YORBA LINDA, CA – The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and the Richard Nixon Foundation will host Celebrating Women’s Impact, a symposium of historians, authors, and Nixon Administration officials, on Friday, March 15, 2024, from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. This unique gathering will explore post-war 20th-century advancements in the role of women in government. The symposium is a part of the respective Women’s History Month programming of the National Archives and Records Administration and the Richard Nixon Foundation. It will be live-streamed for a national audience in conjunction with First Lady Pat Nixon’s 112th birthday celebrations.
The day will include four panels covering the following subjects:
- Telling Women’s History through Historical Records
- Nixon Administration Programs, Initiatives, and Legislation
- Recruiting and Appointing Women in Presidential Administrations
- The Impact of Pat Nixon and other First Ladies and First Families
“While so much has changed since the Nixon Administration,” said Nixon Library Director Tamara Martin, “there remains valuable lessons to be learned from the significant influence the Administration and the First Lady had on women in government and business today.”
“The Nixon Administration embarked on groundbreaking efforts to expand the role of women in senior positions in the federal government, leaving a profound legacy that opened up opportunities in the American workplace,” said Jim Byron, President and CEO of the Richard Nixon Foundation. “During this time, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment and President Nixon signed Title IX into law. These milestones offer invaluable lessons from which we can learn today.”
Confirmed participants include:
- Carl Sferraza Anthony, historian of First Ladies and author of Camera Girl: The Coming of Age of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy
- Robert Bostock, Curator, Pat Nixon Centennial Exhibit
- P. Dee Boersma, Member, U.S. Presidential Task Force of Women’s Rights and Responsibilities, 1969
- Mary Brennan, author of Pat Nixon: Embattled First Lady
- Diana Carlin, Professor Emerita of communication at Saint Louis University and a founding member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education
- Barbara Franklin, 29th U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Director Emerita of the Richard Nixon Foundation
- Sarah Fling, Historian, The White House Historical Association
- Dr. Linda Hobgood, Director of The Speech Center at the University of Richmond in Virginia and Staff Assistant in the Office of First Lady Pat Nixon
- Nancy Kegan Smith, retired Director of the Presidential Materials Division at the National Archives and Records Administration
- Dr. Dean Kotlowski, author of Nixon’s Civil Rights: Politics, Principle, and Policy
- Heath Hardage Lee, author of the forthcoming The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady (St. Martin’s Press, 2024)
- Anita McBride, Director of the First Ladies Initiative at American University, School of Public Affairs and former Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush
- Maureen Nunn, Member of the Board of Directors of the Richard Nixon Foundation
- John Roy Price, Executive Secretary of President Nixon’s Council for Urban Affairs and the Council for Rural Affairs, author of The Last Liberal Republican: An Insider’s Perspective on Nixon’s Surprising Social Policy
This event is free and open to the public and will be held in the East Room, but space will be limited. You can make a reservation here.
The symposium can be viewed live on YouTube at youtube.com/nixonfoundation.
Media Contact:
Joe Lopez
[email protected]