Jessie Woodrow Wilson Sayre
Encyclopedia
Jessie Woodrow Wilson Sayre (August 28, 1887 - January 15, 1933) was a daughter of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
and a political activist. “She worked vigorously for women's suffrage
, social issues, and to promote her father's call for a League of Nations
, and emerged as a force in the Massachusetts Democratic Party
.”
on August 28, 1887, the second daughter of Woodrow and Ellen Axson Wilson. She was a sister of Margaret Woodrow Wilson
and Eleanor Wilson McAdoo
.
Wilson was educated privately in Princeton, New Jersey
and at Goucher College
in Baltimore, Maryland. After her graduation from Goucher, she worked at a settlement home
in Philadelphia for three years.
. Her fiance, a 1911 graduate of Harvard Law School
, was the son of Robert Sayre, builder of the Lehigh Valley Railroad
and organizer and general manager of the Bethlehem Iron Works
. At the time of their engagement he was serving in the office of a district attorney. Their November 25, 1913 wedding was the thirteenth White House
wedding, and the first since Alice Roosevelt
and Nicholas Longworth
were wed in 1906.
Upon their return from their honeymoon in Europe
, they moved to Williamstown, Massachusetts
, where her husband began his service as an assistant to the president of Williams College
.
On January 17, 1915, she gave birth in the White House to a son, Francis B. Sayre, Jr.
(January 17, 1915-October 3, 2008), who became a noted clergyman and was a social activist like his mother. The following year, a daughter, Eleanor Axson Sayre (March 26, 1916-May 12, 2001), was born. In 1919 they were joined by Woodrow Wilson Sayre (February 22, 1919-September 16, 2002).
, the Sayres moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts
, where Francis accepted a position on the Harvard Law School faculty. There, she worked in the interests of the Democratic Party
, the League of Nations, and the League of Women Voters
. She was also involved with the YWCA
, serving on its national board.
At the time of Woodrow Wilson's death in 1924, the couple was living in Siam (now Thailand
) where Francis was working as an advisor on international law at the Royal Court of Siam.
In 1928, she made the introductory speech for presidential nominee Al Smith
at the Democratic National Convention
. In 1929 her name was mentioned as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator, for the seat then held by Republican Frederick H. Gillett
. However, she declined. She became secretary of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee instead.
branch of the Women's Democratic League was renamed the Jessie Woodrow Sayre Women's Democratic League.
She is buried in Nisky Hill Cemetery, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
.
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
and a political activist. “She worked vigorously for women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
, social issues, and to promote her father's call for a League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
, and emerged as a force in the Massachusetts Democratic Party
Massachusetts Democratic Party
The Massachusetts Democratic Party is the state affiliate of the United States Democratic Party in the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The state party chairman is John E...
.”
Background
Jessie Woodrow Wilson was born in Gainesville, GeorgiaGainesville, Georgia
-Severe Weather:Gainesville sits on the very fringe of Tornado Alley, a region of the United States where severe weather is common. Supercell thunderstorms can sweep through any time between March and November, but are concentrated most in the spring...
on August 28, 1887, the second daughter of Woodrow and Ellen Axson Wilson. She was a sister of Margaret Woodrow Wilson
Margaret Woodrow Wilson
Margaret Woodrow Wilson was the daughter of President Woodrow Wilson and Ellen Louise Axson. Wilson had two sisters, Jessie W. Wilson and Eleanor R. Wilson...
and Eleanor Wilson McAdoo
Eleanor Wilson McAdoo
Eleanor Randolph Wilson McAdoo was an American author who wrote about her famous father, Woodrow Wilson. She usually went by the nickname Nellie.- Life :...
.
Wilson was educated privately in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
and at Goucher College
Goucher College
Goucher College is a private, co-educational, liberal arts college located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson in unincorporated Baltimore County, Maryland, on a 287 acre campus. The school has approximately 1,475 undergraduate students studying in 31 majors and six interdisciplinary...
in Baltimore, Maryland. After her graduation from Goucher, she worked at a settlement home
Settlement movement
The settlement movement was a reformist social movement, beginning in the 1880s and peaking around the 1920s in England and the US, with a goal of getting the rich and poor in society to live more closely together in an interdependent community...
in Philadelphia for three years.
White House years
In July 1913, four months after her father assumed the presidency, the Wilsons announced Jessie's engagement to Francis Bowes SayreFrancis B. Sayre
Francis Bowes Sayre was a professor at Harvard Law School and a son-in-law of President Woodrow Wilson.-Biography:He was born on April 30, 1885....
. Her fiance, a 1911 graduate of Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, was the son of Robert Sayre, builder of the Lehigh Valley Railroad
Lehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
and organizer and general manager of the Bethlehem Iron Works
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
. At the time of their engagement he was serving in the office of a district attorney. Their November 25, 1913 wedding was the thirteenth White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
wedding, and the first since Alice Roosevelt
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth was the oldest child of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. She was the only child of Roosevelt and his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee....
and Nicholas Longworth
Nicholas Longworth
Nicholas Longworth IV was a prominent American politician in the Republican Party during the first few decades of the 20th century...
were wed in 1906.
Upon their return from their honeymoon in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, they moved to Williamstown, Massachusetts
Williamstown, Massachusetts
Williamstown is a town in Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,754 at the 2010 census...
, where her husband began his service as an assistant to the president of Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
.
On January 17, 1915, she gave birth in the White House to a son, Francis B. Sayre, Jr.
Francis B. Sayre, Jr.
The Very Rev. Francis B. Sayre Jr. was Dean of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. for 27 years. He was the fourth grandchild of President Woodrow Wilson....
(January 17, 1915-October 3, 2008), who became a noted clergyman and was a social activist like his mother. The following year, a daughter, Eleanor Axson Sayre (March 26, 1916-May 12, 2001), was born. In 1919 they were joined by Woodrow Wilson Sayre (February 22, 1919-September 16, 2002).
Massachusetts and Siam
After World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Sayres moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, where Francis accepted a position on the Harvard Law School faculty. There, she worked in the interests of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, the League of Nations, and the League of Women Voters
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters is an American political organization founded in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt during the last meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association approximately six months before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave women the right to vote...
. She was also involved with the YWCA
YWCA
The YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...
, serving on its national board.
At the time of Woodrow Wilson's death in 1924, the couple was living in Siam (now Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
) where Francis was working as an advisor on international law at the Royal Court of Siam.
In 1928, she made the introductory speech for presidential nominee Al Smith
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...
at the Democratic National Convention
1928 Democratic National Convention
The 1928 Democratic National Convention was held at Sam Houston Hall in Houston, Texas from June 26 – June 28, 1928. The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Alfred E. Smith of New York for President and Senator Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas for Vice-President.The convention was...
. In 1929 her name was mentioned as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator, for the seat then held by Republican Frederick H. Gillett
Frederick H. Gillett
Frederick Huntington Gillett was an American politician during the early 20th century. Frederick H. Gillett was born in Westfield, Massachusetts to Edward Bates Gillett and Lucy Fowler Gillett . He graduated from Amherst College in 1874 and Harvard Law School in 1877. He began the practice of...
. However, she declined. She became secretary of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee instead.
Death
Sayre died at age 45, after undergoing abdominal surgery in Cambridge. Some reports state that she suffered from a gall bladder disorder, while others state that she had undergone an emergency appendectomy. Two years later, the BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
branch of the Women's Democratic League was renamed the Jessie Woodrow Sayre Women's Democratic League.
She is buried in Nisky Hill Cemetery, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
.