Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture
Press Release · Friday, May 12, 2023

Washington, DC

On Wednesday, May 17, at 6 p.m., ET, the National Archives, in partnership with the White House Historical Association, presents an evening discussion of the new book Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture. Kate Clark Lemay, Acting Senior Historian at the National Portrait Gallery, will lead a discussion with co-editors Lindsay Chervinsky, Senior Fellow at the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, and Matthew Costello, Vice President of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History. They will be joined by contributors Andrew M. Davenport, Public Historian at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and Director of the Getting Word African American Oral History Project, and David B. Woolner, Professor of History at Marist College, Senior Fellow and Resident Historian of the Roosevelt Institute, and Senior Fellow of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College.

The program is free and open to the public and will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater at the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC, and livestreamed. Attendees should use the Special Events entrance on Constitution Avenue at 7th Street, NW. Metro accessible on the Yellow and Green lines, Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter station.

Panel Discussion – Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture
Wednesday, May 17, at 6 p.m. ET
William G. McGowan Theater, National Archives Museum
Register to attend in person or online; watch on the National Archives YouTube Channel.
Mourning the Presidents brings together renowned and emerging scholars to examine how different generations and communities of Americans have eulogized and remembered U.S. Presidents since George Washington’s death in 1799. The program will be followed by a book signing.

This program is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation.

About the National Archives
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent federal agency that serves American democracy by safeguarding and preserving the records of our Government, so people can discover, use, and learn from this documentary heritage. The National Archives ensures continuing access to the essential documentation of the rights of American citizens and the actions of their government. From the Declaration of Independence to accounts of ordinary Americans, the holdings of the National Archives directly touch the lives of millions of people. The agency supports democracy, promotes civic education, and facilitates historical understanding of our national experience. The National Archives carries out its mission through a nationwide network of archives, records centers, and Presidential Libraries and online at www.archives.gov.