On March 15, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and the Richard Nixon Foundation partnered to host the women’s history symposium, Celebrating Women’s Impact. This unique gathering brought together the people who made history with people who study it to explore the post-war 20th-century advancements in the role of women in government.
The symposium was a keystone event of Women’s History Month programming of both the National Archives and Records Administration and the Richard Nixon Foundation and held the day before First Lady Pat Nixon’s 112th birthday.
A special message from Dr. Colleen Shogan, the first woman appointed Archivist of the United States, kicked off the program. In her remarks, Dr. Shogan shared the story of the journalist Vera Glaser, who asked the newly-elected President Nixon at a 1969 press conference why so few women held appointed government positions. That question served as a catalyst for President Nixon to take action and bring more women into leadership roles.
Attendees then got to hear directly from the woman President Nixon hired to recruit more females into government roles, Secretary Barbara Franklin. Reflecting on her work in the Nixon administration, Secretary Franklin remarked, “Barriers were broken. And happily they stayed down in the coming years.” Continuing, she concluded, “because the President of the United States, in this case President Richard Nixon, did what he did, a cultural change began to move women’s equality forward faster.”
Four panels were then held that explored women’s history through the lens of the Nixon administration. A select group of panelists had spent the week researching the archival holdings of both the National Archives and Nixon Foundation and presented their latest findings to shed light on the emerging role of women in government and culture during the second half of the twentieth century. While other participants shared the pivotal roles they played in the Nixon and subsequent administrations that advanced women’s influence in politics and culture.
Panel 1: Telling Women’s History Through Historical Records
Featuring:
Tamara Martin, moderator, Director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Dr. Tiffany Gonzalez, Assistant Professor of History, The University of Kansas
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)
Nancy Kegan Smith, former Director of the Presidential Material Division at the National Archives and Records Administration. President and founding member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education, FLARE. Co-author with Diana Carlin and Anita B. McBride of two books: U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies (a college textbook) and Remember the First Ladies: America’s History-Making Women.
In this panel participants shared their experiences working directly with primary source documents while giving specific examples of archival findings that tell the story of advances in women’s history including the Nixon administration’s recruitment efforts, the President and high level officials correspondences with wives of POWs during the Vietnam War and the emerging role of First Ladies.
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Panel 2: Nixon Administration Programs and Legislation
Featuring:
Frank Gannon, moderator, Former Special Assistant to President Nixon
Dr. Dean Kotlowski, Author of Nixon’s Civil Rights: Politics, Principle, and Policy
Dr. Susan Hartmann, Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor of History Emerita, Ohio State University
Abigail Malangone, Archivist, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
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 panel explored the many ways that the Nixon Administration was willing to listen and take action to advance women through legislation and domestic programs. From the pivotal hiring of Barbara Franklin to recruit women into the federal government and the impact that had on other sectors to many domestic programs that directly improved the circumstances of women including the Family Assistance Plan, the Economic Opportunity Amendments of 1971, and the Family Security Act.
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Panel 3: Women in Presidential Administrations
Featuring:
Dr. Jo Ellen Chatham, moderator, Director, Center for Civics Education at Concordia University Irvine
Diana Carlin, Professor Emerita of communication at Saint Louis University and Vice President founding member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education, FLARE. Co-author with Nancy Kegan Smith and Anita B. McBride of two books: U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies (a college textbook) and Remember the First Ladies: America’s History-Making Women.
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. Founding member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education, FLARE. Co-author with Diana Carlin and Nancy Kegan Smith of two books: U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies (a college textbook) and Remember the First Ladies: America’s History-Making Women.
Dr. Linda Hobgood, Director of The Speech Center at the University of Richmond and Staff Assistant to the Office of First Lady Pat Nixon
Dr. P. Dee Boersma, Director of the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels at the University of Washington and member of the U.S. Presidential Task Force of Women’s Rights and Responsibilities, 1969
This panel featured women who served directly in presidential administrations including two from the Nixon administration. These women shared their unique experiences instigating change through government and lessons we can learn from the women who have paved the way.
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Panel 4: The Impact of Pat Nixon and other First Ladies
Featuring:
Carl Sferraza Anthony, moderator, leading historian of the U.S. First Ladies and author of Camera Girl: The Coming of Age of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy
Bob Bostock, curator, Pat Nixon Centennial Exhibit
Mary Brennan, author of Pat Nixon: Embattled First Lady
Sarah Fling, Historian, The White House Historical Association
Maureen Nunn, Board of Directors for the Richard Nixon Foundation and family friend of Mrs. Nixon
This panel focused on the legacy of First Lady Pat Nixon. From making the White House more accessible to people of all abilities, completing preservation projects and acquiring historic collections to embracing her role was a goodwill ambassador, the panelists shared how Mrs. Nixon’s authenticity and devotion to volunteerism continues to inspire.
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