National Archives Mourns Passing of Cokie Roberts
Press Release · Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Washington, DC

Cokie Roberts, award-winning journalist, historian, political commentator, author, and ardent longtime National Archives’ supporter, died today at age 75.  

Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero noted her lifetime of dedication:  "Sad times here at the National Archives. Cokie was a long-time member of our National Archives Foundation Board who worked tirelessly on behalf of our education and outreach activities. Her wise counsel, intelligence, passion for the role of women in our society, and wit will be missed—but never forgotten."

“We will greatly miss Cokie’s leadership and personal touch on the Foundation’s Board,” said Executive Director of the National Archives Foundation Patrick M. Madden. “Her support of the National Archives was boundless. Her commitment to the study of women’s history and civics was matchless. Cokie’s brilliance and warmth will continue to guide the Foundation’s work for years to come.”

Cokie Roberts was a political commentator for ABC News and National Public Radio. In her more than forty years in broadcasting, she won countless awards, including three Emmys. She was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame and was cited by the American Women in Radio and Television as one of the fifty greatest women in the history of broadcasting. In addition to her reporting, Ms. Roberts wrote six New York Times bestsellers, most dealing with the roles of women in U.S. history.

Ms. Roberts’s books about women in American history:  Founding Mothers (2004), Ladies of Liberty (2008), and Capital Dames (2015)—were all New York Times bestsellers. She held more than thirty honorary degrees and served on the boards of several non-profit institutions, including the National Archives Foundation, and was the Foundation’s 2019 Records of Achievement Awardee. In 2008 the Library of Congress named her a “Living Legend,” one of the very few Americans to have attained that honor. She was the mother of two and grandmother of six.