Alice Taylor Sheets Marriott

Alice Sheets, on October 19, 1907, became one of the first babies born at the L.D.S. Hospitalin Salt Lake City, Utah. Her mother only consented to go to the new hospital because Dr. Van Cott told her she should set an example for the women in the Ward to stop having children at home. At the time, her father, Edwin Spencer Sheets, was Bishop of the 31st Ward, in Liberty Stake, and was one of the youngest bishops in the Church. The family had a home on 7th East and 10th South, just across from Liberty Park. Edwin Sheets' brother, Heber, and his family lived next door; while Alice Taylor's mother, Martha Hirst Taylor, lived through the block at 1027 Lake Street.

Alice Taylor had come to Utah as a young girl of 14. She and the other five children had migrated from England with their mother after their father, who had hated the Mormons, died at the early age of thirty six. Alice Taylor and Edwin Spencer Sheets were married in 1899 in the Salt Lake Temple. They had one other child in addition to Alice -- Walter -- who was five years older than Alice. Walter suffered from polio and was paralyzed in one leg from the time he was two. He was fitted with a leg brace and was able to lead a normal life. He attended the University of Utah's two year medical school and then went on to Columbia University for two years. He graduated from there in 1926, having specialized in orthopedic surgery, and practiced in New York, Washington, Florida and Utah. He passed away at his sister's home in Washington in 1943, at the age of 40, having suffered a heart attack.

When Alice was a baby, she and her family moved to Chicago, where her father finished Law School at the University of Chicago and received his L. L. B. He returned to Utah and was asked to leave the 31st Ward and move up near the University of Utah to be Bishop of the 33rd Ward. He was very good with young people and was sorely needed there. So when Alice was four, the family built a home at 351 Douglas Street not far from the University.

Bishop Sheets had an outstanding ministry to the sick and elderly, often spending Sunday afternoons and weekday evenings visiting the Church members. Alice frequently accompanied him on these visits, which he insisted must be made to each home at least once a year, recalling that her father knew the name of each member of the Ward.

In January of 1919, there was a severe flu epidemic. Bishop Sheets was conducting services for many members of his Ward (only grave-side ones were permitted). His family came down with the flu on New Year's Day -- first Walter, then his wife and finally Alice, who was then eleven. Bishop Sheets nursed them all, then he himself came down with it and contracted pneumonia at the same time. He died within three days time at the age of 43. The family sold their home and moved into the Cluff Apartments, where Alice lived until she was married to J. W. Marriott of Ogden on June 9, 1927, in the Salt Lake Temple by Bishop Joseph Christensen, a friend of her father's.

Alice began school at the age of five at the University of Utah Training School (later called the Stewart School). She skipped fourth grade and took extra subjects when in Jr. High with the University students -- Latin and Geometry. Edward P. Kimball., a Tabernacle organist, began giving her piano lessons when she was eleven and she continued until she became seventeen. Upon graduation from the Stewart School, Alice continued at the University of Utah in what was called the "Prep" School which was intended for students who lacked the proper credits to become freshmen and needed special subjects. Because of her musical credits, she skipped one year of high school (eleventh grade). The Prep School was then discontinued, so Alice spent her senior year at the L.D.S. High School. Upon her graduation, she entered the University of Utah at the age of fifteen (1923) as a freshman. She graduated on June 7, 1927 with high honors, having majored in Spanish with a minor in French. She was immediately initiated into the Phi Kappa Phi honorary scholastic fraternity. Since she was only nineteen at the time, she was one of the youngest students to ever graduate from the University.

During college, Alice taught Sunday School in the University Ward. From the time she was eleven until she was seventeen, Alice and her mother spent the summers at Big Cottonwood in Brighton with Mayor Neslen's family. He was mayor of Salt Lake City and the families were very close. Alice remembers often playing games with the Neslen children and their friend, Richard L. Evans, when they visited the family for Sunday dinner in Salt Lake.

Alice and Bill Marriott met in February of 1926 at the University of Utah. Bill had asked a friend of his, George Cushing, to introduce him to Alice, which he did. The next evening, Alice and Bill went to the Salt Lake Theatre and saw "No, No Nanette." They became engaged in April and Bill graduated in June of 1926. They waited until Alice graduated the following year before getting married. Immediately after the wedding, they left Salt Lake City in Bill's Model T Ford coupe and drove for eleven days before arriving in Washington, D. C.

That summer, they lived at the Boulevard Apartments at 2121 New York Avenue and then in the fall, they moved to the Hilltop Manor (later the Cavalier Apartments) at 3500 14th Street, N.W. That summer of 1927, Alice and Bill opened two A&W Root Beer stores. They shared responsibilities -- Alice kept the books, banked the money and closed the 14th Street shop, while Bill closed the 9th Street shop at eleven at night. When winter came, business dropped off, so overnight they converted the root beer stores into a Hot Shopped. There was no kitchen in the shop only a grill in the window to cook hamburgers and hot dogs and Alice took to making chili and tamales in their apartment and carrying them to the shop.

Alice and Bill became active in the Washington Branch, which met in the old Washington Auditorium on New York Avenue and 19th Street. Boxing and wrestling matches were held every Saturday night in the auditorium and the smell of smoke and beer penetrated up to the second floor where the services were held. Senator Smoot always attended Sunday School, where he met Alice's mother in the spring of 1930. Mrs. Sheets was visiting her daughter and had been asked to speak in Church. Senator Smoot, whose wife had passed away two years before, took her out several times and when she returned to Salt Lake at the end of April, he wrote and proposed. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on July 2, 1930 by President Heber J. Grant and spent a 10 day honeymoon in the White House as guests of President and Mrs. Hoover because the President needed the Senator's assistance in passing a bill.

The year of 1930 also saw Alice and Bill open two more shops -- one at Connecticut Avenue and one at Rhode Island Avenue. In order to be near Alice's mother, the Marriott's moved to the Westchester Apartments. on March 25, 1932, their first son, J. W. Marriott, Jr., was born. This severely limited Alice's business participation, although she still rode around with Bill at night to check on the stores. When Senator Smoot was defeated for re-election by Elbert Thomas, the Senator asked Alice and Bill to move into his quite new home (which had been built in 1928) until he could sell it. They moved in March, 1933, on Billy's first birthday. Because of the severe depression, no one wanted a big house and although there were many prospective owners, there were no buyers. The Marriott's finally decided to buy it themselves and have lived there ever since. Their second son, Richard, was born on January 9, 1939 at 6 o'clock in the evening at Columbia Hospital. Alice had gone to Louise Clark Bennion's to a sewing bee at 2 that day with Ellen Barnes. There had been a terrible snow storm and already a foot of snow was on the ground. Alice began having pains at the sewing bee and arrived at the hospital only an hour before Dick was born.

Alice suffered with a terrible bout of rheumatoid arthritis in 1941 and was completely laid up for a year. Senator Smoot passed away in February of 1941, so Alice's mother came to be near her. A girl was hired to take care of Dick and a trained nurse Maude Dixon, took care of Alice. After six months, Dr. Russell Cecil in New York started treating Alice with large doses of colloidal gold in her veins, a process considered quite dangerous. It proved, though, to be quite beneficial for Alice for soon the swelling and pain was eased and she was later able to resume her full range of activities.

After the boys left for college, Alice became interested in politics. She joined the D. C. League of Republican Women and held several responsible positions -- campaign chairman, membership chairman and vice president. In May of 1959, she was elected to the D. C. Republican State Committee and with the death of Marie Coffin, Alice was elected to succeed her as Republican National Committee Woman from the District of Columbia in October of 1959. The following May, she ran in a city-wide election for a four year term and won it, as well as the three succeeding elections.

Alice's main activity, however, was raising money for the party. She worked on $100 dinners, luncheons and invited groups into her home to publicize these various affairs. In 1960, she and Bill attended the Republican Convention in Chicago, at which Richard Nixon was nominated for President. He had lived in their neighborhood and Alice did precinct work, etc. for him. In 1964 she was asked to be Treasurer of the Republican National Convention in San Francisco -- a very demanding job with a great deal of responsibility. She also served in this capacity for the 1968 and 1972 Republican Conventions.

Since 1965, Alice has been a Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee. A very prestigious group, called the Republican Coordinating Committee, composed of former Presidents, governors, leaders of Congress, was formed to rebuild the Republican Party after the crushing Goldwater defeat in 1964. Alice and Mary Brooks were the only two women in the group. The Committee would meet every three months to hear issues debated by experts and would then formulate policy for the Republican Party. In her capacity of Vice Chairman, Alice was also a member of the R.N.C. Executive Committee and was Arrangements Committee representative for the 1964-1972 conventions.

In 1970, President Nixon appointed Alice Marriott Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Many prominent civic, business and government leaders were appointed to serve on this Committee and took on as their first responsibility the opening of the Eisenhower Theatre. In 1970, there were work stoppages due to lack of funds, so the Committee sought to raise (and succeeded) nearly $1 million to complete the Eisenhower Theatre and the Center. They also inaugurated an educational program to bring more people to the Center and to encourage students to participate in the arts. H.E.W. undertook this program in conjunction with the Committee and all fifty states now have an Education Committee connected with the schools. The Committee also initiated the Golden Circle, a group of approximately 200 people committed to contributing $1,000 per year for the support of the Kennedy Center. In 1972, Alice was appointed by President Nixon to a ten-year term on the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees. She serves as well on the Executive, Finance and Personnel Committees.

In 1951, Alice joined with eight other women in the Washington area to start the "Welcome to Washington" Club, of which she was treasurer for six years and a member of the Board of Directors. It was formed to foster better relations with women of foreign countries and has grown to 800 members, half of whom are members of the diplomatic corps and the other half Americans. She received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the University of Utah in June, 1974.

Over the years, she has assumed numerous responsibilities within the Marriott Corporation -- she assisted in menu planning, uniform selection, hotel location selection, interior decorating, etc., as well as serving as a Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors.