Jennifer Coolidge (Sayles) Harville, the great-granddaughter of President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, engagingly presents the inspirational life story of our nation’s 30th President. Starting with his formative years in Plymouth, VT she follows young Calvin to Amherst College in Massachusetts where he is challenged by academic and social opportunities. Thereafter, he establishes his career in law and local politics in the neighboring town of Northampton, MA where he meets and marries Miss Grace Goodhue, a fellow Vermonter and teacher at the Clarke School for the Deaf. The couple remains in their adopted hometown and raise two sons, John, and Calvin Jr.
President Coolidge overcomes many obstacles during his political life, and the family experiences great sorrow when it mourns the tragic and untimely death of Calvin Jr. at the White House during the Coolidge Presidency.
Harville explains that “since the passings of my mother and aunt, my brother, cousin, and I remain the oldest living generation of direct descendants from President Coolidge’s family. I feel privileged to give talks that enhance the legacy of Calvin Coolidge, by sharing the story of his ascent into politics from his rural farm beginnings, as well as my experiences as a member of the Coolidge family.”
The author of several pieces about the Coolidges, Harville wrote “John Coolidge – The Story of Our Loving, Humble, Grandfather and Patriarch,” for Our America Magazine, October 2020, Vol. 1, No. 2:20-22. Most recently, she contributed the “Afterword to the New Edition,” for The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge, published by the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, 2021, pp. 163-166.
Jennifer earned her master’s degree in Public Health from Emory University in Atlanta. She met her husband David there while he was pursuing his graduate degree in Biostatistics. Jennifer and David live in Westmoreland, NH with their son, Calvin Jacob, and daughter Sheridan Grace. Harville enjoys volunteering at her local church, along with musical pursuits, traveling, and reading.
