Abigail Adams: First Lady Ahead of Her Time

Beth Kelly, PhD, from DePaul University, explores the remarkable life of Abigail Adams, who was the wife of one president, John Adams, and the mother of another, John Quincy Adams. Although denied formal education, she left a rich legacy of letters in which she documented the issues faced by women in the 18th century. She served as her husband’s clos-est counsellor and staunchest supporter throughout his service as a founding father, as a diplomat in Paris and London, and as the nation’s second president elected in 1796.