FLARE/American University Announcements

FLARE Program ... Edith Wilson: Overnight Celebrity OR Edith Wilson: Overnight Sensation

FLARE Program December 11, 2023

7 pm EST

Rebecca Roberts with Heath Lee

"Roberts isn’t interested in venerating Wilson as a saint; nor is she looking to magnify the First Lady’s flaws. Rather, she lets Edith be Edith, which is to say messy and complicated, as most humans are."

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FLARE - In Memoriam ... Eleanor Rosalynn Smith Carter


Eleanor Rosalynn Smith Carter
1927-2023

FLARE shares in the nation's mourning of the passing of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. We believe that one of the best ways to summarize her many accomplishments is by sharing President Bill Clinton's comments in 1999 when she and President Jimmy Carter were jointly awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom:

"During the Carter years, Rosalynn Carter also brought vision, compassion, tireless energy, and commitment to the causes she advanced. Just as Eleanor Roosevelt will be remembered for her work on human rights, Rosalynn Carter will always be remembered as a pioneer on mental health and a champion of our children.

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FLARE November Program, November 15, 7pm ET

Join FLARE for "A Tour of the National First Ladies Library."  Director of Collections and Research Michelle Gullion from the National First Ladies Library & Museum will take viewers on a special behind-the-scenes tour of some of the more fascinating First Ladies items in the collection. She will discuss the items’ history, provenance, and significance to the legacies of these inspirational women. The program includes a welcome by FLARE president Myra Gutin and will include Q & A.

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FLARE Members Featured in American University Magazine

In the latest issue of American University Magazine, Anita McBride, executive in residence at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies in the School of Public Affairs, discusses the first-ever college textbook she wrote along with co-authors Diana Carlin and Nancy Kegan Smith. Called US First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies, the book fills a gap in academic literature, examining how the role of First Lady has evolved since the first First Lady, Martha Washington.

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NEW Episode: The White House 1600 Sessions Podcast ... “U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies”

The White House Historical Association released a new episode of The White House 1600 Sessions podcast today featuring a conversation with Anita McBride about a new college textbook she co-authored called “U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies.” McBride was an assistant to President George W. Bush, Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush, and is the current director of American University’s Legacies of America’s First Ladies Initiative in Washington, D.C. She is also a co-founder of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE). In the episode, Stewart McLaurin, president of the Association, talks with McBride about how first ladies have influenced American society, public policy, diplomacy, and life in the White House.

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First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE) Announces Catherine Allgor as the 2023 Lewis L. Gould Award Recipient

Catherine Allgor, president of the Massachusetts Historical Society, today received the 2023 Lewis L. Gould Award. The annual award, presented by FLARE, recognizes distinguished contributions to the field of first lady research and education and a commitment to excellence while furthering the study of American first ladies.

In responding to this honor, Dr. Allgor said, "This award means so much to me because it comes not just from my colleagues in this field but from FLARE itself which promotes the study of first ladies. It is also meaningful to me because it is named after Lewis L. Gould.”

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FLARE 2023 Gould Award Winner

You are invited to FLARE's special ceremony in honor of this year's 2023 Gould award winner.

The virtual program can be reached by going to Facebook or YouTube on September 18th at 7:00pm eastern time.

In the ceremony you will be the first to find out who is honored with this year's award presented to a member of FLARE who has, in the course of their other noteworthy career, made distinguished contributions to the field of first lady research and education.

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East Wing Magazine and FLARE

East Wing Magazine has joined the First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE) as a Lifetime Inaugural Individual member. The membership signals the publication’s support for FLARE’s mission to create, sustain, promote and publicize research and education relevant to the contributions, lives, impact and lasting legacies of American first ladies.

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FLARE May 31 Program ... Three First Ladies and White House Restoration

In honor of National Historic Preservation month and presented in conjunction with FLARE's newest Lifetime Institutional Member, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, FLARE is presenting a program on Three First Ladies and their Efforts on White House Restoration: Jackie Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson and Pat Nixon. The program will be on May 31st at 7:00 pm est. The program will include:

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Call for Applications ... Inaugural Editor FLARE E-Journal

During 2023, the First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE) will appoint an inaugural editor to launch an e-journal that reflects the research and education mission of the organization. This is a unique opportunity to influence and shape a new journal in a field where nothing else like it exists. FLARE was launched in June 2021, and has members from a wide variety of disciplines and professions.

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In case you missed the February 28th Black History Month Program

If you missed the February 28th FLARE program with Sarah Fling from the White House Historical Association on First Ladies and Slavery, it is now available at our YouTube site: https://you https://www.youtube.com/@firstladiesassociationforr999.

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Presentation on First Ladies and Their Enslaved Servants

Please join FLARE for our February 28 program in honor of Black History month at 7:00 pm eastern time. "First Ladies and Slavery” is a presentation done in conjunction with FLARE’s institutional member the White House Historical Association, WHHA. The program is introduced by Stewart McLaurin, President of the WHHA, with an explanation of their project “Slavery in the President’s Neighborhood”. WHHA Historian Sarah Fling will then do a presentation describing the relationship between first ladies and slavery, part of one-third of the first ladies' identities and lifestyles.

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First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE) Announces New Institutional Member and Program Partnership

FLARE: First Ladies Association for Research and Education is pleased to announce that the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics has become an Inaugural Lifetime Institutional Member, joining eight other prestigious member partners. As part of this new partnership, FLARE and the Dole Institute are launching a four-part program series that began February 1, 2023.

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