First Ladies In College (PHOTOS)

Do you know where "Lou" Hoover went to college? Curious to see Lucretia Garfield in her younger years? What are the names of Grace Coolidge's two pet raccoons? Did Julia Grant have permanently crossed eyes? Look no further than HuffPost College's "First Ladies In College" slideshow!

While the presidents were studying at Harvard, Yale and William and Mary, their counterparts were generally at finishing school, learning needlework and deportment. Sometimes, though, they actually went to college.

Check out our slideshow of first ladies in college! Then tell us: who is your role model? Weigh in below!

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Comments

[Don Stalvino]

09:21 PM on 03/23/2012

Did any of the first ladies college writings come out?

[Susan Woodhull]

06:56 PM on 03/25/2012

Just a random inquiry, huh? You're pathetic.

[abaylorbear]

01:47 AM on 03/21/2012

Damn Laura Bush, Baylor was championing for a Presidential Library but due to her connections at SMU , it was a folly attempt from the start.

[ssullymets]

10:03 PM on 03/07/2012

FYI ...........If anyone wants to know how Mrs. Obama really thinks all
they have to do is Google her College Thesis.

www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8642.html

[Susan Woodhull]

07:01 PM on 03/25/2012

She accurately described the situation at the time and just as accurately predicted her future. It's not surprising that "Michelle Obama is by far the most academically accomplished first lady."

[jrx238]

03:13 PM on 02/19/2012

Love Michelle Obama and Hilary Clinton but Louise Henry Hoover seems like the particular kind of BAMF I aspire to be based on that picture and the few sentences I read....I wonder if she has a biography.

[VA Jill]

03:16 PM on 02/23/2012

Lou Henry Hoover is a very interesting woman. She was extraordinarily bright, as was her husband. He should never have gone into politics, that was his downfall. But you should read about some of the other things he did.

[trumbull desi]

11:04 AM on 02/11/2012

This was a lovely slide show of our first ladies, and quite educational and entertaining! They all deserve our thanks for acting in the capacity of FLOTUS.

[ricchh]

01:48 PM on 02/09/2012

What were Michelle's GPA and SAT scores to get into Princeton? Please find out and publish these.

[traceymarie]

05:57 PM on 02/09/2012

why?

[Don Stalvino]

01:32 AM on 02/11/2012

We are still waiting for Bho Jrs. records to be released. I am sure the country will be unpleasantly surprised when they come out.

[FragBunnie]

06:11 PM on 03/05/2012

Why?

[Tom Iarossi]

09:47 PM on 03/22/2012

Yeah, those Magna cum Laude grads of Harvard Law are a bunch of slackers.

Give it up.

[leftgranma]

12:33 PM on 02/07/2012

As I looked at the pictures I thought how sad that these women did not have educational opportunities. That the greatest of them, like Abigail Adams, had to spend a life of writing letters and beating her head against the wall. Then I hit Eleanor Roosevelt and I thought how much a woman can accomplish without a university degree, the indelible mark she can make on our history. Betty Ford was no slouch either, in her contribution to the nation.

[trumbull desi]

11:03 AM on 02/11/2012

Left or right, this is an impressive group of women.

[Tom Iarossi]

10:13 PM on 03/22/2012

Indeed. And their husbands/fathers/uncles, rightly or wrongly, were part of a very exclusive club. It's not surprising that the women around them would also distinguish themselves.

[Cassandra Velasco]

11:41 PM on 02/13/2012

Wasn't Mrs Lucy Hayes, wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes, the first First Lady with a college diploma? Sorry, but I tried eveything and I couldn't make the slide show or the rest of the text after Mrs. George Washington run. I need some helpful directions. Any volunteers?

[cuteliberalchick]

11:13 PM on 02/06/2012

It is surprising only 2 first ladies have a professional degrees.Well we still have long way to go.

[cuteliberalchick]

05:49 PM on 02/11/2012

I forgot a in my statement.The reason is I speak English as a fifth language let see how many languages do you speak fluent?

[Ariana Avitia]

03:34 PM on 02/22/2012

Agree!

[Zip Zinzel]

10:47 PM on 02/06/2012

WOW THANKS FOR THIS,
Amazing that there were none whatsoever up until Mrs Garfield

BTW- PRES GARFIELD HAS AN AMAZINGLY INCREDIBLE STORY
. . . which very few people know about
GREAT 1-HOUR BOOKTV VIDEO
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/301645-9

ANOTHER GREAT 1-HOUR BOOKTV VIDEO about his incredible nomination, election, and assination
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/159447-1

[sillydolphin150]

01:20 PM on 02/06/2012

this was surprisingly interesting

[michelv]

01:31 AM on 02/06/2012

Laura Bush has a nice killer smile.

[Susan Woodhull]

07:16 PM on 03/25/2012

Wicked.

[hopein2012]

12:32 AM on 02/05/2012

this was actually interesting.

[Hal May]

03:59 PM on 02/04/2012

For someone as smart and progressive as Eleanor Roosevelt, I must say I'm surprised she had no higher education.

[Generic Acct]

07:34 PM on 02/03/2012

This entire article disregards the history of SEXISM in higher education.

Shouldn't it be titled "First Ladies NOT At College," since the majority of the women on this list received no college education or dropped out?

I also disagree with the claim "Michelle Obama is by far the most academically accomplished first lady"

When Hillary Clinton attended Wellesly it was still taboo or not allowed for women to attend the Ivy Leagues.

Until the 70s Wellesly was part of the "seven sister" tradition in which women got 'separate but equal' Ivy League schooling. It would have been implausible for Hillary to attend Princeton University as Michele did.

Yes believe it or not, because of Michele Obama's younger age and thus despite her race, she faced LESS discrimination than Hillary Clinton when perusing higher education.

More pertinently though, Hillary attained a Juris Doctor from Yale which is the same level of degree Michele received. So no, Michele is not "by far the most academically accomplished first lady," she is by far the first lady most academically ON PAR with Hillary Clinton.

By the way that makes Hillary one of the first women to receive a degree from an Ivy League.

HP I know your "third wave" feminist psycho/Nazi philosophy makes you defect from "traditional" measures of sexism.

I know you want to cast Michele as the greatest woman in history, as proof that those evil white feminists were well... EVIL!

But you can not rewrite history.

[Zip Zinzel]

10:52 PM on 02/06/2012

GREAT POST !

[jammer0079]

03:02 PM on 02/03/2012

I can now see why Obama married Michele.............