Profiles of Honor Spotlight:
Edith Bolling Wilson
Edith Bolling Wilson
WWI
Wytheville, VA
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With all eyes on the White House at the start of the war, Edith Bolling Wilson was quick to take on the role of mobilizing homefront support. Leading by example, she volunteered with the Red Cross, sewing clothing for service members and feeding soldiers who passed through Washington ports.
She participated in gasless Sundays, meatless Mondays, and wheatless Wednesdays, heeding her own call to "reduce living to its simplest form" and preserve resources for the war effort.
The Wilsons famously brought in sheep to graze on the White House lawn, freeing gardeners for wartime duties, and then auctioned the wool to bring in $100,000 for the Red Cross.
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(Provided by The Edith Bolling Wilson Foundation)