig! An
explanatory note accompanied this weird assort-
ment which stated that somebody had
stolen the rest of the gift pig, and the writer
knew who it was because the culprit had
boasted about giving a pig dinner the
night before. We were vastly amused by
all of this and I even gave the story to
Billy Ireland, the fine cartoonist of
the Columbus Dispatch, and a good friend of
ours. The incident was forgotten until
an evening about two weeks later. Jack
Orr and Jack Reese came to escort me to
a party and they presented me with a
large box and told me to open it. That I
did and was appalled to see the rear of
a pig with a carnation planted in the
proper spot! The whole story had been a
fabricated hoax, perpetrated, even to
the voice of Father's telephone correspondent
on Christmas Eve, by these two
gentlemen!
A few days before the inauguration of
Governor-elect Martin L. Davey, Father
and I moved to the Deshler-Wallick
Hotel. The morning of the inaugural cere-
monies, noting that my father was very
restless, I asked him to pay a few bills in
Mary White 87
the vicinity of the hotel. After he
left, I sat reflecting on what the qualities were that
made him the fine governor that he was.
Father was a good judge of men and he
picked his cabinet with great care. I
heard him tell the youngest of them, Whitey
Merrell, that if he cheated, he, George
White, would break his neck. Although
he was the youngest, 0. W. Merrell
proved to be one of Ohio's outstanding high-
way directors. Since the administration
of a governor greatly depends on his
cabinet, Father was fortunate in having
able men to help him.
Integrity is, of course, of the utmost
importance, but I always teasingly reminded
my father that the only reason
why he was honest was that he remembered when
he was in the Klondike during the Gold
Rush of the late 1890's that people were
shot for stealing! Although he was no
orator, he made a good speech when in-
spired by the warmth of an audience. A
very important part of his success was that
Father did not take his problems to bed
with him--he slept soundly and awoke
to face them with a fresh mind.
In a few hours, after the inauguration,
"the King wouldn't be King anymore,"
but as I sat there my heart was filled
with love and pride for my father who had
guided the state to the best of his
ability through the past four years of troubled
times. I was glad that I had had a small
part in it and it was for my Governor
Father that I had made my best efforts
to be a good First Lady of my favorite
state, Ohio.
MARY L. WHITE
Mary White: Autobiography of an
Ohio First
Lady
As I hurriedly dressed I could hear the
commotion downstairs, while outside the
National Guard was forming with
appropriate commands and the neighing of
horses. It was Inauguration Day in
Columbus, Ohio, January 12, 1931--my
father would soon be Governor George
White. Because of the recent death of
Mother I was, at the age of twenty-four,
to be Father's official hostess and First
Lady of Ohio. Full of determination to
take the time to look my best, I was
applying my make-up when the voice of my
father came up the stairs above the
laughter of the newspaper men,
"Mary, where is my button hook?" I rushed into
his room and found it. With only one
cheek rouged and no powder on, I ran
down to present it to the new Governor
of Ohio. Yes, he was wearing his high
button shoes for the occasion.
I then went into the dining room in
quest of a cup of coffee. There sat the
family, my sister Charlotte, my three
brothers David, George and Bob, and Aunt
Florence, Uncle Bob and their daughter,
Peggy. Relieved, I noted that breakfast
was going smoothly and raised my cup for
a first sip. Just then one of the ten
newspaper men in the hall beckoned to me
and I went to see what he wanted. It
seemed the troops and horses of the
National Guard were feeling and looking very
pert so the Columbus Dispatch and
the Columbus Citizen wanted a picture of me
with them. Without slipping on a coat I
went out to the porte cochere to be with
the photographers. The Guard made a
pretty sight that crisp January morning.
Shivering, I took my stand among them
next to the captain whose horse became
overly excited and thrust his front hoof
against my shin. Fortunately this happened
after the pictures were taken.
Feeling a little shaken and slightly
bruised, I returned to the dining room and
retrived my coffee and a piece of toast.
Then I checked with the kitchen, for after
the reception downtown we were
entertaining the cabinet, the members of the
Even though Miss Mary White wrote of her
experiences as First Lady in 1958, every effort
was made to recall how she felt and
acted in 1931-1935 so that the reader may share with
her her experiences as they happened
along the way. Miss White's original manuscript is
titled, "Study in White," and
is deposited in the Ohioana Library in Columbus. It is a type-
script fifty-three pages in length. Most
of the manuscript is printed here, but certain portions
are not included, such as some minor
anecdotes and the details of the 1932 governors'
conference in Richmond, Virginia.