Featured FLARE Member

(Each month we will feature a FLARE member who is making news

and educating the public about the lives and legacies of America’s first ladies.)

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So It Seems, Audiences Demand Encores When It Comes to First Ladies

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FLARE congratulates Heath Hardage Lee for for the Plutarch Award

Pat Nixon's Biography The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon

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FLARE Member Karen Dunak Announces A New Book on Jacqueline Kennedy

A new book on Jacqueline Kennedy by FLARE member Karen Dunak appeared in East Wing Magazine.

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FLARE Board Member Nichola Gutgold's Interview on First Lady Fashion

Many first lady scholars are asking to comment on the inauguration. FLARE Board Member Nichola Gutgold was recently interviewed about fashion.

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Smithsonian Scholars Select Remember the First Ladies as a Best Book of 2024

Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America's History-Making Women by FLARE founding members Diana B. Carlin, Anita B. McBride, and Nancy Kegan Smith was selected by Smithsonian Scholars as a best book of 2024.More Info >

First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE) Announces Allida Black, Ph.D., as the 2024 Lewis L. Gould Award Recipient

Allida Black, Ph.D., today received the 2024 Lewis L. Gould Award. She is a Distinguished Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute of the University of Oxford, Special Adviser and Historian to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Managing Director of the Allenswood Group, LLC, a collaborative she founded to strengthen democracy through education and civic engagement and to preserve women’s political history.

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FLARE Members in the News

Catherine Allgor

Rebecca Boggs Roberts

Diana B. Carlin

Stacy Cordery

East Wing Magazine

Lewis Gould

Nichola D. Gutgold

Myra G. Gutin

Jill Hummer

Katherine Jellison

Michael LaRosa

Heath Hardage Lee

Anita B. McBride

Lisa McCubbin Hill

Elizabeth J. Natalle

Barbara Perry

Colleen Shogan

Katherine A. S. Sibley

Nancy Kegan Smith

Tammy Vigil

Molly Meijer Wertheimer

Jeanne Ryan Wolfson

Previously Featured FLARE Members

Lisa McMcCubbin Hill

On This Day: FLARE Asserts the Importance of Studying Presidential First Ladies

FLARE's First National Conference

FLARE's first national conference "First Lady Betty Ford: 50th Anniversary Celebration" co-sponsored by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, the Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum, American University School of Public Affairs, and the National Archives was preceded by an inspiring luncheon hosted by Susan Ford Bales featuring First Lady Jill Biden as the keynote speaker on the Bidens' Women's Health Initiative. FLARE co-sponsored the luncheon with the Foundation and American University's School of Public Affairs. Although she woke up with a raspy voice the morning of the speech, the First Lady came anyway to honor Betty Ford saying “Betty, I’m here for you,” and then yielded the podium to Dr. Carolyn Mazure, chair of the White House Women’s Health Research Initiative to deliver the speech on her behalf.

The following is an excellent report of the conference from Immediate Past President and conference participant, Myra Gutin:

Dear FLARE Friends,

The photo card you see (slide 7) was at every luncheon seat at the annual Betty Ford Birthday luncheon, that kicked off our first national conference. What a special day!

None of Friday's landmark events would have ever taken place without the diligent and unwavering efforts of Anita and Nancy. My recollection is that we started to think about a FLARE national conference that would commemorate Betty Ford's convening the 1984 first ladies conference almost two years ago. There have been many ups and down, disappointments and victories. When I saw Dr. Biden cross the stage I had goosebumps that Anita, Nancy, the Gerald Ford Foundation and AU had actually pulled this off. I will never forget sitting in the ballroom and saying to myself, "we made this happen."

Anita gracefully guided our first panel, Diana Carlin, Lisa McCubbin, Sheila Weidenfeld, and yours truly, through a many-faceted discussion of Mrs. Ford's tenure as first lady. Brooke Clement, the Director of the Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum moderated the second panel of Nancy Kegan Smith, Susan Ford Bales, and Stacy Cordery. Nancy presented video from the 1984 conference--obtaining this material and assembling it was no small task--neither was getting the audio to work, but everything came together smoothly. Stacy provided a wonderful, and comprehensive look at first lady research from the early 80's to the present and gave us a challenge for our future work. Susan spoke about her mother and the 1984 conference, adding the participant's inside view. I wish that every member of FLARE had been able to be with us in Grand Rapids, and I hope that you watched, if that was possible. We were told that C-SPAN was recording the event for future broadcast.

Again, I cannot say enough to commend both Anita and Nancy on all their hard work. Getting to this day was not easy, definitely a labor of love, but we achieved it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Myra

P.S. The 50/40 celebrates 50 years since Mrs. Ford served as first lady and 40 years (as described above) when she called the first-ever national first ladies conference in Grand Rapids.

You can access news article links below. Click below to view the slide show.

FLARE thanks the Gerarld R. Ford Presidential Foundation for the use of photos on slides 27, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, and 40.

Remember the First Ladies

January 2024 FLARE Members in the News

FLARE 2023 Election Results

FLARE ... Why Haven’t We Learned This Before?

Rebecca Boggs Roberts

Nancy Kegan Smith