[Ads-l] Antedating of "First Lady" (OED Sense 2)

[Peter Reitan]

There may be some difference between how its used here, and how we now understand it as an informal title.

Slightly earlier, New York Tribune, August 9, 1861, page 4, referring to Mrs. Lincoln as the “first lady in the United States” as opposed to “of the United States.”

[Begin excerpt]Mrs. Lincoln goes to Long Branch, and it is not vulgar nor snobbish to make her visit an ovation and a brilliant social event.  She is the first lady in the United States.[End excerpt.]

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113990621/new-york-tribune/

The handwringing alluded to in the dateline August 16th letter from New York in the Louisville paper (shared in an earlier post) relates to social etiquette.  It compared Mrs. Lincoln deigning to initiate a visit with a visiting Princess with the unthinkable act of the French Empress hypothetically lowering herself to initiate a visit a hypothetical wife of Robert Todd Lincoln, if he were to visit Paris with his hypothetical bride.  As a matter of normal social protocol, the person in the higher station would wait for the person of lower rank to visit them, particularly in their home country, and not the other way around.

Princess Clotilde (daughter of the King of Italy) and her husband Prince Napoleon (cousin to Napoleon III) were then in the US.  The Prince met Lincoln and stayed in the White House.  Mary could have, and may have, met him before she left town.  The Princess stayed in New York under “strict seclusion” in his absence.

Mary Lincoln’s trip to Long Branch was announced before the Prince and Princess showed up in Long Branch, so it does not seem that the trip was for that purpose.  It was the Dog Days of August, and many people left town to avoid unhealthy conditions in the muggy swampland of DC.  A German paper announced that Mrs. Lincoln did visit the Princess in New York on the morning of the 22d, while the Prince was away again, on a trip through Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Detroit.  The Princess was not in seclusion during this trip – she increased her number of Broadway shopping trips, and skipped Mass on Sunday.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114010072/die-aurora-und-christliche-woche/

The status of “first lady” in certain social circles also appeared in later social tizzies related to hostess protocols and social ranking among politicians wives in DC.  Those discussions may shed some light on how the expression “first lady” was then understood.

A discussion in 1874 seemed to suggest that the wife of the President should not be the “first lady” of society, because she was above it all, and not required to return calls.  There seemed to be a consensus among "House Ladies,” “Cabinet Ladies” and “Supreme Court Ladies” that the wife of the Chief Justice should be given highest social standing.  This came up as a topic of conversation when President Grant was thinking of nominating someone as Chief Justice whose wife many of the Washington women didn’t like – which was reason enough for some to oppose the nomination.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113989697/the-intelligencer/

In 1884, Chester Arthur was a widower.  He made the mistake of first calling one woman a “first lady” and later someone else.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113988514/chicago-tribune/

In 1885, President Cleveland was still single.  There was a debate around what high-ranking politician’s wife should, by right, take over first lady duties.  He asked his sister to act as hostess – others had their own ideas.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113988157/the-philadelphia-times/


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From: Jonathan Lighter<mailto:wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Thursday, December 1, 2022 4:03 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "First Lady" (OED Sense 2)

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I think there's a significant difference in nuance between 1861 "our first
lady" as the "pre-eminent woman of the land" and the current "first lady,"
fully lexicalized as "the wife of the president."

JL

On Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 6:40 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> First Lady (OED, 2., 1870)
>
> 1861 _Courier-Journal_ (Louisville) 27 Aug. 4/1 (Newspapers.com)  We are
> expecting Mrs. Lincoln here this week on her way to Long Branch. ... Our
> first lady will not suffer in the world's eye, because she is kind and
> courteous.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
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