Cokie Roberts delivers an intimate and illuminating look at the fervently patriotic and passionate women whose tireless pursuits on behalf of their families (and their country) proved just as crucial to the forging of a new nation as the rebellion that established it. While much has been written about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, battled the British, and framed the Constitution, the wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters they left behind have been little noticed by history. Presented in collaboration with the WAND Education Fund and the Old South Meeting House as part of the Partners in Public Dialogue Series.
Cokie Roberts (1943-2019) was a senior news analyst for *NPR News*, where she served as the congressional correspondent for more than 10 years. In addition to her work for NPR, Roberts was 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*. 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. In addition to her appearances on the airwaves, Roberts, along with her husband, Steven V. Roberts, wrote a weekly column syndicated in newspapers around the country by United Media. The Roberts were also contributing editors to *USA Weekend Magazine*, and together they wrote* From this Day Forward*, an account of their more than 40 year marriage and other marriages in American history. The book immediately went onto *The New York Times* bestseller list, following Cokie Roberts's number one bestseller, *We Are Our Mothers' Daughters*, an account of women's roles and relationships throughout American history. Roberts histories of women in America's founding era Founding Mothers, published in 2004 and Ladies of Liberty in 2008, also became instant bestsellers. Cokie Roberts earned more than twenty honorary degrees, served on the boards of several non-profit institutions and on the President's Commission on Service and Civic Participation. The Library of Congress named her a "Living Legend"in 2008. She is one of the very few Americans to have attained that honor.