Barbara Bush, the former first lady of the United States, is also known for her ties to the Lowcountry. She graduated for Ashley Hall in 1943 after following in her older sisterâs footsteps. Mrs. Bush chose the Charleston boarding school over other prestigious boarding schools based on the rigor of the curriculum and its track-record of placing graduates in the top universities in the country, according to Jill Muti, Ashley Hallâs Head of School.
Bush went on to attend Smith College.
âHer experience here was fabulous,â said Muti. âThe school meant a great deal to her. She would come back and visit.âBush was the graduation speaker in 1984 and returned most recently in 2016 to boarding school she called home from 1940-1943.
It was a stop that would prove incomplete without a tour of her dorm room and talking with young girls about a love story that lasted decades.
âWe heard some terrific stories,â said Muti. âIt was a lot of fun. âOf course they wanted to know about President Bush as well. She was really sweet.âMuti said Bush told students about receiving letters from her future husband while still in school at Ashley Hall.Throughout her husbandâs time in office she invited students at Ashley Hall into the White House, and alumnae have used the Ashley Hall Facebook page to share old pictures of tea-time with the former first lady in the hours after her death.âMany alumnae have been writing in and emailing literally all day long,â said Muti.
The wife of one president and the mother of another was committed to education and foreign affairs, but she also knew how to âplayâ from an early age.âShe was in both the Christmas play and Shakespeare productions here on campus,â said Muti. âIn fact, right now we're preparing one for alumnae weekend.
âMuti, who traveled to visit Bush in Houston, said itâs a spark that never faded.âSheâs an extremely bright, articulate person. Humble. A lot of fun. That sense of humor. That twinkle in her eye. You can't make that up.âAshley Hall will have a larger celebration of Bushâs life at a later time. They will also celebrate her graduating class, 1943, and all classes ending in â3â and â8â at the alumnae weekend as well as the schoolâs Jubilee Society, which Mrs. Bush was a member of.
In 1953, the Bushâs three-year-old-daughter, Robin, was diagnosed with leukemia and sadly passed away. And this cartoon illustrating Barbaraâs reunion with her daughter in Heaven made this editor wonder if perhaps someone was cutting onions in the house because SERIOUSLY BIG TEARS.