Lucretia garfield biography book

Lucretia Garfield (1832-1918) was an American first lady (March 4–September 19, 1881), and the wife of James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States. Although she served as first lady for only a few months because of her husband’s assassination, she was independent-minded, well-educated and a talented speaker and her approach toward her role as first lady presaged that of her 20th-century counterparts.

Lucretia Rudolph was the oldest child of Arabella Mason and Zebulon Rudolph, a farmer and leader of the Disciples of Christ sect in Hiram, Ohio.

She was well educated for a girl of the time, attending Geauga Seminary and the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (now Hiram College) at the same time as her future husband. Bright and ambitious, “Crete” was an editor and illustrator of the “Eclectic Star” school magazine and helped organize a literary society.

She also demonstrated her famous independent streak, notably via an essay in which she argued for equal pay for women.