Carolyn Harding Votaw

Phoebe Carolyn Harding Votaw was born on October 21, 1879, in Caledonia, Ohio. She was the youngest sibling of Warren G. Harding, who served as the 29th President of the United States. Her mother was Phoebe Dickerson Harding. In 1898, she graduated from high school in Marion, Ohio. To distinguish her from her mother, she was known by her middle name, Carolyn.

In 1903, Carolyn Harding married Heber H. Votaw, a Seventh-day Adventist minister. Between 1905 and 1914, the couple served as missionaries in Burma.

Upon returning to the United States, they settled in Washington, D.C., during Warren G. Harding's tenure as a U.S. Senator from Ohio. In Washington, she became an early member of the Women's Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia. Her roles included serving as a probation officer and managing programs for unwed mothers.

During her husband's service as a clerk to Senator Harding, she engaged in government-related work. When Warren G. Harding was elected President in 1920, Carolyn Votaw was appointed to head the social service division of the U.S. Public Health Service. Concurrently, her husband was appointed by Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty as Superintendent of Prisons and chairman of the parole boards at federal institutions.

She also served as an advisor to the Federal Board of Vocation Education within the Veterans' Bureau. During this period, her name was mentioned in testimony related to the prosecution of Charles R. Forbes, the director of the Veterans' Bureau, on charges of corruption.

Additionally, Carolyn Votaw is documented to have arranged a White House tour for Nan Britton, who claimed to have had an extended affair with President Warren G. Harding and is believed to have been the mother of his illegitimate child, Elizabeth Britton.

Following President Harding's death on August 2, 1923, Carolyn continued her involvement in government. In 1924, her husband's integrity was questioned during a U.S. Senate hearing concerning misconduct within the Department of Justice. William J. Burns, then head of the Bureau of Investigation, alleged that Votaw called him off an investigation into narcotics smuggling at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary to avoid potential negative publicity. Heber Votaw resigned from his position in 1925, citing health issues.

The Votaw family resided at 7633 Carroll Avenue in Takoma Park, Maryland. Carolyn Votaw passed away on October 22, 1951.