This article was originally published on Lizanest.com
Behind every polished White House portrait was a woman with secrets and habits the public was never meant to see. One spoke to the dead. Another let astrology shape the president’s schedule. One bathed a raccoon, another hid inside an airplane compartment, and several guarded obsessions stranger than fiction. But the wildest story of all is not the séance, the stars, or the pet. It’s in the first lady whose private behavior changed history.
#1: Mary Todd Lincoln Held Séances in the White House
Mary Todd Lincoln became first lady in 1861, just as the country was heading into the Civil War. After her 11-year-old son Willie died inside the White House, she was overwhelmed with grief. Hoping he was still nearby, she began attending spirit circles and invited mediums to hold séances.
Some gatherings reportedly took place in the Red Room and at the Lincolns’ cottage. Spiritualism was common among families who had lost loved ones during the war, but a first lady taking part still caused gossip. Mary eventually stopped attending, partly because of the pressure and criticism surrounding the séances.