Jill Biden to Travel to Georgia to Advocate for Women’s Health Research
Jill Biden to Travel to Georgia to Advocate for Women’s Health Research
Plus, the first lady touts her husband’s record to advance Black entrepreneurs at Fifteen Percent Pledge Gala.
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will travel to Atlanta, Georgia, Wednesday to highlight the importance of women’s health research and private and public sector efforts to accelerate progress on women’s health.
She will also deliver remarks at the Morehouse School of Medicine’s 2024 Women’s Heart Healthy Luncheon at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta where she will spotlight women’s heart health. The trip is part of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.
Biden will also participate in a listening session on women’s health research with local leaders from the private and public sectors that are working to accelerate progress on women’s health.
Biden speaks at LA gala in support of Black brands and designers
On Saturday, Biden appeared at the Fifteen Percent Pledge Gala at Paramount Studios in Hollywood stressing the importance of supporting Black entrepreneurship and touted steps President Joe Biden has taken to advance equity and dismantle racial barriers to accessing capital.
“President Biden knows that structural barriers and deep disparities have made it so much more difficult for Black entrepreneurs to start businesses to raise capital and to access credit,” Jill Biden said, adding, “He understands that systemic change requires direct action.”
Those efforts, Biden said, have included investing $12 billion in community lenders to expand access to capital for small and minority owned businesses; doubling the amount of government loans given to small Black-owned businesses; making it easier for businesses in underserved communities to earn federal contracts; and signing an executive order to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government.
The Fifteen Percent Pledge is a nonprofit organization founded by Aurora James in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in May 2020 that asks businesses to commit 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned brands. Retailers that have joined the pledge include Nordstrom, Sephora, Macy’s, Ulta, and others. The celebration is the third iteration of the annual event and the first to take place in Los Angeles.
“These moments of reckoning are not just about the months following a tragedy,” Biden said, referring to the aftermath of Floyd’s death. “The real work of lasting change lies in the moments when history zags, when progress seems to ebb, when the marchers have all gone home and the spotlight has receded, when the backlash has swelled, and opponents are working harder to erase the hard fought gains that we've made. We can't let them prevail.”
Calendar
Feb. 6, 2024
White House History Live Presents ‘Black Americans, Civil Rights, and the Roosevelts, 1932-1962’ - A Virtual Event
The White House Historical Association presents a conversation with William A. Harris, director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, about the site’s special exhibit, “Black Americans, Civil Rights, and the Roosevelts, 1932-1962.”
Developed in collaboration with a distinguished committee of scholars, the exhibit centers the historical voices of many Black community leaders, wartime service members, and ordinary citizens who engaged the Roosevelt administration directly and who pushed for progress. Within this context, the exhibit examines the political evolution of both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt regarding racial justice.
The Association’s White House History Live is a monthly virtual program that delves into the stories that make up the history of the Executive Mansion. Watch this event from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. EST on the White House Historical Association’s Facebook page and its YouTube channel.
New Book Preview: The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady
Macmillan Publishers preview the new book The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon:
The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady by Heath Hardage Lee. Pat Nixon has long been perceived as enigmatic. She was voted “Most Admired Woman in the World” in 1972 and made Gallup Poll’s top ten list of most admired women fourteen times. She survived the turmoil of the Watergate scandal with her popularity and dignity intact. And yet, the media often portrayed Mrs. Nixon as elusive and mysterious. The real Pat Nixon, however, bore little resemblance to the woman so often described in the press. Read more
Feb. 6 through April 21, 2024
Tudor Place Tells the Stories of Enslaved Individuals on A New Tour
Tudor Place Historic House & Garden presents Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent at Tudor Place, a special installation and guided tour that explores the lives of individuals and families of African descent who lived and worked at Tudor Place.
From February 6 through April 21, Tudor Place will be reimagined to show the historic house from the perspective of the enslaved and free individuals for whom it was both home and workplace. Using artifacts, maps, photographs and audio recordings, visitors will explore how these individuals found ways to practice resistance and activism while navigating the irreparable traumas that came from the institution of slavery. The tour will also offer insight into historic Georgetown, which was a diverse landscape that included enslaved and free people of African descent.
Tudor Place was owned by generations of the Peter family, descendants of Martha Washington, between 1805 and 1983. Through the exploitation of hundreds of enslaved individuals, the family built generational wealth through tobacco cultivation and land sales. While members of the family were diligent record-keepers when it came to their own stories, the lives of enslaved people who lived and worked at Tudor Place were mostly erased. This tour, according to the statement, will honor the memories of these individuals while expanding the traditional Tudor Place narrative, recognizing the site as a space built on the labor and presence of generations of people of African descent. Read more
Feb. 9, 2024
Virtual Legacy Lecture: ‘Mrs. Lincoln in Love’ with Laura Keyes
The National First Ladies Library and Museum will present an online lecture on Mary Todd Lincoln. The former first lady lived a life filled with triumphs and tragedies, but few people know her story. Now, librarian Laura Keyes dons Mrs. Lincoln’s dress and portrays Mary’s story in an entertaining and educational program entitled “Mrs. Lincoln in Love,” which is set on January 31st, 1862, when Mrs. Lincoln and her family are settled comfortably in the Executive Mansion. Read more
Feb. 16, 2024
WINE AND THE WHITE HOUSE: A History – Second Edition
The White House Historical Association on Feb. 16 will publish a second edition of WINE AND THE WHITE HOUSE: A History by Frederick, J. Ryan, Jr. In the book, the author traces the history and role of wine at the president’s table. This edition includes a new chapter on President Joe Biden’s use of wine in official entertaining, a newly designed cover, and a new spread on Château Margaux, which has had a long and unique association with America and its presidents.
WINE AND THE WHITE HOUSE takes readers on a journey through history to reveal just how influential wine has been to diplomatic relations and social entertaining at the White House, complete with illustrated menus, bills of sale, historic photographs, and new photography of the White House Collection of wine glasses, goblets, carafes, coolers, and decanters.
A richly illustrated history of the glassware and service pieces used at the White House, photos from notable presidential toasts, and menu cards from historic White House gatherings create a sense of such an atmosphere. For readers interested in learning about the specific wines and vintages served at the White House since WWII, the final chapter contains a comprehensive list, the first of its kind.
Feb. 15, 2024
Third Thursdays Night Out with the First Ladies – In-Person, Private Curator-Led Tour
Get to know the REAL Jackie O with apps and drink during this private, exclusive talk about our exhibition Beyond Camelot: The Life and Legacy of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, given by the National First Ladies Library & Museum staff at the First Ladies National Historic Site. Read more
Feb. 26, 2024
Virtual First Ladies on the Page Book Discussion: The First Ladies
The First Ladies National Library and Museum presents an online staff-led discussion of this historical fiction book The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (published June 2023). Read more
March 8, 2024
Virtual Legacy Lecture: A Remarkable Life: Lucretia Rudolph Garfield
The National First Ladies Library and Museum presents a virtual program about Lucretia Rudolph Garfield, who lived a remarkable life that took her from humble beginnings in northeast Ohio all the way to the White House as First Lady of the United States. This presentation will examine Mrs. Garfield’s life for its many joys as well as its many tragedies. Read more
March 15 and 16, 2024
First Ladies Trilogy
Three back-to-back first ladies (1945-63) appear in a two-night series of live performances at the Winona Arts Center, 228 East 5th Street Winona, Minnesota. Bess Truman, Friday, and Mamie Eisenhower and Jackie Kennedy, Saturday. Read more
March 18, 2024
A Conversation with White House Social Secretaries
The George W. Bush Presidential Center will present a panel of former White House Social Secretaries who will share insights and behind-the-scenes stories about entertaining at the White House. From State Dinners to picnics on the South Lawn, the experts will discuss the importance of the White House as a stage for hospitality and diplomacy.
Anita McBride, former Assistant to President Bush and Chief of Staff to Former First Lady Laura Bush, will moderate a conversation with Jeremy Bernard, former White House social secretary to President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama; Gahl Hodges Burt, former White House social secretary to President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan; and Amy Zantzinger, former White House social secretary to President Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush. Ticket information here
April 3, 2024
FLARE will Present ‘First Ladies Then and Now: Communicating Their Stories’
Registration is underway for the pre-conference program "First Ladies Then and Now: Communicating Their Stories" hosted by the First Ladies Association for Research and Education in conjunction with the Central States Communication Association. The event will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan on April 3.
The theme of the half-day program will feature FLARE members and representatives of the Ford Library and Museum and Foundation. FLARE members will participate in three panels that look at the past 40 years of first lady scholarship, pedagogical practices, and outreach activities with a look forward by immediate past president of FLARE Myra Gutin.
Register here.
Registration is available for the Pre-Conference FLARE program only. The fee is $25 for in-person or $5 for live streaming. FLARE Lifetime Members will receive a complimentary registration.
The CSCA Convention will be held at the Grand Amway Plaza in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Follow this link for hotel accommodations.
Submit calendar items, announcements and press releases to East Wing Magazine at jtaylor@eastwingmagazine.com.