Our tent, the Dolly** Madison Tent, has an enviable heritage.  Our namesake, Dolley Madison, wife of our fourth president, James Madison, was a charming and courageous woman.  She was a widow and was introduced to her future husband, James Madison, by an old classmate, Aaron Burr.   The quiet and unassuming Madison unhesitatingly chose Dolley for his wife.  Dolley had been raised as a Quaker and was expelled from that faith for marrying an outsider.  It is difficult to imagine that a woman from that faith would become the innovative person she proved to be.

When her husband, James Madison, was serving our young nation as Secretary of State, Dolley occasionally acted as hostess for Thomas Jefferson, our third president.   As the wife of the Secretary of State she became well acquainted with the political machinations necessary for successful governing.

Dolley became our first "First Lady" when the White house was moved to Washington.   She supervised the furnishing of the new "White House" and initiated weekly parties for Senators, Congressmen and politicians.  She was beautiful, fun-loving and very tactful.  Her love of entertaining became a welcomed staple of the Washington social world.  The first Inaugural Ball was "inaugurated" by Dolley along with the first White House Easter Egg Roll.  Those traditions have been a part of every presidency since James Madison’s election in 1808.

During the War of 1812, when the British invaded Washington and burned the new White House.  Dolley Madison became a national hero.   On that night in 1814 the president was out of the capitol.   Upon hearing the British intentions Dolley managed to salvage several wagonloads of national treasures, including the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington.   Can you envision this so called "Socialite" little woman loading up wagons and sending them off seemingly without concern for herself?   She did all that she could to protect the valuables of our nation.   It is a proud thing to be a member of a tent dedicated to her memory.

*Note that currently the accepted way to correctly spell the first name of the wife of former President James Madison is Dolley.  At the time that the tent was chartered in 1921, "Dolly" was the accepted way to spell the first name of Mrs. Madison.

**Richard C. Cote - writer and historian - says in Strength and Honor - The Life of Dolley Madison "...for many years Mrs. Madison's first name was spelled incorrectly as 'Dolly' and not as 'Dolley'. This happened through her biographers and in early encyclopedias."

Cote, Richard C., Strength and Honor - The Life of Dolley Madison,
Published by Corinthian Books;
Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina 294565-1895
First Printing, Sept. 2004; 2nd Printing Jan. 2005

By:
Marcella H. Pettis
Dolly Madison, Tent #6

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Last update by CAK on November 17, 2011