Better Half E1 - Remember The Ladies 1789 - 1865

Scattered Curiosities

This is the inaugural episode of an introductory four-part mini-series regarding the First Ladies of the United States of America. The New Nation's inception thought nothing of what to call the President's wife as "First Lady" did not appear in print until thirty-six years after Martha Washington's death. Because women have been so thoroughly shafted in history, much of our familiarity of them come from personal correspondence, leaving us to know some better than others; compare the five existing notes of Mrs. Washington to the over 1,200 of "Mrs. President," Abigail Adams. Unfortunately, a number of those presidential partners chose to destroy letters to protect the legacy of the men under which they were operose. Get to know the First wives, daughters, and nieces from the birth of the Republic until the end of the Civil War. The White House will be built, burned, and renovated several times over by a diverse pool of American Queens, including a First Lady who dies there, one that never steps foot inside the home, and one that deputed "Hail to the Chief" as its theme song. Additionally, we will meet the mysterious "Rose of Long Island," explore a Presidential love affair worthy of Van Halen and dive into the ignominious Petticoat Affair where the "Mean Girls" of the Washington elite cause an uproar in the President's cabinet.