First Ladies of the United States: Helen Taft

Helen “Nellie” Taft was the wife of President William Howard Taft and First Lady of the United States from 1909 to 1913. During their marriage, she relished travel to Japan, China, and diplomatic missions around the world...

Helen (Nellie) Herron was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 2, 1861, to Harriet Collins and John Williamson Herron. Her father, an attorney, was well connected in Republican circles, being a classmate of Benjamin Harrison and a law partner with Rutherford B. Hayes. Nellie was well-educated, attending the Miss Nourse School in Cincinnati from 1866 to 1879 and taking some classes at the University of Cincinnati. Nellie excelled in school, particularly in music. Her parents believed in expanded opportunities for women and raised her to demand more of herself than commonly expected of women. Nellie herself appears to have been ambivalent; though she worked in her father's law office and studied the law, she also enjoyed the pleasures of social world occupied by women of her means. She taught school between 1881 and 1883 and briefly considered opening her own school. At 16, her family visited the White House, which is said to have instilled dreams in Nellie of returning as first lady. While she may have comfortably pursued a career by this point in history, dreaming of the presidency for herself was practically impossible, leaving her to pursue her ambitions through marriage.

Helen Louise "Nellie" Herron was born on June 2, 1861, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was the fourth of eleven children born to Harriet Collins Herron and John Williamson Herron. Harriet’s family was politically active in New York with her father and brother serving in Congress, while John at one point operated a law firm with Rutherford B. Hayes.