Title: Photograph of Ellen Wilson and daughters

Description: From left to right: Ellen Louise Axson Wilson and her three daughters, Jessie, Margaret, and Nell on the south portico of the White House. Family time, books, and art were Ellen Wilson’s favorite pastimes, and this explains the attention she gave to redecorating the family quarters of the White House. Mrs. Wilson brightened the rooms, converted a third floor room into her art studio, and removed President Roosevelt’s stuffed heads from the State Dining Room. Two White House weddings were given six months apart in 1914; the first was the marriage of Jessie Wilson to Francis Bowes Sayre, and the second the marriage of Nell Wilson to William Gibbs McAdoo. Shortly after, Ellen Wilson became ill with Bright’s Disease and died August 6th 1914. After the funeral in the East Room, Margaret Wilson became White House hostess.

Date: 1913

Creator: Unknown

Credit: Library of Congress