11/28/2025
It doesn't feel like Thanksgiving until we've shared the story of Rebecca the raccoon. In 1926, Mississippi supporters of President Calvin Coolidge sent him a raccoon to kill and serve for Thanksgiving dinner.
Instead, the first family adopted her.
The Coolidge family, who also kept dogs and canaries, were kind pet owners and quickly built her a little house of her own. They let her roam the trees on the White House property. Her adventures were routinely reported in newspapers and she gained quite a bit of fame, making a star appearance at the 1927 Easter Egg Roll at the White House, for example.
Otherwise, she often wandered around the White House at will. Her favorite activity, the first lady reported, was playing in a half-filled bath with a bar of soap. When Rebecca went out on the town with the first lady, she sported bling – an embroidered collar identifying her as the “White House Raccoon.” She vacationed with the first family, escaped often, and pretty much ruled in the way she saw fit until heading off to a graceful retirement at the Rock Creek Zoo (now the National Zoo) when Coolidge left office in 1929.
Image: Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, half-length portrait, standing, facing front, holding her pet raccoon Rebecca. Published between 1921 and 1923. National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
