Featured FLARE Member
(Each month we will feature a FLARE member who is making news
and educating the public about the lives and legacies of America’s first ladies.)
CLICK HERE to share your news article(s)!
Catherine Allgor
May/June Featured Member
As the president of the Massachusetts Historical Society Catherine Allgor is a noted historian, non-profit leader, and public history innovator. Previously, she had been the Nadine and Robert Skotheim Director of Education at the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA, and a former Professor of History and UC Presidential Chair at the University of California, Riverside. Allgor attended Mount Holyoke College as a Frances Perkins Scholar and received her Ph.D. with distinction from Yale University, where she also won the Yale Teaching Award. Her dissertation received a prize as the best dissertation in American History at Yale and The Lerner-Scott Prize for the Best Dissertation in U.S. Women's History. She began her teaching career at Simmons College and has been a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and a Visiting Professor of History at Harvard University.
More Info >FLARE Members in the News
Diana B. Carlin
March 2022
September 30 , 2021
AU partners with the First Ladies Association for Research and Education to study US first ladies - The Eagle (theeagleonline.com)
May 25, 2021
Ames (Iowa) History Museum and Ames Public Library Lecture Series | YouTube
December 19, 2020
I’m a Kansas Dr.—and an expert on the sexist treatment of women in politics | Kansas Reflector
May 16, 2020
Michelle Obama: Back to the White House? | Matisak's Blog (A Stamp on the World)
Stacy Cordery
Lewis Gould
July 11, 2021
Western Illinois Man, Pioneering Scholar on First Ladies, Recognized for His Work – The Galesburg Register Mail
Myra G. Gutin
September 30 , 2021
AU partners with the First Ladies Association for Research and Education to study US first ladies - The Eagle (theeagleonline.com)
Jill Biden’s travels show range of missions and emotions | WTOP
Jill Biden travels to Texas to promote Covid-19 vaccines (chron.com)
April 20, 2021
Jill Biden's Fashion Choices Differ From Other Former First Ladies | Insider
January 12, 2021
Jill Biden: Less Hillary Clinton, more Barbara Bush | Washington Examiner
November 17, 2020
Vegas May be Betting on a Post-Presidential Divorce, but Melania Trump Seems All In for Her Husband | Washington Post
November 9, 2020
Jill Biden could be the only first lady to have a job outside the White House | The Lily
October 8, 2020
Melania Trump, president and COVID-19: How first ladies handle heatlh | USA Today
April 10, 2020
Melania Trump is having a moment during coronavirus pandemic | Detroit News
Jill Hummer
April 15, 2021
Nightlife: Featuring First Ladies | ABC
Katherine Jellison
January 17, 2022
Anita B. McBride
March 17, 2022
History of first ladies can inspire future generations
March 1, 2022
Jill Biden puts support for Ukraine front-and-center” – The Hill
December 2, 2021
The surprising reason first ladies can’t wear clothes off the rack, according to Laura Bush’s former chief of staff” – Insider
September 30 , 2021
AU partners with the First Ladies Association for Research and Education to study US first ladies - The Eagle (theeagleonline.com)
September 8, 2021
Jill Biden returns to teaching this week, making history
July 4, 2021
Anita McBride was interviewed by Aixa Diaz on Hearst TV to discuss FLARE
July 3, 2021
Anita McBride and Myra Gutin were quoted in a Politico article by Maeve Sheehey on the launch of FLARE
Anita McBride was quoted in a Washington Post article by Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan to discuss the impact of Rosalynn Carter’s work as first lady, particularly in the area of mental health issues
June 29, 2021
Anita McBride was quoted in The American Society of Association Executives Newsletter on the launch of FLARE
June 23, 2021
Anita McBride was quoted in an article in The College Post that also covered the launch of FLARE
June 22, 2021
Anita McBride was quoted in an article by Damare Baker in the Washingtonian on the launch of FLARE
June 21, 2021
Anita McBride: The First Ladies’ ‘stories need to be told’ | MSNBC
Anita McBride: The First Ladies’ ‘stories need to be told’ (msn.com)
Anita McBride was quoted in an article that American University’s School of Public Affairs wrote on FLARE to coincide with the launch of the association; AU shared it in This Week at AU
March 7, 2021
Who Will Be the Next Decorator-in-Chief? | Town and Country Magazine
January 20, 2021
Role of the First Lady | CBS News
Inauguration Coverage | NBC News
Challenges Facing Biden Early in His Administration | NBC4
Inauguration Day is also moving day at the White House | Fox Business
Trump’s vice president Pence applauds successor at inauguration | Reuters
Kamala Harris makes history | CTV News
January 19, 2021
Amid pandemic, White House gets deep cleaning before handover | ABC News
White House historian explains move in process for president, family on Inauguration Day | WJLA News
Melania Trump will not offer White House tour | CTV News
Deep Cleaning the White House Isn’t Really Necessary | The Atlantic
January 15, 2021
Melania Trump to Jill Biden: No tea-and-tour at White House, breaking longstanding tradition | USA Today
In Just 6 Hours, New First Family Is Moved Into White House | Voice of America.
December 9, 2020
Book Talk with Anita McBride and Kate Andersen Brower: Exploring the White House, White House Historical Association
November 11, 2020
Melania Trump has not reached out to Jill Biden either | CNN
November 10, 2020
What’s next for soon-to-be former first lady Melania Trump? | USA Today
October 15, 2020
Barron Trump tested positive for coronavirus, Melania Trump confirms | NBC’s The Today Show
August 26, 2020
Melania Trump’s GOP Convention speech: A closer look | NBC’s The Today Show
Anita McBride: Melania Trump ‘presented where we are as a nation' | MSNBC
August 25, 2020
First lady lends grace to Trump’s reelection bid | Washington Times
August 17, 2020
Three first ladies who risked their lives to advance civil rights | CNN August 17, 2020
August 13, 2020
Melania Trump plots convention speech that hopes to avoid past missteps | CNN
June 30, 2020
History of Staffing the First Lady, White House History Weekly
Barbara Perry
March 16, 2022
First ladies help fight the good fight during war
April 25, 2021
In “The Triumph of Nancy Reagan,” her deeply researched and compellingly crafted biography of the 40th president’s second wife, Washington Post columnist Karen Tumulty paints a striking portrait of how this unique partnership shaped Ronald Reagan’s political career, from the California governor’s mansion to the White House.
On the world stage, Nancy Reagan found the role of a lifetime | Miller Center
August 31, 2020
How John F. Kennedy and Eleanor Roosevelt went from rivals to allies | Miller Center
August 25, 2020
Melania Trump's task at the Republican Convention | Dallas News
June 25, 2020
Season 4, Episode 5: Eleanor Roosevelt and JFK | JFK Library
November 11, 2013
First Ladies-First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy | CSPAN
'Race for the White House' - CNN
Note: I was the scholar-consultant on this series and appeared in all the episodes, including the one on 2008, which includes Hillary's contest with Obama for the nomination.
Katherine A. S. Sibley
May 4, 2022
Jill Biden to visit displaced Ukrainians in Eastern Europe
May 15, 2021
Jill Biden Is Exactly What Washington, D.C., Needs: A Philly Girl | Philadelphia Magazine
November 1, 2020
The Media-Savvy First Lady | Journalism History Podcast
August 25, 2020
First Lady Melania Trump to Speak at Night Two of the RNC Convention | NBC10 Philadelphia
May 16, 2020
Michelle Obama: Back to the White House? | Matisak's Blog (A Stamp on the World)
Nancy Kegan Smith
September 30 , 2021
AU partners with the First Ladies Association for Research and Education to study US first ladies - The Eagle (theeagleonline.com)
March 31, 2021
First Ladies Who Risked Their Lives for Civil Rights, Archives Foundation | YouTube
December 7, 2020
American POTUS, First Ladies: Supporting Their Causes and Their Country | American POTUS Podcast
August 17, 2020
Three First Ladies Who Risked Their Lives to Advance Civil Rights | CNN
Tammy Vigil
Nov. 17, 2021
In Her Quiet Way, Jill Biden Reinvents Role Of US First Lady
October 15, 2021
Jill Biden travels to Virginia, New Jersey to help Democrats | AP News
March 8, 2021
Jill Biden Sees Teachable Moment in the Depths of a Pandemic | Associated Press
September 27, 2020
Political Spouses: Their Impact on the Campaign Trail | The News Virginian
August 5, 2020
Michelle Obama, l’Atout Gagnant de Joe Biden dans la Presidentielle Americaine | L’Express
August 25, 2020
Melania Trump Taking Rose Garden Turn to Pitch Her Husband | The Associated Press
May 16, 2020
Michelle Obama: Back to the White House? | Matisak's Blog (A Stamp on the World)
Previously Featured FLARE Members
Lewis L. Gould
Lewis L. Gould, the Eugene Barker Centennial Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Texas-Austin, has been named the inaugural recipient of an award that recognizes distinguished contributions to research and education about America’s first ladies. The award, which will be named for Prof. Gould, was announced today by the First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE).
FLARE’s founding president and first lady scholar, Myra Gutin, said this of Gould’s influence on the field: "Dr. Lewis L. Gould's pioneering work opened the door to the development of a new discipline, the study of the first lady. He encouraged and inspired a generation of scholars and others interested in the presidential spouse to research and then share what they had learned with the American public. He has been our guiding light."
The award was presented to Prof. Gould during a special virtual ceremony on June 10, 2021 (Lewis L. Gould Award Ceremony - YouTube). In receiving the award, Gould said: “The launching of FLARE is a welcome development to all of us who have followed the history of First Ladies over the past four decades. Intensive study of these important women can now go forward. I am deeply honored both in the name of the award and the choice of the first recipient.”
For more than forty years, Prof. Gould has been a pioneer in the study of the wives of America’s Presidents. He was the first to develop a university-level course on the history and legacies of America’s first ladies at the University of Texas-Austin in 1982. Two years later he was the keynote speaker at the first national first ladies conference, convened by Mrs. Betty Ford. He has authored more than a dozen books, including The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, The Modern American Presidency, Lady Bird Johnson and the Environment, and American First Ladies: Their Lives and Their Legacies. His book that analyzed Lady Bird Johnson’s contribution to environmentalism was the first attempt to demonstrate a first lady’s impact on the American society. In 1998, Gould became the editor for the Modern First Ladies series published by the University Press of Kansas.
Myra G. Gutin, Ph.D.
Myra Gutin, Ph.D. is the Founding President of FLARE and a Founding Lifetime Member. Dr. Gutin is Professor Emerita in the Department of Communication, Journalism and Media at Rider University. She has studied first ladies since working on her doctorate and attended the first national first ladies conference convened by Betty Ford in 1984. She is the author of The President's Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century and Barbara Bush: Presidential Matriarch. She contributed to Report to the First Lady, a compendium of articles about the history and function of the Office of the First Lady that was presented to former first lady Laura Bush.
A frequent media commentator, she has written book chapters, journal articles, op. ed. pieces and has made numerous presentations at national and regional communication conferences. Myra served as a special consultant to the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling first ladies exhibit during its sojourn at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, spoke about former first lady Barbara Bush as part of C-SPAN’s American First Ladies series and spoke about first ladies at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia during the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Dr. Tammy R. Vigil
Tammy R. Vigil is a FLARE Inaugural Individual Lifetime member. Dr. Vigil is Senior Associate Dean and Associate Professor in the College of Communication at Boston University. She is the author of Moms in Chief: The Rhetoric of Republican Motherhood and the Spouses of Presidential Nominees and Melania & Michelle: First Ladies in a New Era.
Barbara Perry
Bio blurb: Barbara Perry is the Gerald L. Baliles Professor and Director of Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, where she co-directs the Presidential Oral History Program. She is the author of Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier and a forthcoming book on the political relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and John Kennedy.
