Frances Folsom Cleveland, the youngest First Lady in U.S. history, was an exceptionally beautiful and charming young woman. Following her marriage to Grover Cleveland, she became an overnight tabloid media sensation. A frenzied press began to cover her every movement and fashion statement. Her popularity became so great that when reporters made up a story that Frances had stopped wearing a bustle, everyone stopped wearing them—including Frances. During her two White House tenures as First Lady, Frances helped strengthen the Secret Service and promote free Kindergarten education for all. Read more about it!

The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.

The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.