Lucy Webb Hayes

This oil on canvas portrait of First Lady Lucy Webb Hayes was done by Daniel Huntington. In the beginning of Huntington's career, he painted landscapes in the tradition of the Hudson River School, but later predominately produced portraits. Mrs. Hayes was well-educated and graduated with honors from Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College in 1850. During the Civil War, she worked in several hospitals tending to the wounded, including her husband. She was an abolitionist and a staunch supporter of the temperance movement. As First Lady, she instituted the first White House Easter Egg Roll. Her husband served as president from March 4, 1877 until March 8, 1881.