Today, @WHO recognizes #WorldTBDay in order to end the stigma surrounding the disease and to #EndTB internationally. Former White House residents have suffered from the disease, including First Lady Eliza Johnson. #WomensHistoryMonth 1/9
Image Credit: Library of Congress
Image Credit: Library of Congress
Though an often overlooked first lady, Eliza Johnson was a fascinating, well-educated woman. Unlike many of her peers in rural Tennessee, Eliza received an education at Rhea Academy in Greeneville, where she nurtured what would become a lifelong love of learning. 2/9
She met her future husband, Andrew Johnson, in Greeneville and managed the family finances and raised their five children while Andrew ran for office. 3/9
She was also responsible for Andrew’s education and political career—Johnson was mostly illiterate until he met his wife. He often credited her with teaching him to read, spell, and do math. 4/9
Eliza likely became ill with “consumption,” what we know as tuberculosis, in the 1850s. Coughing and weakness, common symptoms, made socializing quite difficult for her—especially after becoming first lady following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. 5/9
Due to her condition, she was unable to act as the White House’s official hostess, so her eldest daughter, Martha Johnson Patterson, took her place. 6/9
Despite her illness, Eliza Johnson assisted in the planning of many events behind-the-scenes and hosted two official White House events: the visit of Queen Emma of the Sandwich Isles, and Andrew Johnson’s sixtieth birthday ball. 7/9
Generally, though, Eliza preferred to embroider, sew, and read Godey’s Lady’s Book, a popular fashion magazine, as well as literature and poetry. Despite the difficulty of living with tuberculosis, Eliza Johnson showed determination in the face of adversity. 8/9
William Crook, White House employee for over fifty years, wrote in his memoir, Memories of the White House, that “Despite her afflictions, Mrs. Johnson was a woman of far more than usual power—but hers was the power of the spirit and the mind, rather than of the body.” 9/9
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