In celebration of Mrs. Ford’s birthday in April, The Ford Library is marking the occasion with a presentation from Allida Black, one of the country’s top experts on First Ladies.

History records that Betty Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt often spoke bluntly on issues they championed with a candor that sometimes made the White House senior staff recoil, pundits leap for their pens, and citizens discuss issues they usually chose to ignore. Only now are scholars beginning to realize the impact they had on their administrations' policies and their parties' electoral politics. Outspoken Women will explore the political influence these two remarkable first ladies had on their husband's public policy initiatives, their re-election efforts, and the national conservation about what citizenship in a democracy requires.

Allida Black is Research Professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University, and Historian and Director of the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers.

Open Seating; Free Admission; Free Parking; Reception follow program.