The centennial of President Washington's inauguration heightened the nation's
interest in its heroic past, and in 1890 Caroline Scott Harrison lent her
prestige as First Lady to the founding of the National Society of the Daughters
of the American Revolution. She served as its first President General. She took
a special interest in the history of the White House, and the mature dignity
with which she carried out her duties may overshadow the fun-loving nature that
had charmed "Ben" Harrison when they met as teenagers.

Born at Oxford, Ohio, in 1832, "Carrie" was the second daughter of Mary Potts
Neal and the Reverend Dr. John W. Scott, a Presbyterian minister and founder of
the Oxford Female Institute. As her father's pupil--brown-haired, petite,
witty--she infatuated the reserved young Ben, then an honor student at Miami
University; they were engaged before his graduation and married in 1853.

After early years of struggle while he established a law practice in
Indianapolis, they enjoyed a happy family life interrupted only by the Civil
War. Then, while General Harrison became a man of note in his profession, his
wife cared for their son and daughter, gave active service to the First
Presbyterian Church and to an orphans' home, and extended cordial hospitality
to her many friends. Church views to the contrary, she saw no harm in private
dancing lessons for her daughter--she liked dancing herself. Blessed with
considerable artistic talent, she was an accomplished pianist; she especially
enjoyed painting for recreation.

Illness repeatedly kept her away from Washington's winter social season during
her husband's term in the Senate, 1881-1887, and she welcomed their return to
private life; but she moved with poise to the White House in 1889 to continue
the gracious way of life she had always created in her own home.

During the administration the Harrisons' daughter, Mary Harrison McKee, her two
children, and other relatives lived at the White House. The First Lady tried in
vain to have the overcrowded mansion enlarged but managed to assure an
extensive renovation with up-to-date improvements. She established the
collection of china associated with White House history. She worked for local
charities as well. With other ladies of progressive views, she helped raise
funds for the Johns Hopkins University medical school on condition that it
admit women. She gave elegant receptions and dinners. In the winter of
1891-1892, however, she had to battle illness as she tried to fulfill her
social obligations. She died of tuberculosis at the White House in October
1892, and after services in the East Room was buried from her own church in
Indianapolis.

When official mourning ended, Mrs. McKee acted as hostess for her father in the
last months of his term. (In 1896 he married his first wife's widowed niece and
former secretary, Mary Scott Lord Dimmick; she survived him by nearly 47 years,
dying in January 1948.)