Why should the Founding Fathers get all the credit? Bestselling author Cokie Roberts will visit the Historical Society of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, February 4, at 6 p.m. for the Philadelphia launch of her newly released children’s book Founding Mothers: Remembering the Ladies. Roberts will read from her book and discuss the struggles to establish a nation as seen through the eyes of our nation’s women. This public event is co-sponsored by the Museum of the American Revolution.

In her lively and beautifully illustrated children’s book, based on her bestselling adult book, Roberts introduces young readers to the brave, brilliant, and enterprising women whose influence on the founding of our country was as instrumental as that of the men whose names are inked in history.

From Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, and Martha Washington to lesser-known figures like Catharine Littlefield Greene and Sally Livingston Jay, Roberts shares the wonderfully inspiring stories of our Founding Mothers—the women who tended home and hearth often under dire circumstances, ran farms and businesses, fought on the front lines of battle, wrote propaganda that called a nation to arms, acted as spies, and raised money for the troops. She weaves together anecdotes, diary excerpts, and correspondence; draws on military records, newspaper accounts, songs, and poetry; intersperses her own insightful and colorful commentary throughout, and provides a historical timeline highlighting women’s roles during key events of the American Revolution.

In Founding Mothers, Roberts introduces young readers to women who faced an uncertain future, believed in the revolutionary concept of a democratic society, and offered a steady hand to guide the fledgling nation.

Page Talbott, interim president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, will lead a Q&A with Roberts after the book reading. Books will be available for sale.

About the Author

Cokie Roberts is a political commentator for ABC News, providing analysis for all network news programming. From 1996-2002 she and Sam Donaldson co-anchored the weekly ABC interview program This Week.  Roberts also serves as commentator for National Public Radio. In her more than forty years in broadcasting, she has won countless awards, including three Emmys. She has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame, and was cited by the American Women in Radio and Television as one of the fifty greatest women in the history of broadcasting.

Cokie Roberts has written several bestselling books, including the number one New York Times bestseller, We Are Our Mothers’ Daughters, Founding Mothers, and Ladies of Liberty.  In addition she has written two books with her husband, Steven V. Roberts, that include From This Day Forward, an account of their now more than forty-five year marriage and other marriages in American history, which immediately went onto the New York Times bestseller list, and Our Haggadah: Uniting Traditions for Interfaith Families. Cokie Roberts holds more than twenty honorary degrees, serves on the boards of several non-profit institutions and President Bush appointed her to his Commission on Service and Civic Participation. In 2008 the Library of Congress named her a “Living Legend,” one of the very few Americans to have attained that honor. She is the mother of two and grandmother of six.

Event Information

WHEN: 6 p.m. Tuesday, February 4

WHERE: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia

RSVP: Online at www.hsp.org/foundingmothers or by phone at 215-732-6200 x227

COST: $10 general admission. Free for K-12 students, educators, and members of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

About the Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Founded in 1824 in Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania collects and shares the stories of Pennsylvania. It is home to some 600,000 printed items and more than 21 million manuscript and graphic items. Its unparalleled collections encompass more than 300 years of America’s history—from its 17th-century origins to the contributions of its most recent immigrants. The society’s remarkable holdings together with its educational programming make it one of the nation’s most important special collections libraries: a center of historical documentation and study, education, and engagement.

About the Museum of the American Revolution

To be built in historic Philadelphia, just steps from Independence Hall, the Museum of the American Revolution will use its distinguished collection of objects, artifacts, artwork, and manuscripts to tell the complete story of the American Revolution, bringing to life the original “greatest generation” and engaging people in the history and continuing relevance of the American Revolution. For more information, visit www.AmRevMuseum.org or call toll free, 877-740-1776.