Remembering the First Ladies at America’s 250 presented by the Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation
Friday, January 23, 2026 – Save the Date!
Join us on the lawn at the Harry S. Truman Little White House to discusses the book, Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women , with the authors, Anita McBride, Diana B. Carlin, & Nancy Kegan Smith and moderator Dr. Kurt Graham.
Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women by Anita B. McBride, Diana B. Carlin, and Nancy Kegan Smith is a groundbreaking book showing the evolutionary role of the first lady and its historic importance on the American presidency. The book shines a light on the influential women who broke barriers and made a mark on our country and, at times, our world, during their tenures in the White House. The book includes both biographical and thematic chapters. It examines the influence of first ladies on topics such as civil rights, political campaigns, major speeches, and the White House across the span of the nation’s history. Profiles of first ladies bring their histories, achievements, and legacies to life. Readers learn about the development and expansion of the role of first lady, from its origins under Martha Washington through its current iteration under Dr. Jill Biden. The book explores how first ladies have been uniquely positioned to influence American society, policy, diplomacy, and life in the White House.
Gates open at 4:00pm for book signing by the authors.
Program begins 5:00 pm
All seating is general admission.
Tickets Members ($40) Non-Members ($60)
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Anita McBride is a leading authority on U.S. First Ladies, presidential history, and White House operations. She has co-authored several influential works, including Remember the First Ladies (2023), the textbook U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies, and the children’s book First Ladies Make History (2024).
She is a founding member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE) and serves as executive-in-residence at American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, where she leads the First Ladies Initiative. She is also an advisor to the Sine Institute for Policy and Politics.
A seasoned media commentator, McBride has consulted for HBO’s Veep and frequently appears on national news outlets. Her expertise stems from over 20 years of senior White House service under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. As Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush, she led major domestic and international initiatives and coordinated travels to 67 countries advancing U.S. foreign policy and women’s empowerment.
She also co-founded the RAND African First Ladies Initiative (now the Global First Ladies Alliance), which supports first ladies worldwide in governance and leadership.
McBride remains active in civic, cultural, and political organizations. She holds leadership roles with the White House Historical Association, the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, the International Republican Institute’s Women’s Democracy Network, the National Italian American Foundation, and RightNow Women PAC. She also contributes to the America 250 commission and serves on the Global Advisory Board of the Libra Group.
Diana B. Carlin is professor emerita of communication at Saint Louis University and a retired faculty member and administrator at the University of Kansas. She taught courses on first ladies at both universities. She is currently an adjunct in the School of Public Affairs at American University where she teaches a virtual course on first ladies. Her interest in first ladies began with a biography of Abigail Adams while in elementary school. She is the author of book chapters Martha Washington, Julia Grant, Lady Bird Johnson, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama. She is the co-author with Anita B. McBride and Nancy Kegan Smith of the first textbook on first ladies, U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies and Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women. She authored articles for the White House History Quarterly on first ladies and Sesame Street in the White House and on The Generals’ Wives: Martha Washington, Julia Grant, and Mamie Eisenhower. She teaches a variety of Osher Lifelong Learning classes on first ladies and has given several newspaper and radio interviews on first ladies. She is a founding member of FLARE—First Ladies Association for Research and Education and currently serves as vice president.
Nancy Kegan Smith is the retired Director of the Presidential Materials Division at the National Archives and Records Administration, the staff that advised the White House on presidential, first lady and vice presidential records issues, and presidential moves and transitions. She started her career as an archivist at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas and later worked at the National Archives Building in D.C. from 1973 until 2013. She first became interested in first ladies as an archivist at the LBJ Library working with Lady Bird Johnson in processing her beautification files and doing an oral history with her. She has authored book chapters on Lady Bird Johnson and Michelle Obama, is co-editor of Modern First Ladies – Their Documentary Legacy and lectures on first ladies and presidential records. She is the co-author with Anita B. McBride and Nancy Kegan Smith of the first textbook on first ladies, U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies, and Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women. She is a founder and currently is President of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education, FLARE.
Dr.Kurt Graham is currently the president of the Adams Presidential Center in Quincy, Massachusetts. He was the director of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri. As director, he oversaw a $30M renovation of the principal museum exhibits and dramatically expanded the Library’s educational and public programming. He has also directed the McCracken Research Library at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, and the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City.
Prior to his work in the public history field, Graham was a member of the history faculty at California State University, San Bernardino, where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in American political and legal/constitutional history. He has a Ph.D. in American history from Brown University and a B.A. and an M.A. from Brigham Young University in English and American studies, respectively. He is the author of To Bring Law Home: The Federal Judiciary in Early National Rhode Island (Northern Illinois University Press, 2010).
The Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 that serves to preserve the Truman Little White House as Florida’s only presidential museum, sharing the history of the American Presidency and supporting civic engagement, education and the historic and cultural influences of the Truman era.