Clara M. Cook Kellogg (December 30, 1861 – October 1, 1942) was an American political hostess. As wife of Senator, ambassador, and Secretary of State
Frank B. Kellogg
Frank Billings Kellogg (December 22, 1856December 21, 1937) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served in the U.S. Senate and as U.S. Secretary of State. He co-authored the Kellogg–Briand Pact, for which he was awarded the N ...
, she was socially prominent in Washington, D.C., and at the American embassy in London.
Early life
Clara M. Cook was born in
Rochester, Minnesota
Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic.
Acco ...
, the daughter of George Clinton Cook and Elizabeth Burns Cook.
Her father was born in Vermont and her mother was born in Ireland. Cook was a teacher before she married.
Career
Kellogg was a prominent political hostess in Washington, D.C. and in London, while her husband held office as in the United States Senate from 1917 to 1923, as American ambassador to Great Britain from 1924 to 1925, and as Secretary of State from 1925 to 1929.
During her time in London, she was considered "charming" and "well-dressed". She was honored by the American Women's Club in that city, and represented the ambassador at the opening of the American Hospital at Hampstead in 1924.
She was especially close to
Queen Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936 as the wife of King-Empe ...
.
In Minnesota, she served on the board of directors at the state children's home, Sheltering Arms. She was also a member of the
Ramsey County Republican Woman's Club and the League of Protestant Women.
Personal life
Cook married lawyer Kellogg in 1886.
He died in 1937;
she died in 1942, aged 80 years, in
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...
. Her ashes were placed with her husband's, behind a memorial stone in the
Washington National Cathedral.
The Minnesota Historical Society Library holds a collection of her papers, and a larger collection of her husband's papers.
References
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1861 births
1942 deaths
People from Rochester, Minnesota