Edith Bolling Wilson lost her husband, former President Woodrow Wilson, after only eight years of marriage while the couple were living in a private residence in northwest Washington, D.C. in February 1924.
Wilson had finished his second term as president in 1921.
The Woodrow Wilson Birthplace Foundation, later renamed the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, was founded in 1938 to preserve and maintain the birthplace in Staunton of the United States’ 28th president.
On Tuesday morning, the museum’s celebrated the renaming of its gift shop in honor of Edith Wilson‘s close friend, Martha Harris Hitchcock, who was also a founding member of the Birthplace Foundation.
WWPL President & CEO Robin von Seldeneck said that Hitchcock was “a woman whose vision and commitment helped create our organization more than 85 years ago.”
President of the Board of Trustees of the Hitchcock Foundation Neely Kountze, and Hitchcock’s great nephew, traveled from Nebraska to celebrate the gift shop’s renaming. He said that WWPL’s gift shop is the fourth museum gift shop the Hitchcock Foundation has sponsored. The three other gift shops are in Nebraska.
Von Seldeneck learned from Kountze that “the two of those women together were a force of nature.”
“Through her leadership, and later through the foundation that she established, she has continued to shape and sustain this place for generations of visitors,” von Seldeneck said.
She added that Kountze’s presence at the gift shop renaming is a reminder that WWPL is not just a story about history, but also legacy.
“On behalf of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, I extend our deepest gratitude to the Gilbert H. and Martha H. Hitchcock Foundation for this generous gift and for ensuring that Mrs. Hitchcock’s contributions will be remembered by every visitor who walks through these doors,” von Seldeneck said.
In September, the museum dedicated the building at 230 E. Frederick Street as the gift shop, which moved from the first floor of the Manse, the house in which Wilson was born in 1856.
“So, this is our fourth. Aunt Martha loved gift shops,” Kountze said.
He added that his grandmother, Martha Hitchcock‘s mother, enjoyed working in gift shops, and he hopes that WWPL’s gift shop is able to bring in revenue for the museum.
Edith Wilson and Martha Hitchcock were both widows when they became friends, and Hitchcock helped the former First Lady establish a foundation to preserve the birthplace of an American president born in Staunton.
Related stories:
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library dedicates building
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library to rename gift shop in honor of museum founder
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Rebecca Barnabi
