Author: Frances Parkinson Keyes (1885–1970)
Publication: Harper & Brothers, hardcover, 1937
Genre: Memoir
Setting: Washington, DC
The book is a social history of life as an energetic, outgoing senator’s wife in Washington and was clearly based on extensive diaries she kept. However, it is an odd mixture of fascinating tidbits and extensive (but sometimes tedious) descriptions of her friendships with (primarily) women notable because of their spouses. As most of these individuals are no longer household names, one cannot help wishing she had spent more time on anecdotes relating to her prominent acquaintances, as those vignettes are especially appealing. In particular, I had always supposed that FPK and Eleanor Roosevelt, a year apart in age but married to prominent politicians of different political parties, would not have had a cordial relationship but she appears to have got on well with FDR (whom she described as exceptionally handsome) and Eleanor (and I don’t think her very positive depiction of them was just to maintain her press card privileges at the White House because this book was not published until her husband decided not to run for a third term; after which they left Washington). I guess FPK was wrong to say “no breath of scandal scorched his name” but maybe his philandering was still a secret at this point.
I was fascinated by FPK’s description of the rules of social calls in Washington DC, which must have been so confusing to the newly arrived political wives:
The discovery that she is expected to embark immediately upon a series of visits, even before she has had time to put her household in order, settle her children in school, or provide herself with an adequate wardrobe is, and always has been, appalling to a newcomer; and the more minutely she investigates the program to which she is committed by her husband’s position the more like a Juggernaut it appears. She must, it transpires, make calls every day in the week, and for two or three hours each day. The Ladies of the Supreme Court received in Mondays; Congressional Ladies on Tuesdays; Cabinet Ladies on Wednesdays; Senatorial Ladies on Thursdays; Diplomatic Ladies on Fridays; and “Cave-dwelling Ladies” – members of unofficial but exalted society – on Saturdays, Sundays, and all other such days at suit their fancy. Nor is this the worst of it. It is the newcomer, not the old inhabitant, who is required to call first, and woe betide her if she does not promptly pay her respects to all her superiors in rank, for these keep careful account of who has called and who has not, and frequently comment on the subject in public.Juggling these responsibilities would be virtually impossible without household help. FPK’s older sons must have been in boarding school in New England but Peter would have been about seven when his parents moved to DC, requiring some attention.
• FPK knew my "neighbors," the Larz Andersons: The first time I had occasion to try [to talk to Calvin Coolidge] was at a gorgeous dinner given by the Larz Andersons. Their house in Washington, like their house in Brookline, is a veritable palace, and its magnificence is enhanced by the many treasures collected during the periods when Mr. Anderson was Minister to Belgium and Ambassador to Japan.
I have attended birthday parties at the Andersons' Brookline home, now a museum with extensive grounds. Mrs. Anderson was in the first graduating class at the Winsor School in 1895, which FPK attended briefly.
• FPK at one point had only one “best” dress, made of sapphire-blue sequins and tulle that she wanted to save for White House and Embassy parties but her housekeeper didn’t think the backup was good enough to wear to elegant events. Once the royalties started coming in, I hope she bought another!
• FPK converted to Catholicism in 1939. I have always suspected she waited until after her husband died so as not to upset him or jeopardize his political support. In this book, she discusses the furor that arose when Edward White became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1910 because he was Catholic and people feared his divided allegiance to the Pope. She states the bigotry evaporated after his appointment as his high character became known and points out that European and Latin-American leaders are not accused of such divided loyalties. FPK opines, I think this is significant because I believe there would be a parallel situation if a man of high ideals and wide experience who was incidentally a Catholic, were elevated to the Presidency. I wonder what she thought of JFK?
• Eleanor Roosevelt started an annual “Gridiron Widow’s party” for the night the men were at their male-only Gridiron dinner. The first one was a masquerade party at the White House – a grand affair with prizes that set a tradition for future events. FPK says, . . . the Gridironers who decided they would never ask us to their dinners would repent their rash action in sackcloth and ashes if they realized what our retaliation in not ask them to ours has cost them. But then, that is just like men. They imagine they are indispensable to us. As a matter of fact, we have a perfectly grand time without them.
Thank you to Dewena for mentioning Capital Kaleidoscope to me. It’s an entertaining book even when the reader has to Google many of those FKP mentions and it is very satisfying to come across people one does recognize. The book is very rare and I had never come across it, although I have read most of Keyes’ books. While the views she expresses on African-American and Asians in this book are regrettable, they were typical of her upbringing and well might have evolved by the time of her death, more than 30 years after the book was published. It is very trendy these days to contemplate editing books to remove offensive language but I think history should be explained, not erased.
Source: Harvard Library
• FPK at one point had only one “best” dress, made of sapphire-blue sequins and tulle that she wanted to save for White House and Embassy parties but her housekeeper didn’t think the backup was good enough to wear to elegant events. Once the royalties started coming in, I hope she bought another!
• FPK converted to Catholicism in 1939. I have always suspected she waited until after her husband died so as not to upset him or jeopardize his political support. In this book, she discusses the furor that arose when Edward White became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1910 because he was Catholic and people feared his divided allegiance to the Pope. She states the bigotry evaporated after his appointment as his high character became known and points out that European and Latin-American leaders are not accused of such divided loyalties. FPK opines, I think this is significant because I believe there would be a parallel situation if a man of high ideals and wide experience who was incidentally a Catholic, were elevated to the Presidency. I wonder what she thought of JFK?
• Eleanor Roosevelt started an annual “Gridiron Widow’s party” for the night the men were at their male-only Gridiron dinner. The first one was a masquerade party at the White House – a grand affair with prizes that set a tradition for future events. FPK says, . . . the Gridironers who decided they would never ask us to their dinners would repent their rash action in sackcloth and ashes if they realized what our retaliation in not ask them to ours has cost them. But then, that is just like men. They imagine they are indispensable to us. As a matter of fact, we have a perfectly grand time without them.
Thank you to Dewena for mentioning Capital Kaleidoscope to me. It’s an entertaining book even when the reader has to Google many of those FKP mentions and it is very satisfying to come across people one does recognize. The book is very rare and I had never come across it, although I have read most of Keyes’ books. While the views she expresses on African-American and Asians in this book are regrettable, they were typical of her upbringing and well might have evolved by the time of her death, more than 30 years after the book was published. It is very trendy these days to contemplate editing books to remove offensive language but I think history should be explained, not erased.
Source: Harvard Library
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