Schlesinger married Marian Cannon, and they had twins, Stephen and Katharine, as well as two other children, Christina and Andrew. Following their divorce, Schlesinger married Alexandra Emmett with whom he had a son, Robert. Schlesinger also became stepfather to Peter Allan, Emmett’ s son from a previous marriage.
Schlesinger was one of the few historians embraced by academia and the public with equal fervor. He was a dapper presence on the American social scene, from the salons of Georgetown during the Kennedy administration to chic and brainy circles in New York and Cambridge, always ready with a pithy observation— much quoted, admired, and esteemed. His friendships included those with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Henry Kissinger, Kurt Vonnegut, Norman Mailer, Marlene Dietrich, Al Gore, and President Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton. He was known for his erudition, wit, and trademark bow ties.
“ The bow tie inscribed on Arthur’ s monument was not planned before his death,” says Peter Allan, of New York, Schlesinger’ s stepson.“ Arthur was not a religious man, so putting a cross or other religious symbol on his stone would not have reflected his beliefs. However, our family did not want the stone to be completely unadorned, and since Arthur wore bow ties‘ religiously,’ we thought it would be a nice touch to include one with his inscription. Arthur also had a wonderful sense of style and humor, and I think the bow tie reflects that.”
“ As a historian and a man raised in Cambridge, he liked the idea of being buried in the Emmett family lot, which is more than 150 years old,” says Schlesinger’ s son, Andrew Schlesinger, of Cambridge, Mass.“ He obviously knew the distinguished history of Mount Auburn, and, having grown up on nearby Grey Gardens East, not far from the Cemetery, perhaps he thought he was‘ coming home.’”
FDR’ s Right Hand: Marguerite“ Missy” LeHand( 1896-1944), Presidential Secretary
Lot # 7136, Central Ave
4 | Sweet Auburn
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Missy, and Eleanor Roosevelt in 1929, Courtesy of the FDR Library
Marguerite Alice LeHand grew up in Somerville, Mass. Daniel LeHand, her father, made his living as a gardener while her mother, a seamstress, boarded Harvard students to earn extra money. In 1920, LeHand began what became a lengthy association with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, working for his campaign for the vice presidency. Although Roosevelt was defeated, she was given a permanent place on his staff; indeed, she was treated like a member of the family and nicknamed“ Missy” by Roosevelt’ s fifteen-yearold daughter, Anna. LeHand’ s encouragement helped bolster Roosevelt’ s morale in the wake of the polio that left him confined to a wheelchair.
When Roosevelt became President in 1932, LeHand moved into the White House, charged with handling his personal correspondence. She knew him so well that she was able to write using Roosevelt’ s“ voice” when doing this. LeHand always critiqued Roosevelt’ s fireside chats before he broadcasted them to the nation. Though career-oriented and bound to FDR by unswerving loyalty, her personal life suffered because of her devotion; in fact, she refused a number of marriage proposals.
A June 1941 stroke left LeHand paralyzed and unable to speak. She died in Somerville of a second stroke in 1944 at age 48. Her grave is marked with a pink quartz boulder and plaque quoting Roosevelt:“ She was utterly selfless in her devotion to duty.”
Mary E. Walker and Clement G. Morgan fought against racial bias in the U. S. during different centuries.
In Search of a Liberated Life: Mary E. Walker( 1818-1872), Freedom-seeker
Lot # 4312, Kalmia Path
Mary Walker was born on what became one of the largest plantations in the antebellum South, the Cameron plantation, which grew to 30,000 acres worked by 1,000 slaves by the time of the Battle of Fort Sumter in 1861. Walker and her mother waited on the Cameron women. In 1848, she fled the Camerons’ boarding house on a trip the family made to Philadelphia, beginning a long odyssey— geographical, legal, and psychological— to retain her freedom.
Walker escaped to Massachusetts to elude capture after Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850. She lived
This 1851 poster warned African Americans to be on the lookout for slave catchers.