"Report to the First Lady - 2001"

In an effort to support the next first lady, White House Studies, together with the National First Ladies' Library and Nova Science Publishers, is co-sponsoring the first-ever Report to the First Lady. Under the direction of Robert P. Watson, Editor of White House Studies, the Report will feature a collection of essays that cover the primary responsibilities and duties of the first lady and offer advice to the next first lady. A highlight of the Report will be letters from former first ladies Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, and Barbara Bush and a welcome from Mary Regula, President of the National First Ladies' Library. Both a tribute to the first ladies and working report, the project will be presented to the next first lady, spouse of the vice president, and senior aides in both spouses' offices.

The contributors include a wide array of scholars and experts on the first ladyship. Together, the list includes well known media commentators and authors of numerous books on the first ladies.

Claudia Anderson, Researcher, Lyndon B. Johnson Library. Carl Sferrazza Anthony, author and media commentator. Jeffrey Ashley, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Saginaw Valley State University. Jean Becker, Aide to President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. Patricia Brady, Director of Publications for the Historic New Orleans Collection. Susan Roth Breitzer, Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Iowa. Barbara Burrell, Associate Director of the Public Opinion Lab at Northern Illinois University. Edith P. Mayo, Curator Emeritus at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Nancy Kegan Smith, Director of Presidential Materials, National Archives and Records Admin. Betty Houchin Winfield, Professor of Journalism at the University of Missouri.

Several distinguished members of the WHS editorial board-all of whom have published on the first ladies-are also contributing to the Report:

Catherine Allgor, Assistant Professor of History at Simmons College. Virginia Chanley, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Florida International University. Anthony Eskterowicz, Professor of Political Science at James Madison University. Raymond Frey, Professor of History, Centenary College. Frances Hughes Glendening, First Lady of Maryland. Myra Gutin, Professor of Communications at Rider University. Mary Linehan, Associate Professor of History, Spalding University. Elizabeth Thacker-Estrada, Librarian and Department Manager, San Francisco Public Library. Gil Troy, Professor of History, McGill University (Canada). Robert P. Watson, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Hawaii, Hilo.

An overview of the Report will be made available on this website shortly after it is presented to the next first lady.