Caroline Scott Harrison
| Caroline Lavinia Harrison | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First Lady of the United States | |
|
In role March 4, 1889 – October 25, 1892 |
|
| President | Benjamin Harrison |
| Preceded by | Frances Cleveland |
| Succeeded by | Mary McKee (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 1, 1832 Oxford, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | October 25, 1892 (aged 60) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Benjamin Harrison (m. 1853; her death 1892) |
| Children |
Russell Benjamin Harrison Mary Harrison McKee |
| Alma mater | Miami University |
| Signature |  |
Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison (October 1, 1832 – October 25, 1892), was a teacher of music, the wife of Benjamin Harrison and mother of two surviving children; after his election as President of the United States, she was First Lady of the United States from 1889 until her death.
She secured funding for an extensive renovation of the White House and oversaw the work. Interested in history and preservation, in 1890 she helped found the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and served as its first President General.
Caroline Lavinia Scott was born in Oxford, Ohio, the second daughter of John Witherspoon Scott, a Presbyterian minister and professor of science and mathematics at Miami University, and his wife Mary Potts Neal. Caroline had two sisters and two brothers. Although the family was not well off, her father ensured that his daughters as well as his sons were well educated. Wherever they lived, he filled the house with books, art, and music. Religion, was important in his and the family's life.
Dr. Scott had been at Miami for more than two decades when, in 1845, he and several other professors were fired after a dispute with the university president, George Junkin, over slavery; Junkin supported it and Scott and the others opposed it.
Her father next accepted a job teaching chemistry and physics at Farmer's College and moved the family to College Hill, near Cincinnati. There in 1848 Caroline met Benjamin Harrison, one of her father's freshman students. The two began a courtship but did not marry until 1853.
In 1849, the Scotts returned to Oxford, as Dr. Scott was selected as the first president of the Oxford Female Institute. It was held in the former Temperance Tavern, which he had purchased in 1841. Her mother Mary Neal Scott joined the school as its matron and the Head of Home Economics. Caroline enrolled as a student, studying English literature, theater, art, and painting. In her senior year in 1852, she joined the faculty as an Assistant in Piano Music.
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