June - Founding Mothers

Founding Mothers (2005)

by Cokie Roberts

Wednesday, June 17, at 1pm 

Legendary journalist Cokie Roberts' New York Times bestseller, Founding Mothers, is 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.

Drawing upon personal correspondence, private journals, and even favored recipes, Roberts reveals the often surprising stories of  fascinating women in the American Revolution, bringing to life the everyday trials and extraordinary triumphs of individuals like Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Deborah Read Franklin, Eliza Pinckney, Catherine Littlefield Green, Esther DeBerdt Reed, and Martha Washington—proving that without our exemplary women, the new country might have never survived.

 Resources:

• The Westwood (Mass) Public Library has created a page with author bio, discussion questions and read-a-likes.
• A University of California interview with Cokie Roberts shortly after the book was published. 
• A virtual exhibit on "When Women Lost the Vote" from the Museum of the American Revolution
• Field Trip, anyone? "Founding Mothers: Women in the American Revolution" - a free lecture at the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk July 18, 2026
• I recommend a field trip to Boston - to Commonwealth Ave Mall (the park up the middle of the road) for The Boston Women's Memorial, which has statues of two Revolutionary era women from the book. 
• You can find out more about all of the women in Roberts' book online. But as a former professional historian, I have a soft spot for historians like Mercy Otis Warren, so I'll add this link for more on her from the Mount Vernon website., which has lots of profiles relevant to this book.

Keep reading:

• HTL's US@250 booklist of titles related to the American Revolution.
• Some of Cokie Roberts' other books : Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868; Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation; and We Are Our Mothers’ Daughters
• Learn about more founding mothers, noted on panels in our National Parks.