Abigail Adams Letter Speaks for Women
In Pursuit essay series continues this week with historian Joseph Ellis’s examination of Abigail Adams, the outspoken second first lady.
In the founding era of America where scant letters give historians insight into Martha Washington, it is Abigail Adams, the second first lady of the United States and her prolific correspondence with her husband, John Adams, that helps fill the historic gap.
This week, In Pursuit, a bi-partisan initiative created by the Washington, D.C.-based organization More Perfect, continues its series of essays spotlighting the lessons of U.S. presidents and select first ladies with the goal of distilling their wisdom about leadership and democracy. Historian Joseph Ellis’s essay “A Courageous Voice Can Echo Across History” discusses how the “deliberative” act of writing letters during that period sent a sustaining message for generations of women to come.
As a couple, Ellis writes, the Adams believed they had an “opportunity and obligation to record their thoughts” for the future. From that extensive correspondence comes what Ellis des…
