Today in Wheeling History: October 23--Wheeling native Constance Cornell Stuart was appointed staff director and press secretary to First Lady Pat Nixon, becoming one of the highest-ranking women in the Nixon White House (1969).
Constance "Connie" Cornell Stuart was born in Wheeling on July 15, 1938, to Vernon Everett Cornell and Ada Kathleen Bellis Cornell. She grew up on Howard Place with her three sisters and graduated as valedictorian from Triadelphia High School in 1956. In 1959, she was crowned Queen Sylvia at the Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins.
Stuart attended the University of Maryland, graduating magna cum laude in 1960 with a degree in speech and theater. She pursued graduate work in television and joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. After college, she worked in New York City for public relations firms and AT&T, producing training films. In 1967, she married Charles E. Stuart, an advance man for Richard Nixon's presidential campaign.
In October 1969, First Lady Pat Nixon appointed Stuart as staff director and press secretary, a $30,000-per-year position she held until 1973. Stuart managed press relations, correspondence, and social events for the Nixon family. She later directed the State Department's International Visitors Program (1973-1977) and served as press secretary at the Department of Energy (1981-1985). Stuart also served on the University of Maryland Board of Regents from 1980-1988. She died of natural causes on August 27, 2016, at her home, Rose Hill, in Port Tobacco, Maryland.
To learn more: Wheeling Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/4j5mtvwa), Penn State Libraries Biography (https://tinyurl.com/mpkhabtm), Obituary from Arehart-Echols Funeral Home (https://tinyurl.com/3zjm92st), White House Historical Association (https://tinyurl.com/5n6n7k3d), UPI Archives (https://tinyurl.com/ynavufrh)
Photo credits: PennState University Libraries, The White House Historical Association, Wheeling Intelligencer
Constance "Connie" Cornell Stuart was born in Wheeling on July 15, 1938, to Vernon Everett Cornell and Ada Kathleen Bellis Cornell. She grew up on Howard Place with her three sisters and graduated as valedictorian from Triadelphia High School in 1956. In 1959, she was crowned Queen Sylvia at the Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins.
Stuart attended the University of Maryland, graduating magna cum laude in 1960 with a degree in speech and theater. She pursued graduate work in television and joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. After college, she worked in New York City for public relations firms and AT&T, producing training films. In 1967, she married Charles E. Stuart, an advance man for Richard Nixon's presidential campaign.
In October 1969, First Lady Pat Nixon appointed Stuart as staff director and press secretary, a $30,000-per-year position she held until 1973. Stuart managed press relations, correspondence, and social events for the Nixon family. She later directed the State Department's International Visitors Program (1973-1977) and served as press secretary at the Department of Energy (1981-1985). Stuart also served on the University of Maryland Board of Regents from 1980-1988. She died of natural causes on August 27, 2016, at her home, Rose Hill, in Port Tobacco, Maryland.
To learn more: Wheeling Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/4j5mtvwa), Penn State Libraries Biography (https://tinyurl.com/mpkhabtm), Obituary from Arehart-Echols Funeral Home (https://tinyurl.com/3zjm92st), White House Historical Association (https://tinyurl.com/5n6n7k3d), UPI Archives (https://tinyurl.com/ynavufrh)
Photo credits: PennState University Libraries, The White House Historical Association, Wheeling Intelligencer
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