Women's History Month
Throughout March, the Presidential Libraries will offer various programs, including events, exhibits, lectures, and book talks featuring the life and work of our First Ladies and other notable women. We have also compiled additional resources where you learn about women's ongoing contributions in America.
Events at the Libraries:
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
- Saturday, March 23, 2024 - 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. CST
Book Talk - Feed Sacks: The Colorful History of Fruagal Fabric with Linzee McCray
Join us for a special discussion encompassing all kinds of feed sack reuse after World War I with Linzee McCray, author of Feed Sacks: The Colorful History of a Frugal Fabric. This will highlight and showcase the temporary exhibit Thrift Style, on display in our temporary galleries until April 30. The discussion will start at 2 p.m. in the Auditorium. This event is free with admission to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. Registration is not required and all are welcome to attend. - Friday, March 29, 2024 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CST; 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. CST
Ask an Archivist, Converse with a Curator
This free monthly program allows visitors to see items from our collection that aren't typically shown in our galleries. Speak with archivists and Museum staff in an informal setting about a specific topic each month. In recognition of Lou Henry Hoover's 150th Birthday, Museum Registrar Sara Godin will share some of Lou's clothing and Girl Scout-related items to celebrate! Staff will be available from 11 a.m.-12 p.m., and again from 2 p.m.-3 p.m. CST. Free Girl Scout Cookies in honor of Lou Henry Hoover will be available all day while supplies last. - Saturday, March 30, 2024 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST
Lou Henry Hoover: Pioneer. Humanitarian. Leader.
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum will host a special presentation event highlighting the extraordinary life of Lou Henry Hoover. Hear from various speakers who will discuss Lou's fashion as First Lady of the United States, her leadership with the Girl Scouts, and her connection with Stanford University. This event is free with admission to the Museum. No registration is required, but all are welcome to RSVP on the Hoover Museum's Facebook page for a notification reminder.
Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum
- Monday, March 18, 2024 - 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. CST
Book Talk - Bringing Home the White House with Melissa Estes Blair
The book focuses on the period from 1932-1960, and much of the research was conducted at the Truman Library in 2018. Please email Azalea Michel-Whitley, Public Programs Officer, to RSVP and for more information at azalea.michelwhitley@nara.gov. You will receive a confirmation email with a link to the live conversation with the author.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
- Monday, March 25, at 6:00 p.m. EST
Forum - The East Wing: Expanding First Ladies’ Impact from Jacqueline Kennedy to Jill Biden
In this program, Anita McBride, Director of the First Ladies Initiative at American University, School of Public Affairs and co-author of U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies; Barbara Perry, professor and co-chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia's Miller Center and author of Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier; and Elizabeth Rees, doctoral candidate at Oxford University, will discuss the evolution of the role of the First Lady from the Kennedy administration through the present day. Registrations are strongly recommended. Kennedy Library Forums are webcast live and recorded whenever possible. View on our YouTube channel.
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
- Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 6:30 pm EST
Book Talk - Merze Tate: The Global Odyssey of A Black Woman Scholar with Dr. Barbara Savage
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum are thrilled to host University of Pennsylvania professor Barbara Savage. She will be discussing her new biography Merze Tate: The Global Odyssey of A Black Women Scholar (Yale University Press; November 2023) which tells the astonishing story of a woman, who, despite living in what she called a “sex and race discriminating world,” never allowed her intellectual ambitions to be thwarted. Book signing to follow the program. Register to attend this event in person in Grand Rapids or virtually over Zoom.
Richard Nixon Presidential Library
- Friday, March 15, 2024 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. PST
Celebrating Women’s Impact Symposium
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and the Richard Nixon Foundation will host Celebrating Women’s Impact, a symposium of historians, authors, and Nixon Administration officials. This unique gathering will explore post-war 20th-century advancements in the role of women in government. The symposium is a part of the respective Women’s History Month programming of the National Archives and Records Administration and the Richard Nixon Foundation. It will be live-streamed for a national audience in conjunction with First Lady Pat Nixon’s 112th birthday celebrations. The day will include four panels covering the following subjects:- Telling Women’s History through Historical Records
- Nixon Administration Programs, Initiatives, and Legislation
- Recruiting and Appointing Women in Presidential Administrations
- The Impact of Pat Nixon and other First Ladies and First Families
Resources from the Libraries:
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
Eleanor Roosevelt's Press Conferences
Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum
Women in Politics in the 1950s
Jacqueline Cochran and the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs)
Women Unite for Ike (online exhibit)
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
Records of the Commission on the Status of Women
JFK’s remarks on the President's Commission on the Status of Women’s Final Report
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
George W. Bush Presidential Library
Gale A. Norton, First Woman to be Secretary of the Interior
Ann Veneman, First Woman to be Secretary of Agriculture
Condoleezza Rice, First African American Woman to be Secretary of State
Cristeta Comerford, First Woman to be Named White House Executive Chef
Elaine L. Chao, first Asian American woman to be Secretary of Labor
Speeches by First Lady Laura Bush
Mrs. Bush's Remarks to Women CEOs
Laura Bush and the President’s Radio Address