Helen Lombard

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A white woman wearing a dark hat and a light colored dress or blouse
Helen Cassin Carusi, from a 1924 publication

Helen Lombard, born Helen Cassin Carusi and later known as Helen Carusi Vischer (1904–1986) was an American journalist,[1] best known for her insider's book of Washington gossip, Washington Waltz (1941).[2]

Background[edit]

Lombard was a grandchild of Stephen Cassin (here, undated Medal of Lieutenant Stephen Cassin [MET LC-83 2 380-001] in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a hero of the First Barbary War and the War of 1812.

Helen Cassin Carusi was born in 1904 in Washington, DC. Her father, Charles Francis Carusi, was chancellor of National University and a member of the Washington DC board of education. Her great-grandfather was Stephen Cassin (1783–1857), a United States Navy officer during the First Barbary War and the War of 1812. Lombard attended Holton-Arms School.[1]

Career[edit]

In 1913, young Helen Cassin Carusi christened the USS Cassin (DD-43).[3][4] In 1935, she christened the USS Cassin (DD-372).[5][6]

In 1951, after marrying Peter Vischer, husband and wife moved to the "Habre de Venture" historic house in Port Tobacco and raised thoroughbred horses in Charles County, Maryland.[1]

Personal life and death[edit]

In 1927 Helen Cassin Carusi married Colonel Emanuel Eugene Lombard, a French diplomat (military attache) who died in 1946; they had a son, Charles Francis Lombard.[1][7] By 1947, she had married Washington columnist Constantine Brown,[8] but they divorced.[1] In 1951, she married Peter Vischer, a former Army colonel and State Department official (died 1967); he had a daughter from a previous marriage, Joanna Vischer Brown.[1]

Lombard was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Society of Daughters of 1812, the Charles County Children's Aid Society, and the Charles County Garden Club.[1]

In 1977, Lombard moved to the Charles County Nursing Home in La Plata, Maryland, where, known as Helen C. Vischer, she died age 81 on May 11, 1986.[1]

Legacy[edit]

US Representative George Anthony Dondero called Lombard a "scribe of wide experience"

On March 31, 1947, conservative US Representative George Anthony Dondero called Lombard herself (by then, "Mrs. Brown") "one of the best known women in Washington, herself a scribe of wide experience, brilliant author of a book entitled Washington Waltz... [and] While They Fought."[9][10]

Works[edit]

Lombard published two books: Washington Waltz, which recounted her life as a Washington hostess, and While They Fought, which recounted events during World War II.[1] The liberal New Yorker deemed While They Fought "rather untidy" and largely "undocumented,"[11] while the conservative Human Events found it "valuable."[12] While They Fought came out no later than March 1947, when Representative Dondero mentioned it publicly.[9]

Books
  • Washington Waltz (1941)[13]
  • While They Fought (1947)[14]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Helen C. Vischer Dies at 81". Washington Post. 15 May 1986. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  2. ^ Solomon, Harvey (2020). Such Splendid Prisons: Diplomatic Detainment in America during World War II. Univer of Nebraska Press. pp. 88–9. ISBN 978-1-64012-289-5.
  3. ^ "Gossip of Society". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. 5 March 1916. p. Part 7, pg 3. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  4. ^ Benham, Edith Wallace; Hall, Ann Martin (1913). Ships of the United States Navy and Their Sponsors, Volume 1. Norwood, Massachusetts: The Plimpton Press. p. 32.
  5. ^ "Cassin II". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Officials are Present at Navy Day Activities". Daily Journal-World. Lawrence, Kansas. 28 October 1935. p. 3. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  7. ^ Helen C. Carusi: A Bride Wed to Commandant Emmanuel Lombard, Assistant Military Attache of the French Embassy,New York Times, May 15, 1927.
  8. ^ "Constantine Brown Dies at 76; A Noted Washington Columnist". New York Times. 25 February 1966. p. 31. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  9. ^ a b "House of Representatives, Monday, March 31, 1947" (PDF). Congressional Record: 2897. 31 March 1947. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Library Books: New Memorial Art Volumes Are Donated". Decatur Herald and Review. 13 April 1947. p. 41. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Briefly Noted". New Yorker: 98–99. 5 April 1947.
  12. ^ "Not Merely Gossip". Human Events: 5–7. 23 April 1947.
  13. ^ Lombard, Helen (1941). Washington Waltz. Alfred A. Knopf. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  14. ^ Lombard, Helen (1947). While They Fought: Behind the Scenes in Washington, 1941-1946. Charles Scribner & Sons. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
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