Conference to Celebrate 250 Years of First Ladies
In May, panelists will discuss how America’s presidential spouses have left their mark on history.
Whether it was creating politically-friendly parlor room soirees or safeguarding human rights in the aftermath of the Second World War or aiming to destigmatize treatment for addiction or attempting to shield youth from drug use altogether, America’s first ladies, while in the White House and thereafter, have left their mark on history.
But it hasn’t been until recent decades that the women’s stories have been reexplored, reexamined and recast, revealing the impact presidential spouses have had on shaping the nation. Many stories of U.S. first ladies will be shared as part of this year’s 250th anniversary celebration of America’s founding at a unique, upcoming conference open to the public that convenes scholars, historians, authors, archivists, former White House staff, journalists, museum and historical site curators and digital creators.
On May 14-15, the First Ladies Association for Research and Education and American University School of Public Affairs First Ladies Initiative will present “250 Years of First Ladies Making History,” a conference at American University in Washington, D.C., which will feature presentations and moderated talks about first ladies from the founding era to modern day. This year, also marks the five-year anniversary of FLARE’s formation and the 15th anniversary of the First Ladies Initiative, which has hosted a variety of conferences on presidential spouses since 2011, including some that featured first ladies themselves in attendance.
“These stories need to reach the breadth of our society. They need to reach children and they need to reach avid history buffs,” Diana Carlin, president of FLARE, tells East Wing Magazine in a recent interview. “What we do in FLARE reaches all of those audiences.”
The topics discussed by presenters and panelists at the conference represents the collective work of people across the country from a variety of disciplines who are piecing together the stories of presidential spouses, Carlin added. The way sessions were organized, she says, also shows the different ways first ladies are studied. For example, some presenters have written biographies, others have edited volumes with glimpses of first ladies. Some have presented first lady history at historical sites and others share aspects of the women on digital media.
“That’s what I think is exciting about the panels—they are so diverse in where the people are coming from, what their relationship is, and how they show all these different ways we study, research, and educate about first ladies,” Carlin says.
Headlining the conference is Colleen Shogan, former archivist of the United States and CEO of In Pursuit, who will be interviewed by Anita McBride, executive-in-residence at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University’s School of Public Affairs and director of the First Ladies Initiative. In Pursuit is an initiative of the Washington, D.C.-based organization More Perfect, which includes an alliance of about 40 presidential centers and foundations and educational and civic initiatives from around the country. The new national initiative aims to distill wisdom about leadership and democracy from former American presidents and first ladies and other experts through a series of essays that are being published throughout 2026.
“People are hungry for information,” says McBride who also serves as co-chair of In Pursuit. “This period of time in our country’s history is a cause for reflection and cause for engagement.”
Their lunchtime discussion is expected to touch on In Pursuit’s other ventures including a new podcast and partnerships that have been established that help advance civic education specifically designed for students in elementary and high schools, notes McBride.
The nonprofit cable network C-SPAN, for example, partnered with In Pursuit by producing a series of short-form video features that bring these essays to television and digital audiences. Each video is read by its author and presented with carefully curated historical imagery and available on C-SPAN.org and its YouTube channel.
“We are developing all these other partnerships to further expand the reach at all education levels,” McBride says.
The conference will begin with a series of presentations moderated by Anne Matina, FLARE board member and professor emerita in the Department of Communication at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. The presenters are:
Thomas Balcerski, professor of history and director of the Center for Connecticut Studies at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Connecticut, will present “First Ladies in Wartime.”
Michelle Guillion, senior director of curatorial services at the National First Ladies Library & Museum in Canton, Ohio, will present “Ida McKinley: An Unwavering Champion for Women’s Rights from the White House.”
Nick Sacco, historian and curator at the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site in St. Louis, Missouri, will present “First Lady Julia Dent Grant: Business Partner and Political Advisor.”
Natascha Joselita Kröcker of the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany, will present “The First Lady on the Cover: An Archive of Magazine Covers and the Cultural History of First Ladies.”
Michael LaRosa, former press secretary to First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and a current partner at the bi-partisan public relations firm Ballard Partners, will moderate a panel of authors with new and forthcoming books. The authors are:
Lois Romano, former Washington Post writer and columnist, and author of An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln.
Jill Abraham Hummer, independent scholar and author of Laura Bush: Texas Roots, Global Impact.
Elizabeth “Jody” Natalle, associate professor emerita of Communication Studies at University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and editor with the late Molly Meijer Wertheimer, associate professor of Speech Communication and Women’s Studies at Pennsylvania State University-Hazleton Campus, co-authored the forthcoming book, First Lady Autobiography: Rhetorical Voices Beyond the White House.
Katherine Jellison, professor emerita of history, Ohio University, and editor of Ohio’s First Ladies: From the Midwest to the White House.
FLARE’s American FLOTUS podcast host Alan Lowe will moderate a session with a panel of authors who wrote essays for In Pursuit. The writers include Nancy Kegan Smith, immediate past president of FLARE and archival consultant and retired director of Presidential Materials Division, National Archives and Records Administration, who wrote about Caroline Harrison; Heath Hardage Lee, a historian, biographer, curator, and lecturer who specializes in women’s history who wrote about Pat Nixon; Rebecca Roberts, deputy director of events at the Library of Congress who wrote about Edith Wilson; and Jennifer Taylor, editor of East Wing Magazine, who wrote about Florence Harding.
Closing out the conference will be another series of presentations moderated by Susan Swain, retired co-CEO of C-SPAN and FLARE Board member. The presenters are:
Tammy Vigil, associate professor at the College of Communication at Boston University, will present “First Ladies Making History Through Media.”
Andrew Och, television and multi-media producer, documentarian, author and “The First Ladies Man” will present “Lucy Hayes: From the Battlefield to the White House.”
Jayda Justus, writer and digital creator at “The History Mom,” (where she reviews historical sites and provides book recommendations with a special emphasis on first lady history) will present “A Well-Traveled First Lady: The Extraordinary Life of Louisa Catherine Adams.”
Libby Carty McNamee, speaker, lawyer, and award-winning author will present “Dolley Madison: First Lady of the Land.”
The evening before the conference a Patrons event will be held that helps offset conference costs and gives people an opportunity to mingle with authors and others featured in the conference.
The conference will also offer networking, opportunities to support one another as well as highlighting the high quality of research and education that’s being done by FLARE members, says Carlin. It could, she added, also reveal what remains to be done.
“We are scratching the surface,” Carlin says. “I’m sure people are going to walk away inspired to take some piece of what they’ve heard and go expand on it with a different first lady or take a theme that can be developed into a book as opposed to a short conference presentation.”
For more information about the conference and to register for in-person or livestream tickets, click here.
East Wing Magazine is a member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education.