At the age of 17, Alice became an instant celebrity, dubbed Princess Alice by the press when her father became president in 1901. Her unconventional behavior, like carrying a green garter snake named Emily Spinach in her purse, gained attention from the press. She often clashed with her father, as they both loved to be the center of attention. Of her rambunctious nature, such as sliding down the White House stairways and smoking cigarettes on the roof, President Roosevelt quipped, “I can do one of two things, I can be President of the United States or I can control Alice Roosevelt. I cannot possibly do both.”  

 
 

SCANDALOUS WOMEN OF EMBASSY ROW

Embassy Row may be known today for diplomacy and grandeur, but during the Gilded Age it was also a stage for scandal, ambition, and women who refused to play by the rules. This tour explores the lives of elite women who used wealth, social status, and influence to shape Washington’s political, cultural, and media landscapes.

SCANDALOUS WOMEN OF DUPONT CIRCLE (Walking/Virtual) Meet bold figures like Isabel Weld Perkins whose personal wealth funded the elegant Anderson house known today as the headquarters for the Society of the Cincinnati. A Boston heiress with deep colonial roots, Isabel traveled widely, amass an extraordinary art collection, became a prolific writer, and eventually volunteer with the Red Cross, earning international honors for her service. After becoming a widow in 1902, Alice Pike Barney embraced her role as a “New Woman,” pursuing art, hosting salons, and raising daughters educated in feminist ideals. She turned her home into a center for artistic salons and this mansion would house the Smithsonian Institute until it was sold in 1999. Cissy Patterson had a scandalous marriage abroad that led to an international custody battle and years of legal struggle. After returning to Washington, she reinvented herself as a journalist, writing for the New York Daily News before becoming editor of the Washington Herald and Washington Times under William Randolph Hearst. She transformed both papers by prioritizing society reporting, hiring women journalists, and introducing a bold new visual style. In 1939, Cissy purchased the papers outright and merged them into the Washington Times-Herald, becoming one of the most powerful publishers in the nation’s capital. This tour reveals Embassy Row not simply as a corridor of embassies and mansions, but as a stage where women wielded power, defied convention, and left an enduring mark on Washington, DC and the nation. Starts at DuPont Circle, ends near Dupont Metro.

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