Who was the first First Lady to invite African American guests to White House functions?

collect

http://www.whitehousehistory.org/05/subs/images_print/05_c.pdf "1900s Theodore Roosevelt became president after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. The early months of his administration were a tense period of trial and error as Roosevelt had not been elected president. Fond of dinners as a means of entertaining, the Roosevelts held them nearly every night over the last few months of 1901 and constructed the guest lists with an eye to politics. One of these early dinners put White House hospitality on the front pages. This dinner actually occurred a few days before the official period of mourning for McKinley had ended. On October 16, Roosevelt had among his guests the educator Booker T. Washington, whose autobiography, Up From Slavery, was then highly popular. Roosevelt often invited people to dinner to discuss public affairs when the day’s meeting calendar was too full. Washington arrived with an invitation at the north door promptly at eight. In the Blue Room he joined his fellow dinner guest, Philip B. Stewart of Colorado. Dinner was probably served in the State Dining Room since the party was in evening dress. The guests remembered a simple, cordial evening. The next morning following a news release of the White House guest list, the event sparked the hottest news since the McKinley assassination. Editorials in the South–but not only the South–were harsh in their criticism of Roosevelt. The furor over the dinner–the first time that an African American was entertained at the White House–revealed the structure’s symbolic power and the bigotry then at large in the nation." After Roosevelt, Wilson *segrated* the federal work force! May 17 07, 10:39 AM

collect

1920s Oscar De Priest’s election to Congress as a Republican representative from Chicago in 1928 created an interesting political and social dilemma for the White House. De Priest was the only black to serve in Congress during his three terms (1928-1935). Even before De Priest took his seat in 1929, Washington buzzed about the arrival of a black congressman and what this meant to the strict segregation that pervaded life in the capital. Several southern members refused office assignments adjacent to De Priest and the possible invitation of Mrs. De Priest to the traditional White House tea for congressional wives teas sparked controversy. Eventually, Lou Hoover arranged a separate tea party for Mrs. De Priest at the White House with a few chosen guests. However, the appearance of a black woman as a guest at the executive residence created a stir and drew strident protests from the South. As in 1901 with Booker T. Washington’s visit, the White House’s powerful role as a national symbol aroused the ire of Southerners who did not want the impression conveyed that the nation would sanction the social equality of the races." Lou Hoover was that first "First Lady" (system cut off this part of the message.) May 17 07, 10:43 AM

Oddball

Insofar as the First Lady inviting anyone of her own volition, I believe it would be Eleanor Roosevelt, who had tea with opera singer Marian Anderson. http://www.whitehousehistory.org/04/subs/04_a02_e03.html May 17 07, 11:46 AM

collect

Lou Hoover was the *first* one who invited a black other than as an entertainer. Eleanor Roosevelt 1. was *after* Lou Hoover, and 2. Marian Anderson performed at the White House -- as many blacks had done before. May 17 07, 2:21 PM