Millicent Fenwick

Millicent Vernon Fenwick (née Hammond; February 25, 1910 – September 16, 1992) was an American fashion editor, politician, and diplomat. A four-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey, she was renowned for her energy and colorful enthusiasm. She was regarded as a moderate and progressive within her party and was outspoken in favor of civil rights and the women's movement.

Millicent Vernon Hammond was born the middle of three children to the politician and later Ambassador to Spain, Ogden Haggerty Hammond (October 13, 1869 – October 29, 1956) of Louisville, Kentucky and his first wife, Mary Picton Stevens (May 16, 1885 – May 7, 1915) of Hoboken, New Jersey. Her paternal grandparents were General John Henry Hammond (June 30, 1833 – April 30, 1890), who served as chief of staff for William Tecumseh Sherman during the Vicksburg Campaign, and Sophia Vernon Wolfe (1842 – May 20, 1923), daughter of Nathaniel Wolfe, a lawyer and legislator from Louisville. Her maternal grandparents were John Stevens (July 1856 – January 21, 1895), oldest son of Stevens Institute of Technology founder Edwin Augustus Stevens and grandson of inventor John Stevens and Mary Marshall McGuire (May 4, 1850 – May 2, 1905). Ogden Hammond and Mary Stevens got married on April 8, 1907, and both derived from families who were heavily involved in history. Ogden Haggerty Hammond was “the son of a civil war general,” and after his father's death, he “entrenched himself in all aspects of superior life.” Mary Picton Stevens “was the heir to a fortune based largely on real estate holdings in Hoboken, New Jersey." Millicent's father attended school at Yale University and later in life became a New York financier. She had a sister, Mary Stevens Hammond, and a brother, Ogden H. Hammond, Jr. She was also cousins with John Hammond, a well-known record producer.

During World War I, Hammond insisted on going overseas to help those who needed assistance in Europe, despite the potential dangers that were associated with doing so. In 1915, when Millicent was five years old, her mother perished in the sinking of the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, which her father survived. When Ogden arrived back home from this tragic event, he did not want to discuss what happened, regarding his wife nor the event, and kept himself busy and distracted by becoming very involved with his work. Everyone, both friends and family, respected his decision and carried on with their normal lives as if nothing transpired. He remarried two years later, to Marguerite McClure "Daisy" Howland, and by that marriage Fenwick had a stepbrother, McClure (Mac) Howland. Ogden's children now had a stepmother. However, Daisy was so preoccupied with herself, Mac, and her social status that she spent minimal time with her stepchildren. Millicent and Daisy did not have a good relationship, and her father was no help. If there were any family issues going on, Ogden requested that his children address them with Daisy and not him. After their mother's death, Millicent developed a closer relationship with her siblings, especially her sister, Mary. In 1918, the trial of the Lusitania took place, as people were suing the ship's company for failure to show passengers aboard the safety precautions. Ogden was one of the many people to testify and when the jury reached the verdict, the Hammonds were each compensated, receiving over $60,000.

Raised in comfortable circumstances in Bernardsville, Millicent attended the exclusive Nightingale-Bamford School in nearby Manhattan, and then Foxcroft School, a private boarding school in Middleburg, Virginia. She attended Barnard College and then the New School for Social Research, both in Manhattan.

In 1931, she met Hugh McLeod Fenwick (February 17, 1905 – July 24, 1991), who was married to Dorothy Ledyard, the daughter of New York attorney Lewis Cass Ledyard. Hugh briefly attended Harvard University before he began working in the field of aviation in Pensacola, Florida. Fenwick later became a "lieutenant in the flying section of the New Jersey National Guard." The relationship between Hugh and Millicent was kept discreet until he was divorced. When the two became engaged, Millicent's stepmother was beside herself and Ogden, too, was disappointed with his daughter. Daisy, "a devout Catholic," was so disenchanted with Millicent's marrying a divorced man that she prohibited her from returning to the house. Despite her father's and stepmother's disapproval, Hugh and Millicent married on June 11, 1932. The couple rented a house in Bedminster, New Jersey for about a year, and then moved to Bernardsville, New Jersey.

The Fenwicks welcomed their first child, Mary Stevens Fenwick, on February 25, 1934, also Millicent's birthday. Becoming a mother did not come easily to Millicent and she hired a nanny to help raise her daughter. When Hugh and Millicent welcomed their second child, Hugo Hammond Fenwick, their marriage started to go downhill. Hugh's dishonesty about telling different stories^{[clarification needed]} and lying played a big role in the separation between the two. Hugh relocated to Europe leaving behind an enormous amount of debt his wife had to pay off. After several years of separation, Hugh and Millicent divorced in 1945. Hugh remarried to Barbara West and had a daughter, Maureen, while Millicent did not remarry and instead focused on working and caring for her children.

While Hugh and Millicent were still together, she briefly modeled for Harper's Bazaar. When they divorced, it was difficult for Millicent to find a job that would support both herself and her children because she never received a high school diploma. After searching for jobs and not being recognized by publishers for the stories she had authored, Millicent was hired to work for Vogue magazine as a caption editor. She stayed with Vogue for a little over a decade and held several job titles during her employment with the magazine. She concluded her career at Vogue in 1948. She compiled Vogue's Book of Etiquette, which sold a million copies and eventually went on tour around the country.

By 1952, Millicent officially retired from work as her children were old enough to support themselves. She also received an inheritance from her mother, which along with interest from her family's real estate, was substantial enough to support her retirement.