Louisa Adams
Louisa Catherine Adams (1775-1852) was the wife of President John Adams.
Writings of Louisa Adams
- Louisa Adams: Credo ReferenceLouisa Catherine Johnson was born in London on February 12, 1775, to an American merchant father (Joshua Johnson) and an English mother (Catherine Nuth Johnson). The outbreak of the American Revolution made for tense times in London, so Johnson moved his family to France. Louisa became fluent in French and developed a love for French literature and music. The family ultimately had eight daughters and one son. Louisa's parents recognized her abilities early in life and encouraged her to develop them. Louisa became an accomplished singer and harpist, but gender norms dictated that she marry rather than pursue a career in music.
- Louisa Adams Park journal from the Park family papers, 1800-1848Presented here is the journal of John Park's first wife, Louisa Adams Park, for the period 1800 to 1801, as copied by Dr. Park in 1848. The journal consists of stream-of-consciousness detail of Louisa's daily life and thoughts while Dr. Park was on his voyages. Louisa included commentaries on the various prescribed medical treatments for, and the eventual death of, her infant son; references to the French Revolution and to Thomas Jefferson's new "French" government in 1801; trips to neighboring towns; and details of her many dreams. She also described life in the several towns where she lived: Windham, New Hampshire; Acton, Massachusetts and Salisbury, Massachusetts. Dr. Park also copied into the journal several letters sent to him by his wife during 1800 and 1801.
Perspectives
A Traveled First Lady
Congress adjourned on 18 May 1852 for Louisa Catherine Adams's funeral, according her an honor never before offered a first lady. But her life and influence merited this extraordinary tribute. She had been first the daughter-in-law and then the wife of a president. She had assisted her husband as a diplomat at three of the major capitals of Europe. She had served as a leading hostess and significant figure in Washington for three decades. And yet, a century and a half later, she is barely remembered. A Traveled First Lady: Writings of Louisa Catherine Adams seeks to correct that oversight by sharing Adams's remarkable experiences in her own words. These excerpts from diaries and memoirs recount her early years in London and Paris (to this day she is the only foreign-born first lady), her courtship and marriage to John Quincy Adams, her time in the lavish courts of Berlin and St. Petersburg as a diplomat's wife, and her years aiding John Quincy's political career in Washington. Emotional, critical, witty, and, in the Adams tradition, always frank, her writings draw sharp portraits of people from every station, both servants and members of the imperial court, and deliver clear, well-informed opinions about the major issues of her day. Telling the story of her own life, juxtaposed with rich descriptions of European courts, Washington political maneuvers, and the continuing Adams family drama, Louisa Catherine Adams demonstrates why she was once considered one of the preeminent women of the nineteenth century.
