The July 4 holiday usually brings to mind the men we’ve been taught to associate with the birth of our country: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and others. Their contributions have justly earned them the appellation of Founding Fathers.
But what about the “Founding Mothers?”
The truth is that in large measure nearly all the Founding Fathers’ contributions were made possible or least significantly facilitated by strong and wise women in their lives whose stories have not had equal time in our early education: What of Martha Washington, Deborah Franklin, Abigail Adams, and others? We may know their names, but too little about the indispensable roles they played.
The late ABC and NPR Journalist Cokie Roberts authored a NY Times Best Seller “Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation” to give these women their historical due. If you’d like a preview of the book, check this out this 8-minute interview of Ms. Roberts by another great author, Walter Isaacson, at the Aspen Institute.
Note: Coke Roberts was a “Founding Mother” herself. She has been called the “Founding Mother of NPR.” She led the way for many other women in the journalism field as her many professional awards attest. Journalism is the poorer for her passing in 2019. Share her story with a young woman in your life.
