Warren G. Harding may not have had Air Force One at his disposal, but he made good use of the presidential yacht for meetings, entertaining high-level guests and just doing some plain old relaxing. When Harding entered the White House in March 1921, he embraced a presidential yachting tradition which began with Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880 and ended with Jimmy Carter in 1977. Harding used the USS Mayflower, a 273-foot vessel built in 1896 in Glasgow, Scotland, at a cost of $1.25 million (nearly $36 million in today’s money) for New York millionaire Ogden Goelet. Unfortunately for Goelet, he died during the Mayflower’s maiden voyage, and the vessel was put on the auction block. The U.S. government bought it for $500,000 and turned it into an armed scout ship during the Spanish-American War. The ship was re-outfitted as the presidential yacht for Theodore Roosevelt in 1905, and was used by William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Harding and Calvin Coolidge. The ship featured antique furnishings and pieces of art, as well as beautiful – but chilly -- marble bathtubs. At the tail end of Wilson’s presidency, an onboard fire damaged some of the interior rooms. Mrs. Harding redecorated in shades of soft blues and greens, replacing the mostly rose-hued color scheme. Florence entertained the wives of senators and cabinet members frequently in the summer and used the Mayflower to regain her strength from occasional bouts of her kidney disease. A typical afternoon tea hosted by the First Lady involved sailing the Potomac for a couple of hours in the afternoon as

the ladies sipped tea and ate sandwiches and cake. The guests were free to tour the ship, or listen to the Mayflower’s orchestra, which was situated in a corner of the deck. The eight officers aboard the ship always were available to dance with any willing ladies. In addition to the orchestra and officers, 166 men staffed the ship. President Harding used the Mayflower as a relaxing mode of transportation as he traveled to events along the East Coast. In May 1921, for example, the Mayflower sailed to New York City, where Harding delivered an address on the 125th anniversary of the New York Commercial, one of the oldest newspapers in the country. Radio messages kept the press and public informed about the ship’s whereabouts as it traveled north. The travels of the president by ship

were filled with pageantry, as well. “When the presidential yacht enters the Narrows tomorrow morning, the guns at Forts Hamilton and Wadsworth will roar the customary 21-gun salute. Destroyers and battleships of the Atlantic fleet, at anchor in the Hudson, will accord the same honor as the yacht proceeds up the river to 96th street,” an Associated Press story gushed. In August 1929 – just two months before the Stock Market Crash -- President Herbert Hoover sent the Mayflower to the Philadelphia Navy Yard to reduce government expenses by $300,000 annually. The yachting era ended in 1977 when Carter sold the last of the ships, the USS Sequoia, which had been used since the Franklin Roosevelt presidency. Carter said the yachts were symbols of an “imperial presidency.”

Warren Harding embraced yachting as delightful perk of the presidency

Vol. 3, Issue 4 December January February 2016-17

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Dolor Sit Amet

Friends Day joins Harding Symposium weekend Many people have heard about President Harding’s camping trip with Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford, but we bet you don’t know everything that this famous foursome did that weekend near Hagerstown, Maryland. Or that a camping craze of a very different type had hit many Americans in the early ‘20s. The Harding Home’s Jon Andersen will let you in on the secrets of Camp Harding and perhaps inspire you to camp 1920s-style during our annual Friends of Harding Day. The program is part of a free event for Friends members, which also includes a catered luncheon and members meeting. It will take place on Sunday, July 16 – the perfect finale to the July 14-15 Warren G. Harding Symposium weekend. The event begins at 12:30 p.m. Information about location and reservations will appear in the spring newsletter. Non-members are welcome to attend for a cost of $20 each, which, coincidentally, is the same price as an annual Friends membership. To join the Friends, visit hardinghome.org and download the simple application form, or call the site at 800-600-6894. “The Friends group is an important arm of the Harding Home operations,” said Site Manager Sherry Hall. “The membership dues help us with the cost of running the site, promoting the Harding Home and easing our program costs.” Hall said the meeting portion of the Friends Day will involve discussion about how the group

will evolve as the site moves toward its important Harding 2020 project. Harding 2020 involves the restoration of the Home, Press House and grounds to their 1920 appearances, as well as constructing a presidential center. In addition to Friends Day, the Harding Home is constructing a full slate of events and programs for 2017. Those include Fireside Chats on February 9; the President Harding Golf Outing on April 30; the Harding Home Waffle Breakfast on May 13; a program about the Harding Memorial on June 17; the Harding Symposium on July 14-15; and a family program about White House pets, including the Hardings’ Laddie Boy, on August 3. The full slate of 2017 events will appear in the next Friends newsletter.

The famous foursome of (left to right) Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, President Harding and Harvey Firestone relax at Camp Harding in Maryland in July 1921

1905 letter inspires upcoming Fireside Chat program “I just now heard that Florence’s father is soon to be married. This information will ‘fuss’ her quite a bit, but it is no matter. She didn’t marry to please her father and must not expect him to remain a widower to please her. He is almost 75 and old enough to be his own boss.” Those lines were part of a 1905 letter Warren Harding wrote to his sister, Caroline Harding Votaw, about current events and family members. The letter is the focal point of a program, “A Day in the Life of Warren Harding,” scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 9 at the Marion Public Library. The Harding Home is condensing its usual three-part Fireside Chats series into one program in 2017. It has also changed the venue from Ohio State University Marion to the library. “The changes we made both in how many programs we’re offering as part of Fireside Chats and the venue are largely because of the unpredictable winter weather combined with participants’ feedback,” Site Manager Sherry Hall explained. “We think the ease of parking very close to the library will aid folks attending the program. We also heard from our attendees that planning to attend three programs to get all of the information was too tough for busy schedules. We will, of

course, retain our tradition of having warm beverages and snacks.” Harding Home researcher Jon Andersen will present the program, which takes its cue from one of many newsy letters that Harding routinely wrote to family members over his lifetime. “Jon was excited about investigating the tidbits of information in this letter and fleshing them out,” Hall said. Harding was lieutenant governor of Ohio at the time he wrote the letter, but was taking a break from his duties in Columbus to discuss what was going on in Marion, an upcoming trip he was taking in a new automobile, his wife Florence’s health issues, and the recent death of his dog, Jumbo. “We’re always interested in putting Warren and Florence Harding in ‘their’ Marion,” Hall said, “so we’re hunting down all kinds of information in a lot of different directions. And, of course, the charm of it is we have Warren’s view on all that is going on in his life.” The program is free for Friends of the Harding Home, Ohio History Connection members, and Marion Technical College students and staff, and just $5 for non-members. No advance registration or tickets is required.

Dolor Sit Amet

Silver Jim Jacobs took center stage at the November edition of “Beyond the Ropes,” a program which features unusual or little-known items in the Harding Home Collections. Harding Home Presidential Site researcher Jon Andersen invited guests to join him on an up-close investigation into Native Alaskan artifacts belonging to President Harding. During Warren G. Harding’s 1923 trip to the western states, Canada and Alaska, large crowds of people crossed farm fields and clustered around the railroad tracks, hoping for opportunities to catch glimpses of the president. In large and small communities, people presented him with gifts – homemade jellies, a paper mache potato in Idaho and a large array of Native American items. “The president received many different gifts that were reflective of the region and the people,” Andersen said. “When visiting Alaska, he was greeted by native tribes, such as the Tlingits in Sitka, and was honored to receive tribal tokens.” Seeking to gain a better understanding about the balance between developing and conserving the territory’s natural resources, the president immersed himself in the culture of the people he hoped would lead Alaska to statehood. The Tlingit (roughly pronounced Kleen-git) people live in southeast Alaska and western Canada. Harding’s trip to Alaska included stops at Sitka and Ketchikan, communities settled by the Tlingit. Andersen explained the fascinating symbols on such items as native spruce root baskets, totem poles, and scrimshaw carvings. He told them about the tie between a pair of rare napkin rings, which were designed and made by a Tlinget known as Silver Jim Jacobs. According to an Alaskan historian, the napkin rings may be the only existing pieces of Jacobs’ work. “We are so lucky to have such unique items to share with our visitors, which are the envy of other institutions, such as our Tlingit gold napkin rings,” explained Andersen.

Jon Andersen of the Harding Home gives visitors a close look at a cribbage board, intricately carved from a walrus tusk. The ivory piece, carved by Native Alaskans, was given to President Harding during his trip to Alaska in 1923.

Native Alaskan objects bring 1923 trip to life

Silver Jim (right) carved the design of Florence Harding’s napkin ring (above) and President Harding’s napkin ring (below) from Alaskan gold.

Look no further for gift ideas! If you’d like a unique type of Christmas, birthday or a no-special-reason gift, we can help you! Consider giving a membership in the Friends of the Harding Home. Visit our Harding Home website, hardinghome.org, and download the membership form, fill it out and send it to us with your payment or credit card information. We’ll process it quickly and send a welcome packet to the gift recipient or to you to deliver in person. You can also call us at 800-600-6894 and give us the information over the phone. Becoming a Friend helps the Harding Home site by providing us with much-needed funds to help with operations and program resources. Friends also reap benefits because you’ll always have free or reduced program fees, our yearly Friends Day, gift shop discounts and free tour admissions. Plus, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you are helping to better tell the story of the 29th president today and in our journey to 2020, when the restored Harding Home and new presidential center greet the public!

Dolor Sit Amet

Harding Home Presidential Site 380 Mt. Vernon Ave. Marion, OH 43302 hardinghome.org ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Winter tours: 1 p.m. on December 27, 28, 29, 30

Or call/email to make an appointment: 800-600-6894 shall@hardinghome.org

Hearing Harding piano play isn’t just a dream The Hardings’ A.B. Chase reproducing piano (right) as it appeared decades ago in the Harding Home parlor.

Below, the “guts” of the piano when they were removed from the piano in October and transported to Haughawout Music Co. in advance of moving the piano in November. The complicated reproducing music system will be replaced with new parts.

The mechanics of First Lady Florence Harding’s A.B. Chase reproducing piano have been silent for decades. But that’s about to change. The Ohio History Connection has asked Haughawout Music Co. of Bloomdale, Ohio, to restore the deteriorated piano so that it will again play mechanically. Upon completion, it will be prominently displayed at the Harding Presidential Center when the new building opens in 2020. Haughawout moved it to its facility from the Women’s Club Home in Marion in November. The Harding Memorial Association, which operated the Harding Home from 1926-1979, loaned the piano to the club home decades ago due to lack of space at the Harding Home. The Ohio History Connection, which owns the piano and the rest of the Harding Home Collections on behalf of the Harding Home Presidential Center, had to decide whether the piano would be conserved as a static piece (unable to be played) or restored to full working condition. Putting themselves in the shoes of site visitors, the collection managers and the local Harding Home site personnel decided that being able to hear the instrument was vital. The work does not come cheap: restoring the piano to working order will cost $23,000. The Ohio History Connection has contributed money to begin the project, and the Harding Home site used its 2016 Waffle Breakfast proceeds to add to the pot. That May event again will be used for the same purpose. Other private donations are needed. A reproducing piano, popular in the early 1920s, went beyond what most people expect from a player piano. It was able to mechanically play rolls of music with inflection and changes in volume to capture a true professional pianist’s performance.