This week the Huffington Post reported that Michelle Obama was named an honorary chair of the National First Ladies’ Library. That’s not really big news, considering that Ms. Obama’s predecessors also are honorary chairs. What is newsworthy, in my opinion, is the fact that there is a National First Ladies’ Library.
Founded in 1998, the library is a national archive and research center dedicated to providing education about America’s First Ladies and other notable women in United States’ history. Congressional wife Mary Regula founded the library when her personal research uncovered a void in the information available about women who have made significant contributions to our nation.
Both a physical and virtual entity, the cornerstone of the National First Ladies’ Library is a 40,000-entry bibliography on all First Ladies since Martha Washington. In addition to its online resources, the library includes two buildings in Canton, Ohio: an education and research center, and the Saxton-McKinley home, where President McKinley and First Lady Ida McKinley lived from 1878 – 1891.
Information provided online on the library’s Articles page ranges from fashion to advocacy, including First Ladies’ roles, First Ladies and Family, First Ladies as Ambassadors, and First Ladies and political conventions.
From the Curriculum page, lesson plans, timelines and worksheets, some with national and state standards incorporated, are available for free download.
The First Ladies Research page includes links to biographies, timelines, manuscripts, audio-visual materials and lesson plans for all First Ladies.
The National First Ladies’ Library is a resource gem we can make available to our library customers.
Susan Ujka Larson, Fairfax County Public Library
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment