would be a library where you could come in and look at the letters, the real letters, of john and abigail adams or of john quincy adams or of jeso adams on display and these exhibits would change from time to time and you could go out and be in the garden, you want to sit on a nice bench, and it would be a garden of the kind that abigail had with fruit trees and flowers and herbs and so forth, and it would be sort of an oasis in the m midst of washington. and there would be other exhibits as well from time to time. and the library of congress and the massachusetts historical society, which are the great repositories of adams family papers, have thus far said that they would be very happy to have some of their treasures on loan at the library. and i think it would be in keeping with part of their great contribution to american life. it isn't just -- in my view it isn't just that john and abigail adams did what they did as patriots, as believers in the cause of america and the independence and equality, but that they wrote what they did. they recorded what was happening. they describe the people.

and like another more famous couple, john and abigail adams, their letters were filled with writings about political events going on at the time. both of them were obsessed with politics. both of them couldn't wait to learn more about what would happen. and, of course, they had both a personal and a political interest in what was going on since the fate of their relationship to some extent depended on the fate of the colonies. finally, in 1770, joseph reed, having become a successful lawyer in philadelphia, returned to england, married his love, and took her back along with her widowed mother to settle in what was still part of the american colonies. the couple subsequently had four children. now, the political situation into which reed entered as a young wife was one in which the controversy with britain was already in full swing. and in this controversy, male political leaders had already discovered that they had a weapon, a secret weapon, that could be mobilized in their battles with great britain, and that weapon was women. beginning with the stamp act in 1765, then with the town

i can see abigail adams sitting and clutching her scorching hot cup of joe, john adams saying sit downnd drink your damn coffee, woman. she really was the brains of the outfit. my mother is overworked, tired, but her still solid body stood hard as a rock. i'm not going to cry, as a tear falls down from her face. don't cry, mom, don't cry. [cheers and applause] >> that was her first time ever. yay! and up next we have indiana telepenova. >> a recipe for water. start with the color magenta, a burning asphalt, of beach ball sighing out its life, a garden grown on accident after accident, add a father painting shelves on the cove, a pinch of guilt, statues of isabella butter flisse -- butterflies, and extinct alpha betts, a teaspoon of autumn leaves, a shepard playing with the winds, some animal begging for snow. mix vigorously like the mountain mixes up its slopes. preheat the bed of a star to -- 240 light-years away. thank you. and next is -- [cheers and applause]

that this ties into in maybe some sort of mega cyclical way the famous letters between john and abigail adams from seven hundred eighty seven when he was helping write the constitution and she wrote to him and she wrote and i quote remember remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than were your ancestors and then he wrote back and i quote depending on it depend on it that we know better than to repeal our masculine systems and then she wrote back to him saying if particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies we are determined to foment a rebellion you know can you draw art from there or through the suffrage movement to the feminists of the sixty's and didn't each produce a counterrevolution a backlash. yes each did produce a backlash account of evolution and in almost every case those counterrevolution reactions attracted many women on the other side so i think the lesson here is that these things don't divide women and men that it really is more foundational about the values people hold about religion it's america and america as a democracy as a civil society

for me, it's not how long i served or about history, for me, history books were jane adams and abigail adams and powdered wigs. i walk a day where i have time to powder my nose, let alone powder my wig. the fact was that when i wanted to grow up was to be of service. >> the celebration continues. house minority leader nancy pelosi is hosting a woman's history month reception in her honor. >>> we want to talk to someone who is familiar with barbara mikulski and what she means as a woman running for office and jeff mcintosh is -- and that is an organization dedicated to electing pro-choice democratic women to every level of political office. and thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> and i am going to guess you worked closely with senator mikulski over the years. is that important to your organization? >> yes. yes. this milestone is exciting. we helped elect pro-choice democratic women and senator mikulski was our first victory. 26 years ago, when she was elected to the senate, no democratic woman had been elected to the senate in their own right and that blows my mind that that

we spend the whole century and as you know arbors the whole century and as you know arbors to abigail adams and senator mikulski just sad. but one of the new groups that is here his moms rising who is putting us online. [applause] and we are going to go under animals. we have all coalition, old friends and we have new coalition, which stands for health and economic rights and they are going to be giving a whole panel after this event. for 25 years, we have tried to concentrate on projects and to bolster in every way because the ongoing drive for equal rights. i want to just go through some of the bills that we have worked on and you have to do. somewhere under to spearhead and others were just soldiers in the battle tracks worth a total of first he equality. 1991 please formed in 1991 -- 1987 weaver formed shortly after that we restored title ix all of us working together in the civil rights restoration act which was started in the reagan and industry should. we restored it and we've been fighting to keep it ever since. we got to keep title ix. then we could all hold anita hill thing and we

they have not had direct access to power, and it is actually on this date march 31st in 1776 when abigail adams"remember the ladies." let me start with you dr. karolyi. from that moment until this one, until the pushing up first ladies, are the first ladies actually exercising power? do we see real power in this position? >> well, abigail was outstanding, because she insisted that they called her mrs. president, some people, because she talked about the political divisions, and she was really assertive, but then there were many who absolutely stayed in the background and most americans don't know their names. >> although they would know the names if they had my trusty first lady's fan given any first lady emergency there. >> and you get the birth dates, and what they did. and the major accomplishments and projects were, but there was a period when they were invisible. what has happened since 1960, particularly since lady bird johnson in 1963, they are a viable part of the presidency with their own projects and they have all campaigned and write their own book p about the white house when they l

to me, barbara said history is powder wigs and jane jane adamsd abigail adams, both pioneers in their own right. however, barbara is a pioneer. she is only the second woman to be elected to first the house and then the senate. today in congress there are 76 women in the house and 17 in the senate. as dean of the senate women, she served as a role model and a mentor to many of these women. to put this in perspective, when she first arrived in the senate, there weren't any natural mentors to teach her the ways of the senate. at the time, even the senate gym was off-limits. a lot has changed since then, and barbara had a lot to do with it. later, as more women were elected to the senate, barbara worked with them to help them understand the senate and how best to be an effective senator, both here and back home. she wanted to give back. most importantly, regardless of party or issue, barbara would push her female colleagues in the senate to think differently, encouraging them to think of themselves as a force, a force of good and ofttimes a force for change. and i know many are grateful n

maybe john adams because abigail had primed him. now, what happened in new jersey is that the legislatures -- legislators in the state of new jersey took this principle of no taxation without representation seriously. and took it to its furthest extremes. in 1776, the continental congress asked each state to write its own constitution. and when the state of new jersey was writing its first constitution, when it devised the provision regarding suffrage, it semple lsimply talt it in gender-neutral terms. it said all inhabitants who are worth 50 pounds proclamation money are vitaled vitaled to v. now, this gender neutral language is not in itself significant. if you look at the early state constitutions, more than half of them do not limit voting to men. what was different in new jersey is that in 1790 and in 1797, state legislators clarified the meaning of this provision, and they passed election statutes in which they referred to voters using the pronoun "he" and "she." so new jersey actually extended the franchise to all adult membe

you know, for me history books were jane adams and abigail adams and powdered wigs and i just welcome a day when i even have time to powder my know, let alone powder my wig. the fact is that when i wanted to grow up i wanted to be of service. i learned that in my home, in my family, in my community, and with the wonderful nuns who taught me. my colleagues have talked about my wonderful mother and father. i had a terrific mother and father. and i'm so happy today that my two sisters and my fantastic brother in laws are joining me here today. i only wish my mother and father could be here with me because they worked so hard to see that my cities ters sisters and i han education, at significant sacrifice to them. but they were really wonderful people and you saw them in the life of business. every day my father would open his grocery store and say, good morning. can i help you? and when he did, he wanted to make sure that his customers got a fair deal. he opened his grocery store during the new deal because he believed in roosevelt, as my father said, "i knew roosevelt believed in me." t