Stephens van deusen westmoreland, but you go by kitsy. Right. Thats right. Maam, could you please spell your last name for the transcriber. Westmoreland. Thank you, maam. Tell me about your childhood. I know you grew up as the daughter of an army officer. Tell me what it was like growing up as an army brat. Well, when i grew up in the army, i would say i grew up as a millionaires child without any money. So i had the most wonderful childhood. I had two brothers and we all were well, my father had been in the cavalry and he was one a wonderful horseman. So both my brother my older brother and i rode from the time i guess i was 3 years old, and my older brother was the same way. What posts were you on when you grew up . Well, i was born at princeton. New jersey. The followers at princeton for six years. And when he married my mother, my mother was a very beautiful lady. And i think most of the princeton students were in love with her because she was so lovely. And then my older brother w
War and recalled hosting president s and first ladys as well as her friendship with bob and dolores hope. This interview is just over an hour. Good evening, maam. Today is the 1st of october, 2016, and were in the west point center for oral history, and im here with Katherine Stephens van deusen westmoreland, but you go by kitsy. Right. Thats right. Maam, could you please spell your last name for the transcriber. Westmoreland. Thank you, maam. Tell me about your childhood. I know you grew up as the daughter of an army officer. Tell me what it was like growing up as an army brat. Well, when i grew up in the army, i would say i grew up as a millionaires child without any money. So i had the most wonderful childhood. I had two brothers and we all were well, my father had been in the cavalry and he was one a wonderful horseman. So both my brother my older brother and i rode from the time i guess i was 3 years old, and my older brother was the same way. What posts were you on when you grew
Political affairs herself. She always had been. She loved to use the white house yacht, the mayflower. She found that very relaxing. Again, i dont like to keep going back to the kidney disease, but on days when she felt good, that was a good place to entertain Close Friends and relax a little bit. She also, i think, relaxed a lot because she invited different people to the white house read she was very interested in hearing your views. This was in the days when he was still leave a calling card. She would pick one at random and invite them for to you that afternoon. It could be anybody. She is described as always listening to people very intently. She always said she looked in their eyes to see their soul. That was her way of knowing if you were being genuine with her. She would always class per hands around her knees and lean forward and intently Pay Attention to what you are saying. That was even a former relaxation for her. Ngg, should like to play bridge, she loves to go horseback
Francisco of a heart attack, is reported to the press earlier that day that he died that he might be coming out of the woods and of course, he dies. Much like grace, much like jackie kennedy, she is stoic. The newspaper reporter who got on the trip, they are reporting now that this horrible change events as they go back east on the train, and they say she is never breaking down. They are worried. Shes not crying. And she says im not going to. She knows she has this responsibility of setting the stage for the country. She takes that very seriously. Privately, she is devastated. This is her whole world. You have no children to rely on her one son from a first marriage already has died, he died in 1915. Its her. We can only imagine how lonely and afraid she felt. Lucinda annette, hoover. Annette we will do the light stuff first. She was very avid horsewoman she loved to ride. She liked to motor also. Not while she was first lady but shortly after lose mother passed away, after they left t
Announcer American History tv was live on saturday from marion, ohio, for a modern symposium on first ladies, from Florence Harding to Michelle Obama. That was the theme of the annual warren g. Harding symposium at Ohio State University at mary and it is about four hours. Host and now entitled paving the way, we you please welcome the two rector of special events at the National First lady library, lucinda fraley. Lucinda thank you. And thank you, everyone, who was involved in the symposium. You have absolutely no how thrilled we are to be here. Anytime we get a chance to present first ladies, we always look forward to it. Our mission, really good, which is to educate the public about the lives and the activities of the first ladies of this country, and believe me, they were all wonderful, and as i was talking to somebody at the reception we think all of the president s were quite intelligent. Every one of them, because they were smart enough to marry the woman who became their life pa