Of America’s 46 First Ladies, nine were born in New York State. This illustrated lecture explores the lives and legacies of these women, each with a different, fascinating tale to tell.
The most recent are also the most well-known: Eleanor Roosevelt; Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Nancy Reagan, and Barbara Bush. But the others have stories deserving to be re-discovered. One saved Mme. De Lafayette from the guillotine during the French Revolution, while another, the “Rose of Long Island,” married a president 30 years her senior.
Another First Lady from NY gave birth to a daughter whose name was affixed to a candy bar — a treat that’s still popular today, even as the story behind it has been almost forgotten.
In celebration of Women’s History Month, this talk, given by educator, writer and lecturer Elizabeth Kahn Kaplan introduces audiences to the nine intriguing First Ladies from NY and explores the social, political, and economic differences among them. Syosset Public Library, 2 p.m. Free. Open the public. March 21.
