Letitia Baldrige Dies
This morning I found this obituary for Letitia Baldrige who was known for being the social secretary to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
This was interesting as just last week I was writing about Baldrige in my chapter on women’s page editors and gossip. In the chapter I describe the work of Vera Glaser who covered politics (and gossip) for the women’s pages. It was in her column that she scooped everyone else in learning what was in Baldrige’s tell-all book about her experiences in the White House.
According to her obituary: “As Jacqueline Kennedy’s social secretary, Ms. Baldrige oversaw the glamorous social gatherings and state dinners for which the administration was known.
Ms. Baldrige was credited with helping arrange for a portable stage in the White House East Room where the Kennedys hosted jazz concerts, Shakespeare performances, ballets, musicals and opera. Ms. Baldrige issued many of the invitations to those events.
Sometimes her role called for apologies. The first official White House party, she wrote in her memoir “Of Diamonds & Diplomats” (1968), got her “into the hottest of water with our President.” Without alerting him, she broke precedent by arranging for hard liquor to be served at the Sunday evening event.”
After she left Washington, she worked in public relations for the Merchandise Mart in Chicago where she would have interacted with the furnishings reporters of the women’s pages. She went on to open her own P.R. firm.
