Rebecca (raccoon)

Rebecca was a raccoon kept as a pet by US president Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge.

First Lady Grace Coolidge and Rebecca

Rebecca came from Mississippi.[1] She had been sent to the White House to be served for the 1926 Thanksgiving dinner, but the Coolidges decided to keep her as a pet instead. For Christmas, an embroidered collar was made for her, inscribed with the title: "White House Raccoon". She enjoyed participating in the annual White House Easter egg roll.[2]

She was fed shrimp and persimmons, and eggs were a favorite;[3] she was let loose in the White House, and walked on a leash outdoors. At times, she could be mischievous, known to unscrew lightbulbs, open cabinets and unpot houseplants.[4]

As First Lady Grace wrote:

"We had a house made for her in one of the large trees, with a wire fence built around it for protection. We kept her chained when out of doors, but in the house she had her liberty. She was a mischievous, inquisitive party and we had to keep watch of her when she was in the house. She enjoyed nothing better than being placed in a bathtub with a little water in it and given a cake of soap with which to play. In this fashion she would amuse herself for an hour or more."[3]

When the Coolidges took a vacation in the Black Hills, they brought Rebecca along in a basket, together with two of their dogs,[5] Rob Roy and Prudence Prim as well as five canaries.[2]

As a companion for Rebecca, Reuben, a male raccoon, was acquired by a White House police officer. Reuben frequently escaped, being recovered by White House staff;[2] but, he ultimately disappeared without a trace.[3][2] In preparation for leaving the White House at the end of the president's term in 1929, the Coolidges donated Rebecca to the zoological quarters in Rock Creek Park (now the National Zoo) in Washington DC.[2][6] Herbert Hoover was next to occupy the White House; soon thereafter, a wild opossum decided to occupy Rebecca's vacant tree-house and was "adopted" by the Hoovers and named "Billy Possum".[2]

See also

References
  1. Pietrusza, David (2008), Silent Cal's Almanack: The Homespun Wit and Wisdom of Vermont's Calvin Coolidge, p. 195
  2. Costello, Matthew (June 8, 2018). "Raccoons at the White House". The White House Historical Association. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  3. Pietrusza, David. ""Wombats and Such": Calvin and Grace Coolidge and Their Pets". www.davidpietrusza.com. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  4. Truman, Margaret (2007), The President's House: 1800 to the Present, Random House, p. 150, ISBN 9780307417312
  5. Tupper, Seth (2017), Calvin Coolidge in the Black Hills, Arcadia Publishing, p. 37, ISBN 9781625857668
  6. Otfinoski, Steven (2010), Raccoons, Animals Animals, Marshall Cavendish, p. 34, ISBN 9780761448419
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