To Tell The Truth with Dolly Madison

by

Gail Skroback Hennessey

*With Permission from Mark Goodson Productions

Host:  Today’s guest is Dolly Madison.  Only one of the three guests is the real  Dolly Madison.  The other two are impostors.  Your job is to listen carefully to the information presented and decide which of the three guests is the REAL  Dolly Madison. Let’s begin by meeting our guests.

Dolly Madison 1:  Hello , young people.  It’s so good to be here to speak with you today. My name is Dolly Madison

Dolly Madison 2:  Best wishes, to you all. My name is Dolly Madison

Dolly Madison 3:  My name is Dolly Madison and I¹d  like to thank you for having me as your guest.

Host: Let’s begin by reading a brief summary on Dolly Madison

"I, Dolly  Payne Todd Madison,(which some people have spelled  D O L L E Y), was born in  1768  in Guilford, North Carolina, but my family soon moved to Virginia. During my time, a terrible illness, called yellow fever,  claimed the lives of many people including my first husband and one of my  sons. I eventually met and married James Madison, who would eventually become the  4th President of the United States. I became famous for being a very popular first “presidentress” who enjoyed entertaining and opening the President House(we didn’t call it the WHITE HOUSE at that time) to the public.  I knew eleven  presidents during my long life.  When I died  in 1849, President Zachary Taylor  called me, “The first lady for half a century”.  It was the first time the word “First Lady” was used  for a president’s wife and has been used ever since. “ 

Signed,

Dolly Madison

Host: Let’s start the questioning of our guests with panelist 1

Panelist 1:  You were raised a Quaker, a religious group that didn’t believe in dancing, singing or wearing  decorative clothing. You couldn’t even wear buckles or  ribbons on your clothing. This was difficult for you since you loved the pretty clothing that you saw  people wear. Being a Quaker during the Revolutionary War was difficult,  since your religion opposed war and fighting.  Because of your family’s religious belief about war, some  people accused your family of siding with the English during the war which was not true.  What was it  like growing up as a young Quaker girl?

Madison 1:   I remember  hearing music one night and going out to the slave quarters to listen.  My father found me dancing and singing to the fiddle player’s music.  Father being a strict Quaker took me back to the house , gave me a spanking and locked me in my room!

Madison 2:   My grandmother wasn’t a Quaker and one day  she gave me a very  pretty piece of jewelry.  It was pinned underneath my dress so no one would  see it.  I knew it was there and felt special.  One day, I discovered the pin had fallen off and was gone.  I was SO upset.  I thought that I was being punished for wearing something I wasn’t supposed to wear.

Madison 3: Although Quakers were opposed to slavery, the laws at the time said you couldn’t free any slaves you owned  so  my  family had several including  my nanny.  In 1782, Virginia passed a law allowing slave holders to free their slaves if they wanted so  my family was one of the first to do so.  My nanny, Mother Amy, although freed,  stayed with our family.

Panelist 2: As a girl you loved to ride in the woods and liked to watch all the  interesting people in Virginia.  Tell us a memory about your childhood.

Madison 1: I was lucky to be able to attend school to learn reading and writing. Math, however, was usually only learned by boys.  I remember my first day. Mother covered me up from head to toe so I wouldn’t freckle from the sun. I worn a big bonnet, gloves and  a piece of cloth covered most of my face! I was quite a  sight!

Madison 2: Later in life, I became quite famous for my desserts(in fact  there is a company that makes cookies and donuts today which uses my name!). When I was twelve, I made my first  trifle cake. It was a three layer sponge cake.  My father thought my mother had baked it because it tasted so good.

Madison 3: Did you know that during my time, eating fresh fruit was something that people didn’t do?  It was thought that fresh fruit caused disease. Today, eating fresh fruit is known to be healthy for you.  Another belief during my time was when you were sick, it was thought that it was due to “bad blood” so you were bled to rid the body of the blood believing to be  causing you to be ill.

Panelist 3:  After your first husband died of  yellow fever, you eventually met and  married James Madison.  He was asked to serve as Secretary of State for          President Thomas Jefferson.  Since Jefferson’s wife had died, you were asked  to be the official hostess at the President’s House, a job you very much enjoyed.  After Jefferson’s term ended, your husband was elected  President of the United States.  You  were the first to serve ICE CREAM to your guests, a dessert that wasn’t very common at the time. You kept your pet bird, a  macaw , in the front  window so kids could be entertained as you fed it each day.  You even started the first Easter Egg Roll  for  the children, a custom still done today.  Tell us some of the other things you did as the wife of the President of the United States?

Madison 1:  I always walked around with a book, Don Quixote, in my hand  whenever we had guests in the President’s House.  It was a great  way to start  people talking.

Madison 2: I  often took the Presidential jet, Air Force Dolly,  over to Europe to share my famous pastries and ice creams with the kings and queens of Europe. They   were quite popular if  I do say so myself.

Madison 3: When my husband gave parties, I sat at the head of the dinner table with the President sitting at my side. It was really his idea.  He didn’t like to have to lead all the dinner conversations.

Panelist 4:   The United States went to war with Great Britain in what is called the War of 1812.  As the  British were getting closer to the capital , your husband left to try and keep them from advancing closer.  As the gun fire got closer, it was suggested you leave. You said you would remain and even  prepared foods and  set the dinner table  Eventually, you realized you had to go.  Tell us  more  about this  historic time.

Madison 1: I packed up my  shiny new red sport;s utility van  and  got  out of town.

Madison 2: Sadly, I was captured by the British as I was trying to get out of the city. They had heard about my famous chocolate cupcakes and said that if I didn’t  make a batch for  all the soldiers, they would take away my hat.  Nobody touches my famous hats especially the one I was wearing that day(it had REAL ostrich  feathers) so I made the cupcakes.  Fortunately, I had sent a message to  my husband the president by way of my macaw that I had freed as I was captured. My husband and his men rescued me as the British were stuffing  their faces  with my chocolate cupcakes!

Madison 3: Before I left, I gathered all the important papers I could and placed then  in a box and had them carried to the wagon. Then, I ran back inside and  tried  to get the portrait of George Washington off the wall.  Someone had  screwed it  to the wall, so I  asked someone to  break the frame and take the canvas  painting out.  Would you believe those British actually  burned down  the President’s House?  And, if that wasn’t bad enough, I learned that they ATE the  dinner  I had left before they set the building on fire

Panelist 5: After your husband died, you were  honored by Congress in a way no women had been before.  You were  given a permanent seat on the floor of the   House of Representatives.  Do you have any other memories you’d like to share?

Madison 1:  I was such a trend setter as the President’s wife and continued to do so later in my life. I started the fashion of wearing  high top sneakers and bell bottom  blue jeans when I was in my 70s!

Madison 2: I was so popular and friendly to all I met and people  especially  loved my ice cream.   Sadly, after my husband died, I  was short on money and so I         decided to open an ice cream store and  I called it Friendly’s.   Perhaps, you’ve tried my Cyclone or watermelon ice cream cake?

Madison 3:  I was present when a man named Samuel Morse sent the very  first   telegram.  After he sent, “What hath God wrought” over the wires, he turned to ME and asked if I¹d like to sent the 2nd.  I sent a message to my cousin.

Host: It is now time to decide which of our guests is the REAL Dolly Madison.  Is it number 1, number 2 or number 3.  All right, the votes have been cast, will the  real Dolly Payne Todd Madison, please stand up?

Additional Information

Reading the Play

Panelist #1 and 2: Responses are all correct

Panelist #3: Dolly did like the book called Don Quixote.  Discuss the story with your students about the nearsighted knight who with his companion go out searching for battles to fight (he thinks windmills  that he sees are monsters). Remind students there weren’t any airplanes during Dolly’s time.  The response by #3 is true.  Many people like a “round” table because there isn’t a “head section” where someone is responsible to lead the discussion. Panelist #4: There weren’t cars during Dolly’s time and she wasn’t captured by the British.  It is true that the British did burn down the White House and it is said that they DID eat the dinner she had prepared for her husband before they torched the building!

Panelist #5: Kids probably think that jeans and sneakers have always been around.  Inform students that these popular pieces of clothing didn’t exist during this time period. Dolly did make desserts but didn’t start Friendly’s.

Discussion Questions:

1. What were some medical beliefs of Dolly Madison’s time which we have found to be incorrect?

2. Describe Dolly Madison as :First Lady”.  What kind of person was she?

3. Could you be Dolly’s friend? Why or why not?

4. What important invention did Dolly Madison witness seeing demonstrated?

5. When did you first suspect that Madison # 1 and #2 were impostors?

6. Dolly saved an important painting of George Washington.  Fire safety says you should NOT return to a burning building for any possession.  Discuss fire safety tips with your class.  Of all your possession, if you COULD only have ONE, even though it would be difficult, what would you select to save and why?

Activities:

1. Get a copy of the Morse Code and have students try and write a message using the symbols.

2. Go to the White house web site and have the students locate some interesting trivia about the white house to make a White House Trivia Bulletin Board.

3. Write a story about a day in the life of Dolly Madison and include 3 facts learned from the play.

4. What contribution would you hope to make as the spouse of the President of the United States?

Additional readings on Dolly Madison:

1. Dolly Payne Todd Madison by Alice K. Flanagin.  Children’s Press. 1997

2. Dolly Madison by Patricia Ryon Quiri, Franklin Watts Press, 1993

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/dm4.html

http://www.nationalcenter.org/WashingtonBurning1814.html

http://www.multied.com/Bio/ladies/madison.html