House, six years as mrs. Obamas chief of staff during the entire eight years, i also ran the White House Council on women and girls. And so theres a special place in my heart for women in the white house, where women in history or women as leaders our country, and how important it is to tell that story wherever it is and bring out that rich history. I was struck last night by the photo of the first steak dinner that we saw and how it was just a bunch of men gathered in the blue there and how things are now, but how we should uncover the stories because there were clearly women behind all those men standing in that picture as. There are women throughout history and through what were doing. And so that how we will the panel that we will have this morning to discuss this. And so let me introduce our panels. We have as our moderator, greta bronner, who is a host for cspan and executive producer for the affairs programing, joining her on stage on our panel. Be Amy Bracewell superintend of the Eleanor RooseveltNational Historic site brut brooke clement, whos the director of the Gerald R Ford president ial library and museum Barbara Franklin the 29th United States secretary of commerce and Christina Shutt executive director of the Abraham Lincoln president ial library and museum. So let me welcome then to the stage and enjoy the discussion. Good morning, everyone. Im glad youre all here this morning. I heard there were some people, you know, participating the at the bar last night. So it was nice of you all to get up early and join us for this conversation. And i do hope its a conversation this morning. Were going to talk up here for about an hour and were going to open up to questions. But i also want to throw out there we would to hear your comments and your ideas as well, so that its a conversation with all of you this morning as well. So let me just get started im going to start with our directors and our superintendents of these president ial sites and then well talk to secretary franklin. So lets just begin, brooke, down at the and well go down the line here. If you could just talk about big picture your site and how did you get to the position that youre in today . Okay i am the director of the Gerald R Ford president ial library museum. Its the National Archives position. And so we have actually two sites that we in the National Archives, the Gerald R Ford president ial museum is split the museum is in grand rapids and the library is in ann arbor. So yeah. And then how i got here, i started out at gerald r library in 2004 as an archives technician and then i moved to texas ten years. I worked at both bush library and i moved to chicago, worked at the Obama Library for five years, and now im back at the Gerald R Ford president ial library museum. Im back home. Wonderful. Well, you know, for us, i was like to start our mission to inspire Civic Engagement through the diverse lens. And thats important of Illinois History and share with the world the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. And so that really is who we are as an institution. And were lincolns official president ial library and, of course, his museum. But we also tell the story of Illinois History. So contextualizing lincoln, not just as this sort of great man who went to washington, but really providing context about his illinois roots, about the life that he built, about the women in his lives. And we do that in. Our facility in springfield. And then in terms of my background, i am a and museum nerd at heart. I thought i was going to be ice cream taste tester thats what i wanted to be using. But i just am so passionate about libraries and museums and them and these Community Connected places. So ive worked in libraries, museums across country most recently before this job i was the director for the mosaic templars center, which is the state of arkansass africanamerican history museum. So i did that and ive been at the lincoln for about two and a half years now. Wonderful for being here, amy. Yes, good morning. Good morning, everyone. My name is Amy Bracewell. It is a privilege to serve as a National ParkService Superintendent over four National Park sites in upstate new york. The home of fdr, Eleanor Roosevelt house, vanderbilt mansion and Martin Van Buren and. Ive been with the park service for about 16 years. I got my as a Student Conservation Association intern as a interns interns and fell in love sharing learning but also sharing it with the public. I was the historian at Mount Rushmore for about six years. I moved on to a tiny park in virginia and and then became superintendent at saratoga National Historical park before moving to hyde park, new york. Wonderful. And as you heard in the introductions by tina, we have a unique perspective this morning with this on the panel. And thats the commerce secretary, Barbara Franklin. Before you know, before you became t you were in the nixon administration, you had a very unique job and role assigned to you by the president. What was it. Well, i should say first. Thank you. Im i was secretary of commerce for george president george h. W. Bush. So thats the time frame. And now we go back 20 years before that. When i in the Nixon White House and my job. Well, let me back again president wanted to advance women in the federal government at a time when not everybody thought that was such a great idea there was not consensus our society then about the proper role of women and i was not that far out of Harvard Business school at a time when nobody knew what to do with a woman mba either was because im older than all of you. Probably i remember all of this anyway. My job. My my job in the Nixon White House was to recruit women for the policymaking in the federal government and what the departments, the cabinet departments and agencies were doing in progress for action plans that the president had required of them. So part and parcel that my job and that had not been done i was not a headhunter by training id come from citibank in new york and i had to just go and beat the bushes and find women all over the who were. And thats what i did, i went to various cities and federal regions and said who were the who were the outstanding women here . And i dont care about their politics. Just tell me who are and from there we built talent bank of women who could considered for that level of appointment and off we went. Now i have to say a lot of people in this or we never do anything all alone and that definitely true back then then and i to say that im proud to have been part of it it would not have happened without president ial leadership at that time either because of our society was. But the results i think speak for themselves and in very first year we nearly quadri people. The number of women in the top jobs and there are women maybe youve never heard of, but maybe you have. But we had jobs that women had never held before. Dixy lee ray was the chair of the old Atomic Energy commission. Catherine maybe dell chair of the whats Something Else now . The tariff commission. There were the first women generals and there and armstrong became became counselor to the president with cabinet rank and the reams of others just like that and its its a its a great chapter once those barriers came down and women into those jobs and did them successfully, there wasnt a question about whether a woman could do that job. That was really the whole the whole point and then the next level down there were breakthroughs as well. Women became fbi agents in narcotic agents and tugboat captains sort hold that. And once again, barriers fell that didnt come back up and subsequent administre sessions just built on the progress. And today you see some more breakthroughs. First woman secretary of the treasury because you have a woman Vice President , thats but the treasury secretary. One was one of the last ones to fall. We havent got defense, but you you just keep keep pecking away and. And thats what has happened. The other thing that happened back then, believe, was because government was an example of how to do things. Im not sure thats quite as true today, but it was then and progress made to advance. Women in the federal government rippled our society and made opportunities available for women in a whole bunch of different eras and walks of life. The secretary is is a essentially saying she put the first binder full of women. I guess so. So i want to know who was pushing this. You said it took president ial leadership. Yes. But who beyond the president do you think was, pushing this, mrs. If anybody knows anything at all about pat nixon. She came a little town in nevada worked her way through and california and then got herself to new york came back married the president. She was, i believe, very influential in in the president s head was on of this. Not that she was overtly vocal, but certainly was about the supreme court. She wanted a woman on the supreme was very unhappy with her husband. According to the oral history from her daughter jewelry. Julie, when her husband didnt appoint a woman. She told him she was not happy about that. I she had a lot to do with that. Yeah. To her her own story and own attitudes and you know pillow talk counts and the thing is, the president did have two daughters. I think that made a difference. The other thing going on at the time with some of you remember was a growing and increasingly noisy Womens Movement and that was starting to have some political clout. I think it was a combination of of things that caused that president to do. He did at that time as i said, i dont think some of these breakthroughs would have made then they would have been made later, but not then unless it had been led by president of the United States. Well, thats a good segue way to. Talk about these the president ial and the first ladies at these president ial. Thats not our focus. But they are, you know, the most prominent women at your sites. And thats what people think of to what your sites. So, amy, if you could start us off, you know, how do you feature the first lady . How do you talk her at your site . Well, it feels like easy topic for us. Eleanor roosevelt, National Historic site is the only park unit dedicated to an individual first lady. And so we have her home, we have her history and its its in addition to her life with fdr. We have his presidency, we have his history. But she her site was established and her history and legacy was really on its own right with her own agency and her own mission. And often during fdr, president s see she would go perhaps against what he was able to do politically and constrained by politics. She was able to go out and speak freely on civil rights and lynching and other human rights ventures. So its its great place to start learning about how to have a voice, how to be a change agent, especially in politics, may or may not up to speed to where youre thinking. We also like to think youre talking about, you know, bedroom conversations when president roosevelt contracted polio, she really ramped up her travels. She was his eyes and ears across the nation going to different places, all in the us, but also around the world coming back and telling him what lives were like, what people were going through. People would write her letters and through her relationship ups she became very Close Relationships with women, with women who were making changes the world. Mary Mcleod Bethune, pauli murray and we tell stories as well. We really elevate all of those stories and give them their own platform for they were doing and not necessarily in association with someone else. And well talk about that in a little, those other women. But im curious how are featuring what youre talking about at your site when it comes to the first lady. Sure. So we have our traditional house tours. You can learn about her, really. We focus on kind of post fdr death, 1945 to 1962. Shes writing a daily my day column. Shes sharing her thoughts with the public. She was appointed to un committee for human rights and is actively writing universal declaration of human rights, which were celebrating the 75th anniversary of this. So we we get into that we get into her World Campaign for human rights every day. And we do we share we go into her relationships, her stories. She lived at val hill with a couple, Marian Dickerman and nancy cook. We just finished commissioning a a study on Eleanor Roosevelt and sexuality and theres a copy in the exhibit room for people to peruse. And so we try to tell that whole breadth. But what i also hope that we can do at her site is have it be at a place for people to explore these conversations, for people to learn from eleanors passion about human rights and being a change agent and figuring out how can do that ourselves. Because she worked every day to change the world. I dont know how she that energy between a my day column and traveling she was very impressive and i think theres a lot that we take from that. Christina yes. So were fortunate to have a very sort of well discussed, but also well misunderstood. First lady. So for us, you know, the most prominent space that see her and you see mary lincoln is through the the blue room. So we have a recreated white house. When you walk into our museum and you see mary lincoln and shes getting dressed for a ball. Elizabeth is zipping up or i guess tying her up in the back. And then all of these sort of headless mannequins who are supposed to be other wealthy white women who are in the original design were gossiping about mary and talking about how much. They hate mary lincoln. And its one of those things where i can always tell if the exhibit team, the Design Museum was diverse or not, because if its not, thats the kind of narrative you get when. And of course, the exhibits field is overwhelmingly male and which is part of the challenge. Right. But so you have these kind of headless women who gossiping about mary, and that was the original interpretation. And one of the ways in which weve actually that is to really start to center the women in their own stories. So instead of talking about all the ways that these women hated mary, really talking about what were these women doing at the time using their social and Political Capital at a time where they couldnt vote to try and change the conversation and to try and push the narrative or push the needle. And so weve thats area in which weve really focused on updating the interpreter option and making it more modern. So when little girls on school trips come to visit us, they can see that even in, you know the 1860s women were making an impact and essential to the story of america its not just they were gossiping and dressed for a pretty ball when you went to have that conversation about changing the exhibit, was it like, you know, i had some people who said, oh, were ready for it. And of course, there were folks who said, well, but what did women like . Women just got dressed up and went to pretty balls. And i think that starts with this sort of assumption and recentering peoples assumptions, right . If we begin with an assumption that that women were footnotes to, history, then there will always be footnotes to history. We begin with the assumption that women were essential but you cannot understand the american story. Understanding the role of women. They would begin to look for those places which women were acting and moving right. That becomes the place with with which we draw our story. So then when were sitting and having those conversation about, well, what is the interpretation, what should the exhibit look like, then we with the place that, okay, were putting out the exhibit where women and i think the same thing goes true to you know were africanamerican hands were latinos, right . Were american is where are these people . Because we know that they were essential and are essential to understanding the american story, brooke. First lady and how youre how you are putting it, your exhibit. Well, i think its great. Christina brought up the assumptions like you got mrs. Ford and everyone loves buddy you know shes i her but she she is not represented i would say in our exhibit like we we have these assumptions people want to come to our museum and want to see the pretty dresses or the china sets. But she is to host elaborate state dinners. And i think that its since the first iteration of the president ial shes definitely more present, but its still not enough like are lucky to be entering 50th anniversaries of the ford presidency and so were going to have an opportunity to really dive a lot deeper into the story and how she was implementing implementing change within the womens Rights Movement like ensuring that that women were getting you know essay and things and again like she as barbara was just mentioning, his like she was that the voice the pillow talk but the president ford had and they had a daughter too and you know these president s who have daughters they are feminists and in their own way and so i think that we just to amplify those sto