Ethel Roosevelt
Ethel Carow Roosevelt was born August 13, 1891 at Sagamore Hill and baptized in Edith’s Drawing Room. She was the youngest daughter of TR and Edith and was instrumental in preserving the legacy of both her father and Sagamore Hill.
Growing up Ethel liked to play with friends rather than toys. She was strong and sturdy. TR said she reminded him so much of her stocky Dutch ancestors that he gave her the nickname “Elephant Johnny.” When thing’s didn’t go well she often dropped to the floor and had a temper tantrum. She liked to pull the hair pins from her mother’s hair.
She was a “Mother’s Helper” to her two younger brothers, Archie and Quentin. In the White House she often assisted her mom in placing meal orders and delegating tasks to the staff. TR once remarked: "she had a way of doing everything and managing everybody."
She loved horses and taking rides with her mother. Unlike Alice, Ethel kept a low profile and avoided being in the spotlight. While living in Washington she attended school at the National Cathedral. She had her coming out party in the White House on December 28, 1908. She was 17 and at the time a year shy of the typical age most women debuted, but since the family was about to leave at the end of TR’s second term this was her last opportunity to debut while living in the White House.
Returning to Oyster Bay Ethel married Dr. Richard Derby. The two met at Roosevelt Hospital. He was 10 years her senior. The two were married at noon on Friday April 4, 1913 at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Edith had the church freshly painted and decorated with spring flowers. 500 guests attended. Below is a photograph of TR at the wedding.
After the wedding the reception was held at Sagamore Hill. It was a warm summer like day enabling some of the guests to be seated at tables out on the piazza. Other guests were seated in the dining room and the North Room.
By the time World War I broke out they had two children, Edith and Richard Jr. who died at age 8 from bacterial infection.
Ethel was the first of the Roosevelt children to go overseas during WWI. She became a nurse and volunteered to serve in France in the American Ambulance Hospital where her husband served as a surgeon.
During the war, Ethel became involved with the Red Cross and volunteered for the organization for six decades. When Ethel had her family portrait painted she chose to wear her Red Cross uniform instead of a more traditional formal gown.
After war she had two more children, Sarah and Judith. All her children were raised in Oyster Bay, where Ethel was regarded as a church and community leader earning her the nickname “First Lady, or Queen of Oyster Bay.” Ethel also served as Nassau County Chairperson for the Red Cross and Chairperson of the Nassau County Nursing Service.
Ethel was very close to her parents and remained at the center of the family even after her mother died in 1948. She donated considerable time and energy to Christ Episcopal Church. She had a great sense of fairness and worked to secure low-income housing for Black families in Oyster Bay.
Ethel was a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History in NYC founded in 1869 in great part by her grandfather Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. The charter was signed in the Roisevelt parlor on 20th Street. Conscious of her father’s role in history, Ethel worked tirelessly to turn Sagamore Hill into a museum.
She also assisted the National Audubon Society in creating the Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center to help carry on her father’s interest in the natural sciences.
Ethel died in 1977 at age 85. She is buried alongside her husband and parents at Youngs Cemetery in Oyster Bay, N.Y.
Ethel's House - Old Adam - Oyster Bay
The house that Ethel lived in still stands and is located on Lexington Avenue in Oyster Bay. It's known as the Adam-Derby House.
The house was first built in 1878 for Sarah Adam following the death of her husband who had been President of NY Gas-Light Company. That one the six companies that merged to become Con Edison.
Ethel lived in the house from 1913 until her death in 1977. In 1979 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a Town of Oyster Bay Landmark.
It's now in the center of a Town-House development known as Landmark Colony at Oyster Bay.
