Supplemental Teaching Materials
The following is a lecture by Dr. Matthew Costello that CSPAN recorded---it is about White House Myths, and includes the famous story of Dolley Madison saving the Gilbert Stuart portrait with students. We discuss how she authored/shaped/influenced that version of events over the course of her lifetime to enhance her reputation and protect her husband's legacy.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?467038-1/white-house-myths
The First Ladies Symposium - White House Historical Association
The First Ladies Symposium was a day-long event, hosted by the White House Historical Association in partnership with American University's First Ladies Initiative in May 2021. This symposium featured prominent scholars, historians, and professionals who discussed first ladies and gender;
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-2021-first-ladies-symposium
The Office of the First Lady Managing Public Duties Private Lives and Changing Expectations by Anita B. McBride.
On March 31, 1776, future First Lady Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John Adams, who was soon to be appointed a member of the committee drafting the Declaration of Independence:
"... In the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I would desire you would Remember the Ladies. ... Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. ... If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies, we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation."
Remember the Ladies: The First Ladies | NEH-Edsitement
C-SPAN Lesson Plans Overview
