How Well Do You Know America’s First Ladies?

The first-ever First Lady is commemorated in an unusual way on spring plates — that is, the popular “Asparagus Officinalis” crop, better known to most as Martha Washington Asparagus. The easy-to-grow crop has been actively cultivated for over 100 years thanks to its resistance to “rust,” a pesky parasite that plagued asparagus crops in the early 20th century. This special veggie is cultivated on the Washingtons’ Mount Vernon estate in tribute to its famous namesake.

Herbert Hoover met Lou Henry when they were both studying geology at Stanford University. They married in 1899; she then joined him on a work trip to China, where she learned to speak and write Mandarin. The couple traveled the world for 14 years as Mr. Hoover worked as a mining engineer. Mrs. Hoover also published her translation of a 1565 manual on mining from Latin into English.

In 1909, Helen Taft joined conservationist Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore in working to bring sakura, Japanese cherry trees, to Washington, D.C. In 1910, the mayor of Tokyo presented the U.S. with 2,000 cherry trees, but they did not survive the journey. In 1912, they tried again, this time using specially designed freight cars to transport the trees from Seattle to Washington, D.C. Mrs. Taft was among those who planted the U.S. capital’s first cherry trees.

Sarah Polk was not the only First Lady to limit alcohol in the White House (Lucy Hayes was nicknamed “Lemonade Lucy,” and several other First Ladies maintained relationships with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union), but Mrs. Polk also limited other activities she felt were undignified for the White House. She eschewed card-playing and refused to attend horse races (due to the relationship to gambling), and she discouraged the Marine Band from playing music that might encourage dancing.

Mamie Eisenhower simply loved pink. She used it to decorate her private homes and later the White House, leading some to dub it the “Pink Palace.” She wore the color as frequently as she could and even had a pink telephone and scale. Eisenhower became so associated with the color that her favorite shade became known as “First Lady Pink,” or “Mamie Pink.”

When she married President Grover Cleveland in 1886, Frances Cleveland became the first First Lady to marry in the White House, and the youngest First Lady ever, aged 21. She was also the first First Lady to have her spouse serve two nonconsecutive presidential terms. During Grover’s second term in 1892, Frances gave birth to daughter Esther, the first presidential baby born in the White House.

In 1795, British-born Louisa Adams met her future husband, John Quincy Adams, at her parents' London home. They married in 1797, and she accompanied him on his diplomatic postings abroad, even making a harrowing 2,000-mile journey from Russia to London to join him in a new posting. Though Louisa was supportive of her husband, she was often geographically estranged from him during his one term in office.

In 1957, Eleanor Roosevelt stepped into the sound booth at New York Public Radio to help advertise upcoming talent shows benefiting the March of Dimes (an organization founded two decades earlier by her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to fight polio). She played songs by Elvis Presley and Harry Belafonte — requests from a group of young people who joined her in the studio.

Calvin and Grace Coolidge loved America’s pastime, but the First Lady was by far the bigger fan. She attended every Senators home game she could and followed other games on the radio. When the Senators won the 1924 World Series, both Coolidges were in attendance. When the couple retired to Massachusetts, Grace transferred her loyalties to the Red Sox, often traveling 100 miles to see them play.

In 1876, officials at the U.S. Capitol turned away children who were using its lawns for an Easter egg-rolling bash. When the children and their families returned the next year, police ushered them away. A year later, the disappointed tots were welcomed at the White House when Lucy and Rutherford Hayes held the first White House Easter egg hunt, a tradition that continues to this day.

Abigail Powers met future President Millard Fillmore when they were students at New Hope Academy in New York. She began work as a teacher soon after, while Milliard went on to law school. The couple married in 1826 after six years together, when Abigail was 27 years old. She defied traditional expectations by continuing to work for another two years, until the couple’s first child was born.

In August 1814, when the British attacked Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812, James Madison left the city, while Dolley remained at the White House. As British troops approached, she secured removal of Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington, saving it from almost certain destruction when the building was set on fire. The portrait was later returned and remains there to this day.

In 1951, Jacqueline Kennedy went to work for the “Washington-Times Herald” newspaper. As the “inquiring camera girl,” she took photographs and did man-on-the-street interviews that she published in a weekly column. In 1953, she interviewed Senator John F. Kennedy, whom she had been dating for several months. The couple married later that year, shortly after Jackie quit the newspaper job.

The first — and to this day, only — First Lady to give birth in the White House was Frances Cleveland, the wife of President Grover Cleveland. The couple welcomed their second daughter, Esther, on September 9, 1893. Frances was 27 years younger than Grover and was beloved by the public, and news of Esther’s birth was celebrated nationwide.

Betty Ford’s love of dance began with childhood ballet lessons and was transformed when she saw a performance by modern dance pioneer Martha Graham as a teen. After high school, Ford studied under several teachers and performed professionally, even joining Graham’s company for a performance at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall.

In 1920, after decades of activism, women finally won the right to vote in the U.S. That fall, Florence Harding became the first First Lady to vote for her husband in a presidential election, helping to elect Warren G. Harding as the 29th U.S. President. Florence herself fought hard for women's suffrage and equality as a member of the National Women's Party and the League of Women Voters.

Woodrow Wilson was one of the only Presidents to have two different marriages while in office. Wilson was married to Ellen Wilson from 1913 to 1914, and after Ellen’s death in 1914, he got remarried to Edith Wilson later that same year.

Helen Taft’s time as First Lady was full of firsts. She was not only the first First Lady to own and drive a car, but also the first in her role to ride with the President during the inaugural parade. She later became the first First Lady to write a commercially published memoir, her book “Recollections of Full Years.”

During the 12 years her husband Franklin was in office, Eleanor Roosevelt held some 350 press conferences of her own — for an all-female press corps. She’d gotten the idea from friend and former Associated Press journalist Lorena Hickock. Roosevelt used the conferences as a way to secure employment for female journalists during the Great Depression and as a media platform and bully pulpit of her own.

Mary and Abraham Lincoln lost a son before entering the White House in 1861, and suffered another loss when their 11-year-old son Willie died a year later. President Lincoln buried his grief by keeping busy during the Civil War. Mary turned to spiritualists, inviting mediums to perform seances to contact her dead sons from the White House. The President attended once, though he privately dismissed the whole endeavor.

During her husband’s time in office, Barbara Bush wrote a children’s work titled “Millie’s Book” from the perspective of the family’s springer spaniel, Millie. The book was a tremendous success, reaching the No. 1 spot on “The New York Times” nonfiction bestseller list. Bush — with the help of Millie — went on to raise over $1 million for children’s literacy programs.

Pat and Richard Nixon made a historic visit to China in 1972. During the trip, the First Lady remarked how much she loved pandas, leading Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai to send two pandas to the United States as a gift. Those pandas were Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling, and they resided at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Betty Ford’s greatest lasting accomplishment came after her time as First Lady. A survivor of addiction herself, she founded the Betty Ford Center in 1982 to help those who struggled with addiction. Betty Ford earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991 for her charitable efforts, and a Congressional Gold Medal in 1999.

Jacqueline Kennedy was not impressed with the state of the White House in 1961. Emergency repairs during the Truman administration depleted the funds for furnishings, so Kennedy started the Fine Arts Committee for the White House to raise funds to decorate and furnish the building without using taxpayer money. When work was complete, “A Television Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy” was broadcast on February 14, 1962, earning the First Lady an honorary Emmy Award for her efforts.

Amelia Earhart is best known for her accomplishments in aviation, but she had other passion projects, too, including the women's movement. Her commitment to equal rights for women led to a friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. On one notable occasion in 1933, the two women took an impromptu roundtrip flight to Baltimore in a twin-engine plane after a dinner party. During the brief trip, Earhart reportedly even let Roosevelt take over the controls for a moment.

In 1776, Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her husband John Adams, suggesting some additions to the in-progress Declaration of Independence. She wrote, “I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could.”

Jackie O's stamp on fashion is wide-ranging. From her pillbox hats to oversized sunglasses, the young wife of President John F. Kennedy was a style icon from the get go. One of her signature looks was perfectly coiffed hair with big volume and a baby flip, known as the "bouffant." The style was created by hairdresser to the stars Kenneth Battelle, who also worked with Marilyn Monroe.

Over the decades, Hillary Clinton has become known for her pantsuits, but when her official First Lady portrait, unveiled in 2003, portrayed her in a black pantsuit, it caused a stir. First Lady Pat Nixon was the first to wear pants to an official public function in 1972, but before that, Jacqueline Kennedy often wore slacks in casual situations. And before that, Eleanor Roosevelt made waves when she showed up to the annual Easter Egg Roll wearing her riding pants.

Born Claudia Alta Taylor, the wife of Lyndon Baines Johnson was better known by the moniker “Lady Bird.” According to legend, the name was bestowed upon Claudia at a young age, as her nursemaid claimed her to be “as purty as a lady bird.” Lady Bird met LBJ in 1934 and they married just seven weeks after their first date.

Jacqueline Kennedy’s Secret Service code name makes sense considering her legendary status as a fashion icon, although she was more famous for her pillbox hats than any particular fabric. As is tradition, the Secret Service code names for all the members of the Kennedy family started with the same letter; the President’s code name was Lancer, in reference to the Arthurian legend of "Camelot."

Like her husband Ronald Reagan — who served as president of the Screen Actors Guild before serving as President of the United States — former First Lady Nancy Reagan enjoyed a successful acting career prior to moving into the White House in 1981. After earning a degree in drama from Smith College in 1943, she made her Broadway debut in the 1946 musical "Lute Song," featuring Yul Brynner and Mary Martin.