Authors: ‘There Is Still So Much Unknown About First Ladies’

New book enlightens readers about the evolutionary role of the first lady and its historic importance.

Co-authors, from left, Diana B. Carlin, Nancy Kegan Smith and Anita B. McBride promote their new book Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women at the White House Historical Association’s Holiday Book Festival. (Photo courtesy Nancy Kegan Smith)

It had been less than 24 hours since Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter had been laid to rest in her hometown of Plains, Georgia, and three of the country’s foremost experts on America’s first ladies were still processing the previous three days of ceremonies commemorating the former first lady.

What was stunningly surprising to so many people, one says, was how much Rosalynn Carter accomplished.

And, that saddened them.

To co-authors Diana B. Carlin, Anita B. McBride and Nancy Kegan Smith of the upcoming book Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women, that common reaction is what they've become accustomed to hearing over the years depending on the first lady. And on the day after a na…