First Ladies: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt III October 8, 2019PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, American Politics, Women in American History Lead: After the death of her husband in 1945, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt began a life of vigorous support for those causes that animated the couple during their marriage. Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: Released from the political restrictions of the White House, Eleanor Roosevelt followed her heart. She served on the board of the NAACP, helped found the liberal social pressure group Americans for Democratic Action, and actively stumped for her friend Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson in two presidential campaigns. She continued to animate the faithful and irritate her enemies with a full schedule of lectures, writing, and activism. Her unconventional approach had made her a controversial First Lady, it didn’t stop after she left the White House. Read more →
First Ladies: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt II October 7, 2019PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, American Politics, Women in American History Lead: Beloved by millions and despised by many, in the White House Eleanor Roosevelt evolved into a most unconventional First Lady. Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: When she first moved into the Executive Mansion, the wife of Franklin Roosevelt shocked the staff by helping re-arrange furniture in the family quarters and insisting on operating the ancient elevator herself. That was just the beginning. She did the conventional, ceremonial duties, but unlike other First Ladies, she became involved in the administration’s policies, had her own very popular newspaper column, and lectured around the country on a wide variety of topics. Read more →
First Ladies: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt I October 6, 2019PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, American Politics, Women in American History Lead: As a young woman Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, daughter of rich and glamorous parents, was painfully shy, insecure and inarticulate. She overcame it all. Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: Eleanor Roosevelt, the niece of one Roosevelt president, the distant cousin and wife of another, grew up in the privileged society of New York’s elite. She was a disappointment to her handsome mother who considered Eleanor to be rather plain. Her father adored her but was too often absent from the family. She grew into a young woman with profound insecurities that began to dissipate only at the age of 15 when she was sent to a finishing school in a fashionable London suburb. The headmistress, the political and religious liberal Marie Souvestre, took special interested in Eleanor. In addition to strict discipline Mademoiselle Marie conveyed important social lessons. The girl emerged as a thoughtful gentlewoman with an appealing charm. Read more →
First Ladies: Abigail Fillmore July 18, 2019PermalinkSandy CreedToday's AMITAmerican History, American Politics, Women in American History Lead: Well-read and cultured, Abigail Fillmore maintained a well-tuned political sense in an otherwise lackluster administration. Intro: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: When Abigail Power’s preacher father died in 1799, her mother migrated to Cayuga County, then on the New York frontier. Mrs. Powers took responsibility for the education of the children and so well did she did do her job that by the time she was nineteen Abigail was teaching in a country school near Sempronius, New York. In the winter of 1818, she looked up from her desk into the bright, inquiring eyes of a big farm boy who had appeared in her classroom with little notice. The eighteen-year-old was ambitious to become a lawyer and Abigail responded to his enthusiasm. His name was Milliard Fillmore and after an eight-year courtship, much of the time spent apart as he was reading for the bar, they began a twenty-seven year marriage. Download [104.42 KB]
First Ladies: Margaret Smith Taylor July 27, 2018PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, American Politics, First Ladies, Women in American History Lead: The wife of Zachary Taylor, hero of the Mexican War and 12th President of the United States, passed most of her marriage moving from one frontier army post to another. Her fifteen months in the White House were spent largely in seclusion. Intro: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: Born in Calvert County, Maryland, the daughter of a well-to planter and veteran of the Revolutionary War, Margaret Smith met her future husband while visiting relatives in Kentucky. They were married the following year and began the nomadic life that enveloped his nearly four decades of military service. Insisting on going with Zachary to the many wilderness stations to which he was posted, she raised her four surviving children in crude wintertime log cabins and warm weather army tents. Against their wishes, daughter Sarah eloped with young Lt. Jefferson Davis, the future President of the Confederacy. She died of malaria after only three months of marriage. Margaret’s favorite post was Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and from there she received the news of her husband’s exploits in the Mexican War. Download [67.96 KB]
Anne Hutchinson II October 21, 2000PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, Colonial America, Women in American History Lead: In 1637 the Massachusetts Bay Colony put religious reformer Anne Hutchinson on trial for challenging the authority and theology of the Church. Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: Hutchinson and her family had emigrated from England to the Massachusetts to escape what they felt was religious persecution. An intelligent and independent thinker, Anne began to hold a weekly discussion group in her home. She and her followers did not hesitate to criticize the colony’s religious and political leaders for what they perceived as the leaders’ narrowness on morality and religion. Anne held the dangerous view that God spoke to individuals rather than through the clergy or church officials. Believing Hutchinson to be a threat to order and peace, the Massachusetts General Assembly enacted a law stipulating that women could neither organize, lead, nor attend meetings. Undaunted, Anne refused to stop and John Winthrop, one of the founders and Governor of the colony, in 1637, brought her to trial for insulting churches and their ministers and not honoring the fathers of the Commonwealth. Download [70.67 KB]
Anne Hutchinson I October 21, 2000PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, Colonial America, Women in American History Lead: In the 1630s thousands of Puritans migrated to New England. More than one would be considered a rebel. One such troublemaker was Anne Hutchinson. Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: Anne Marbury Hutchinson was born in Alford, Lincolnshire, England, in 1591. The daughter of an English clergyman, a troublemaker in his own right, who frequently clashed with Anglican leaders, Anne grew up to be an educated, independent thinker and trained midwife. She married an English merchant, William Hutchinson in 1612 and in 1634 they and their eleven children immigrated to the Massachusetts to escape what they considered to be religious persecution. Download [70.76 KB]
Civil War Women Spies IV October 21, 2000PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, Civil War, Women in American History Lead: By June 1862 Civil War Memphis, Tennessee was occupied by the Union. Young Belle Edmondson began her life as a smuggler and Confederate spy. Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: Belle Edmondson was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi, in 1840, the youngest of eight children. At the onset of the Civil War in 1861, the Edmondsons were living on a farm just southeast of Memphis near the Mississippi border. Although there were some strongholds of Union sentiment particularly in eastern Tennessee, the state had joined the Confederacy. The Edmondsons were staunch supporters of the southern cause. Two of Belle’s brothers fought at Shiloh and Belle helped nurse the wounded from the battle Download [71.61 KB]
