May 1, 2007 Archive

Teatimes That Made a Difference
By Laurie Nienhaus

  Teatime hasn't always met with approval. There was a time when certain folks felt it was merely a reason to gather for prattle and scandal or that it was only the newest way to diversify idleness. Still others claimed that tea drinkers were more silly and malicious than fishwives over gin.  Even today there are those among us who view teatime as a boring and trivial occurrence. 

   What unenlightened souls! There are teatimes that have made a profound difference to our world. Of course, those teatimes that alleviated the Duchess of Bedford's sinking feeling and that led to our afternoon tea tradition immediately come to mind. And although some might argue we're on shaky ground, it's only right we include the Boston Tea Party.

   However, there are others.

   It was at a New York tea party on July 13, 1848 that Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and several others organized the Seneca Falls Convention that would take place only a week later. Three hundred people would attend the convention and one hundred of those would sign the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, officially marking the beginning of the Women's Suffrage Movement.

   It was also at tea that socialite Harriet Hemenway and her cousin Mina began laying their plans for saving the countless birds sacrificed for the late 19th century millinery trade. Their efforts would not only lead to the formation of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, but also to a 1897 bill that outlawed the trade in feathers of wild birds. Their teatime strategy lead to the prevention of a charnel house of beaks and claws and bones and feathers and glass eyes from appearing on the fatuous heads of heartless women.

   At the start of the 1899 Boer War, the wide spread belief that the war would end almost immediately lead the British to quip that it would be over by teatime. This turned out not to be the case, but tea did play its part. Winston Churchill's mother, Jennie, saw the urgency of outfitting an American ship to serve as a hospital, obtaining an old American cattle boat for conversion into a military hospital ship that would become the Maine. Actress Lillie Lantry, once a favorite of the Prince of Wales and of Jennie's father, wanted to help.  She announced a fundraising concert and tea to be sponsored by New York society women. Once rumor began that both prominent actresses and society women would act as bar maids in short skirts, Mrs. William Backhouse Astor made it clear that neither she nor her friends would be attending. The long arm of the Prince of Wales saved the day as, through certain channels, he made it clear that if Mrs. Astor continued to boycott the tea, her daughter in England would no longer find herself in royal favor. The tea was a brilliant success, with Ms. Astor and friends in attendance and skimpily clad women nowhere to be seen. Five thousand dollars was raised for the Maine.

   In June of 1929, First Lady Lou Hoover created a hailstorm of national controversy with a tea held for the wives of all U.S. congressmen in the White House's Red Room. With an African-American now elected to congress, Illinois' Oscar DePriest, Mrs. Hoover found herself in a delicate position for which there was no precedent. No African-American since Booker T. Washington in 1901 had been invited to dine at the White House but, against the advice of those closest to her, Mrs. Hoover refused to snub Mrs. DePriest. It was, however, seen best to divide the congressmen's wives into four groups, with Mrs. DePriest in the last group so there'd be no chance of southern wives boycotting the tea. Mrs. DePriest was said to have been the most composed of all ladies present and reportedly had a wonderful time. But, the reaction of the southern press was especially brutal to Mrs. Hoover, printing that she had offered the south and the nation an arrogant insult. Mrs. Hoover, although deeply hurt by what would be called the DePriest Tea Incident, had stood her ground and done what she felt was right. While only a small step, it was the first time a First Lady had publicly supported civil rights. Mrs. Hoover's actions would ease the way for Eleanor Roosevelt and others to more aggressively confront the issue.

   Beginning in 1935, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a syndicated column six days a week at teatime called "My Day" in which she recorded her thoughts and doings "serious or humorous, important or trivial." She reached millions of Americans in over 90 newspapers with her views on topics ranging from personal to social and political issues as well as current and historical events. Her "My Day" column became the major venue in which she challenged complacent Democrats, timid liberals, and apathetic Americans to accept the responsibilities of living in a democracy and where she waged a consistent battle with politicians more concerned with profile than with courage. Always urging Americans to follow their conscious rather than their fears, her teatime words now not only give us an inside view of the woman that forever changed the role of first lady but a valuable look at the social and political history of the Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. 

To read selections of Eleanor Roosevelt's My Day columns, click here.
You can also purchase: My Day: The Best of Eleanor Roosevelt's Acclaimed Newspaper Columns 1936-1962

A special thank you to Hayley B. Bower, of the Office of  the Curator
- The White House, Washington -

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