Women of the White House: The Impact of Six First Ladies (In-person)

Women of the White House: The Impact of Six First Ladies (In-person)

Spring (4-8 hours) | Registration opens 3/6/2025 12:00 AM EST

One Court Street Lebanon, NH 03766 United States
Room 2C - 2nd Flr - Suite 210
4/16/2025-5/14/2025
4:00 PM-5:30 PM EST on Wed
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$50.00

Women of the White House: The Impact of Six First Ladies (In-person)

Spring (4-8 hours) | Registration opens 3/6/2025 12:00 AM EST

This series presents Dolley Madison, Jane Pierce, Edith Wilson, Lady Bird Johnson, Roselynn Carter, and Michelle Obama; six First Ladies who each changed history in their unique way.

We’ll begin with two 19th century First Ladies: influential political operator Dolley Madison and Jane Pierce, “The Ghost of the White House”, who contributed to the development of the Civil War.

Moving into the early 20th century, we will ask the question: Following his stroke, did Edith Wilson’s “assistance” to Woodrow make her our first woman president?

Two first ladies emerge later in the 20th century: Lady Bird Johnson and Roselynn Carter. A close adviser to her husband, Lady Bird Johnson also managed a media empire and as First Lady championed environmentalism, civil rights, and the War on Poverty. Roselynn Carter was an equal partner to her husband during his term and was an influential global humanitarian in her own right. We conclude with Michelle Obama, who never wished for a political life but more than rose to the challenge. Her strength of character provides an inspiration to many.

Classes will combine lecture and discussion.


  • There are no required books for this course.

     
Marshall, Beverly
Beverly Marshall

Beverly Marshall moved to Grantham in 2006, where she continued her career in nonprofit administration as Associate Director at UVEI in Lebanon. Prior to moving to New England, Beverly directed adult education and public programming at The Cooper Union, and was on the senior administration team at WNET/Channel 13. This course is part of a series created to draw on exemplary movies to encourage meaningful conversations about culture, social change, and values.

 

Henningsen, Victor
Victor Henningsen

A graduate of Yale, Stanford, and Harvard, Vic was a ranger-naturalist with Vermont’s Dept. of Forests & Parks before teaching history for many years at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He’s also been a visiting scholar at Dartmouth, a summer research fellow at the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, and a regular commentator on Vermont Public Radio.

Jakoubek, Bob
Bob Jakoubek

Bob Jakoubek has been a Study Leader for various Osher at Dartmouth courses on 20th century history and politics. He studied history at Indiana and Columbia and is the co-author of These United States, a textbook. He served as a historical consultant for the ten-volume Twentieth Century America and has written numerous books of history and biography for young adults.

 

 

Sammons, Elizabeth
Elizabeth Sammons

Laney Sammons is an educator and author who worked as a volunteer on the Carter 1976 presidential campaign.

Solomon, Steve
Steve Solomon

Steve Solomon is a retired lawyer, who is a docent giving tours of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses and galleries at the Currier Museum in Manchester. In 2022 he gave an Osher course entitled, “Appreciating and Understanding the Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright”. His interest in film began in elementary school watching old movies on TV and continued through and beyond law school when he was a member of the board of a student film society at the University of Michigan.