The First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE), in partnership with the First Ladies Initiative at American University’s School of Public Affairs, invites proposals for a conference, 250 Years of First Ladies Making History, to be held at American University on May 15, 2026.
The program committee is particularly interested in proposals that explore the way(s) any U.S. First Lady (presidential spouse) or a group of first ladies who made history ( e.g., 2 or 3 first ladies who defied conventions of the day, or went into war zones). There will be two roundtable panels that will jointly cover the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. These are to be conversational presentations and not papers to be read. Anyone selected to present who is not a FLARE member will need to join prior to the conference.
Each applicant should submit an abstract, with a title, a description of the proposed first lady and her contributions of no more than 300 words, and a biography of no more than 250 words, including the presenter’s email and affiliation to Diana Carlin, FLARE President, at dianabcarlin@gmail.com.
Each presentation will be expected to last no more than 10 minutes to accommodate a Q&A with the moderator and the audience. The deadline for abstract submissions is March 16, 2026. Decisions and notifications will be made by March 25.
The conference is scheduled from 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM on May 15, and there will be a patrons' event the previous evening with panelists as invited guests. There will be a travel stipend for any presenters traveling from outside the Washington, DC, area.