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2012 SESSION
12104974DWHEREAS, October 15, 2012, marks the 140th anniversary of the birth of Edith Bolling, the 35th First Lady of the United States and wife of President Woodrow Wilson; and
WHEREAS, born in Wytheville, Virginia, on October 15, 1872, Edith Bolling was a ninth-generation descendant of Pocahontas; and
WHEREAS, in 1896, Edith Bolling married Norman Galt of Washington, D.C., and, following his death in 1908, operated Galt Jewelers for several years, an extraordinary feat for a woman at that period in time; and
WHEREAS, several years later, as a widow, Edith Bolling Galt met President Woodrow Wilson, following his first wife’s death, and a storybook courtship began that resulted in their marriage on December 18, 1915, at her home in Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS, being First Lady during World War I, Mrs. Wilson observed Gas-less Sundays, Meat-less Mondays, and Wheat-less Wednesdays and set sheep to graze on the White House lawn rather than waste manpower mowing it and auctioned the wool for the benefit of the American Red Cross; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Wilson became the President’s confidant and accompanied the President to Europe as the Allies conferred on terms of peace; and
WHEREAS, following the President’s debilitating stroke in 1919, Mrs. Wilson became his constant attendant and managed his personal affairs and screened matters of state, acting on his behalf until President Wilson was well enough to return to the Oval Office; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Wilson lived at their home on S Street until her death in 1961, leaving the house to the National Trust for Historic Preservation to be made into a museum honoring President Wilson; she was instrumental in the founding of what is now the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum in Staunton, Virginia; and
WHEREAS, the Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Foundation was founded by William J. and Farron W. Smith on October 15, 2005, to provide for the restoration of the Bolling Home as the birthplace and childhood home of First Lady Edith Bolling Wilson, and to honor the First Lady’s legacy, her contributions to this country, and her positive example and strong inspiration to women; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly designate October 15, in 2012 and in each succeeding year, as First Lady Edith Bolling Wilson Day in Virginia; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit a copy of this resolution to Mr. and Mrs. William J. Smith, the Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Foundation, the Town Council of Wytheville, and the Wythe County Board of Supervisors, so that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter; and, be it
RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates post the designation of this day on the General Assembly’s website.