07/17/2025

The Founding of First Ladies Studies: A Tribute to Lewis L. Gould Debuts Today

New Monograph Puts Spotlight on the History of First Ladies Studies

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:

Nancy Kegan Smith, FLARE
nksnancy@aol.com
(703) 409-1085 

July 17, 2025 (Washington, D.C.) – The First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE) has launched its first major online publication – a new monograph – The Founding of First Ladies Studies: A Tribute to Lewis L. Gould. The monograph focuses on US first ladies, their impact, legacies, and evolution of the role and office.

“It is fitting and exciting that at FLARE’s four-year anniversary, we are celebrating Dr. Gould in this monograph,” said Nancy Kegan Smith, President of FLARE. “All of the FLARE founders and board members have been influenced by Dr. Gould in some way, either through his teachings, his books on First Ladies or by his mentoring and guidance. Throughout his career, he was a pioneer who pushed back against the idea of a male-centric history that left out the study of First Ladies, their significant contributions and their impact on the country and sometimes the world.”

The intent of the monograph is to inspire and encourage more research on first ladies and to continue to honor Dr. Gould’s 1984 call to arms, still relevant today:

“We will only understand the past of our presidents and ourselves most fully when we grasp it in all its richness. A history that excludes First Ladies, or the contribution and lives of women generally, will be a record that is limited, false and wrong.”

 - Lewis L. Gould

Dana Cooper, a professor of history at the Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, is the editor. Two of FLARE’s founding members, Diana B. Carlin and Elizabeth J. Natalle, provided additional collaboration and support.

The monograph includes Dr. Gould’s keynote speech at the first First Ladies conference convened by First Ladies Betty Ford and Rosalynn Carter at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in 1984. An article by Dr. Katherine Sibley provides an overview of first ladies scholarship from 1984 to present. In seven author essays written by former students and mentorees, readers learn about the important lessons Dr. Gould provided. Those authors are Myra Gutin, Nancy Beck Young, Debbie Cottrell, Nancy Kegan Smith, Kristie Miller and Stacy Cordery.

The monograph is available today on our website and can be viewed and downloaded HERE.

About FLARE

The mission of FLARE is to create and sustain a network to promote and publicize research and education about the contribution, lives, impact, and lasting legacy of U.S. first ladies. FLARE celebrated its four-year anniversary in June 2025.

Learn more at FLARE-net.org, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. 

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