White House Years
In the White House, Ethel often filled in for her mother by placing meal orders and delegating tasks to the staff. She was only 10 years old when her father became President after William McKinley's assassination in 1901.
During her family's years in the White House, Ethel always tried to keep as low a profile possible because she did not seem to enjoy the attention as much as her half-sister Alice Roosevelt did. She was also encouraged to maintain her low-key persona by her mother Edith, who believed that women only made the news to announce her birth, marriage and her death. Ethel attended school at the National Cathedral and had difficulty making friends due to her father's position. Just months before the Roosevelts' departure from the White House, Ethel had her Debut and Coming Out Party in the White House on December 28, 1908. Ethel was just 17 at the time of her debut, one year shy of the typical age of 18 that most women "came out." The reason for this being the fact that the family was due to leave the White House less than three months following Ethel's debut. This would be last opportunity to do so if Ethel was to "come out" from Pennsylvania Avenue.
Read more about this topic: Ethel Roosevelt Derby
Famous quotes containing the words white house, white, house and/or years:
“Sometimes I wake at night in the White House and rub my eyes and wonder if it is not all a dream.”
—Grover Cleveland (1837–1908)
“The white hive is snug as a virgin,
Sealing off her brood cells, her honey, and quietly humming.
Smoke rolls and scarves in the grove.
The mind of the hive thinks this is the end of everything.”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“First there’s the children’s house of make believe,
Some shattered dishes underneath a pine,
The playthings in the playhouse of the children.
Weep for what little things could make them glad.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“In foreign policy you have to wait twenty-five years to see how it comes out.”
—James Reston (b. 1909)