Florence Gwendolen Lazier, 1924

As much as the Archives is a repository of photographs, documents, and recordings it also holds stories, and one great story is that of Florence Gwendolen Lazier(1905-2007) pictured above. On April 24, 1924, at the age of 18, Miss Lazier rode a horse from Belleville, Ontario to Washington, D.C. to invite then President Calvin Coolidge to attend the 140th anniversary of the United Empire Loyalists. During the trip, which took 32 days, Miss Lazier met a number of notables including ex-President Howard Taft, Sir Esme Howard, British Ambassador to U.S, Lady Peel and Lord Byng, Arthur Meighen and Mackenzie King. The autograph book contains a number of other photographs as well as signatures of the people she met along her journey. Check out more about Florence here.