444 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1954 



inspired action, and her gift was followed by those of connoisseur- 

 industrialist Charles L. Freer, businessman William T. Evans, and 

 lawyer Ralph Cross Johnson. Crowded by later additions to the 

 permanent exhibition, the significance of her collection had been all 

 but forgotten. In the reorganization of the gallery in 1953, its im- 

 portance was recognized anew, and it was then restored to primary 

 position at the head of the arrayed collections. Gentle, gracious, and 

 most favored in her youthful leadership in Washington, Harriet Lane 

 Johnston commands our gratitude today as First Lady of the National 

 Collection of Fine Arts. 



Born in Franklin County, Pa., in 1830, Harriet Lane was the 

 youngest of several children orphaned by the death of Elliot T. Lane 

 and his wife Jane. At the age of 9 Harriet showed wisdom in the 

 choice of her mother's brother, James Buchanan, as her guardian. 

 A bond of affection developed between niece and uncle, then Senator 

 from Pennsylvania, that inspired two fine characters to lives of dis- 

 tinction in national service. Harriet, in gaining his devoted guardian- 

 ship, required of him the solicitude of a bachelor tragically disap- 

 pointed in love. He had suffered a broken engagement resulting from 

 misunderstanding, and his beloved had died before reconciliation. 

 She was known to Harriet through a miniature, a careful tracing of 

 which, with tender notations, was long treasured and now reposes in 

 the Library of Congress with her letters. Understanding of each 

 other's loss seems to have kindled an unwavering loyalty that lasted 

 to the end of his long career as statesman and President, the full worth 

 of which is yet to be appropriately acknowledged by historians. No 

 daughter could have rewarded more steadfastly in later years the 

 watchful guidance he provided in the period that demanded greatest 

 effort in his own behalf. Harriet Lane enjoyed physical vigor and 

 personal charm that proved equal to responsibilities and opportunities 

 rarely faced by an American girl. Fortune was not always kind, yet 

 hers was ever a willing acceptance and happy response, which enabled 

 lier to surmount trials with faith and grace, to win the unreserved 

 admiration of all who knew her. 



Letters to his adopted niece reveal certain fears James Buchanan 

 held that animal spirits and tomboy inclinations would pose problems 

 in rearing his young ward. The rising statesman knew how to blend 

 official authority with an uncle's affection. Rarely did he reprimand 

 without pointing out reward for good behavior. He admonished her in 

 his letter to her of March 20, 1843, "How proud and happy I should be 

 to acknowledge and cherish you as an object of deep affection could I 

 say, she is kind in heart, amiable in temper and behaves in such a man- 

 ner as to secure the affection and esteem of all around her." ^ Such 

 words were a steadying influence during days at the fashionable 



' Curtis, George Ticknor, Life of James Buchanan, 2 vols. New York, 1883. 



