FLARE Announcements all announcements

Virtual Program Jan. 28 - From Wytheville to the White House

Virtual Program Jan. 28 - From Wytheville to the White House

This discussion focused on the birthplace and childhood home of First Lady Edith Bolling Wilson and Phase I of the Bolling Home Restoration Project.

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In Memoriam - Paulette Barsi Brinka

In Memoriam - Paulette Barsi Brinka

1949-2025

It is with sadness that FLARE reports the passing of Inaugural Lifetime Member, Paulette Brinka, on Sunday, December 28th, after a brave fight with cancer.

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American FLOTUS Podcasts View All Podcasts

Flare Podcasts

New podcast episode released January 29

Our latest American FLOTUS podcast episode, The Saga of the Kennedy Women, featuring Barbara Perry, was released on Thursday, January 29th.

In this episode of American FLOTUS, host Alan Lowe is joined by Barbara Perry to discuss the incredible lives of Rose, Jacqueline, and Joan Kennedy.  Based on her extensive research, including the works Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch and Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier, Perry explains how these and other influential Kennedy women played such central roles in one of America’s most prominent political families. The transcript for this podcast will be released at a later time.

 

Melania Trump movie trailer is out. See the first lady's film preview.
Michelle Obama’s warmth at the White House lives on at the Obama Presidential Center
First lady Mary Todd Lincoln was born and raised in Lexington
Harry S. Truman Foundation shines spotlight on America’s First Ladies
View All First Ladies in the News
Our Mission

The mission of FLARE is to create and sustain a network to promote and publicize research and education relevant to the contributions, lives, impacts, and lasting legacies of U.S. First Ladies.

Our Vision

FLARE will be the primary association to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and outreach among scholars, institutions, First Ladies’ staff, biographers, archivists, journalists, and public historians interested in research and education about the lasting legacy of U.S. First Ladies.

 

FLARE Focus more information

FLARE Focus on Betty Ford’s Dance with Vulnerability and Leadership

Jamey Grisham

Mrs. Ford in the Cabinet Room of the White House

“Betty Bloomer Ford’s vivid performance as our most candid first lady has made her memorable,” observes first daughter Margaret Truman.[1] Although much scholarship centers on Ford’s advocacy for breast cancer awareness and substance abuse, comparatively little has probed the influence of her early years as a professional dancer. Before her White House tenure, Ford trained rigorously in modern dance—a discipline that deeply informed her lifelong commitment to authenticity and empathy.
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Upcoming Events view all events

 February 2026 
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First Ladies Birthdays view all events

Thu
12
2026
February 12, 2026

Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams

February 12, 1775

Fri
13
2026
February 13, 2026

Elizabeth “Bess” Wallace Truman

February 13, 1885

* indicates Inaugural Lifetime Individual Member

*Kristin Ahlberg

*Catherine Allgor

*Mary R. Anderson

Sara W. Armstrong

*Thomas J. Balcerski

*Maurine Beasley

*Allida Black

*Pamela G. Bourland-Davis

*Mary C. Brennan

*Christopher Brick

*Paulette Brinka

*Mary Balfour Calvert

*Diana B. Carlin

Kathie Cesa

*Stacy Cordery

*Erika N. Cornelius Smith

*Susan Donius

*East Wing Magazine

Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Museum

*Sharon Fawcett

Andra Gillespie

*Lewis L. Gould

James R. Grisham, III 

*Nichola Gutgold

*Laura Gutin

*Myra G. Gutin

*Linda B. Hobgood

*Edwina and Tom Johnson (Atlanta)

*Kay Sebring-Roberts Kuhlmann

Michael LaRosa

*Christopher J. Leahy

*Heath Hardage Lee

Alan Lowe

*Anne F. Mattina

*Anita B. McBride

*Lisa Hill McCubbin

*Elizabeth J. Natalle

*Nick Natalle

Andrew Och

*Valerie Palmer-Mehta

*Barbara Perry

*G. Joseph Pierron

*Maria Protti

*Lindsay B. Reynolds

*Rebecca Boggs Roberts

*Katherine A. S. Sibley

*Nancy Kegan Smith

*Mary Stockwell

*Larry and Louann Temple

*Elizabeth Lorelei Thacker-Estrada

*Courtney C. Travers

*Tammy R. Vigil

*Molly Wertheimer

*Sharon Williams Leahy

 

*Jeanne Ryan Wolfson

 

 

*Nancy Beck Young

*Kay Zerwick