abigail adams ever the patriot, wanted to open a door for these refugees. she rented out the house to a farmer and his son. they would provide assistance to abigail on the farm here. she reported to john and one of her letters that she met with some very ill treatment. she asked the farmer to share his house with the refugees, but he refused. by the time abigail received a response from john adams, like many things, she had solved this problem herself and reported to john later. she had taken care of the problem. she paid the farmer to leave the premises, providing the opportunity for her to house refugees leaving from boston. there are troops that are watching in her yard, practicing their maneuvers in preparation for war. she reports to john that young john quincy is out behind the house marching proudly behind the militia. at one point, there were militia living in the upstairs attic and also the second floor. she welcomed these militia men to her home and supported the revolutionary war with her actions. >> their lives and trajectory took them through th

abigail adams birthplace, which was built in 1685. it is in weymouth. it is where abigail smith adams was born. she lived for the first 20 years of her life there until she married john adams in 1764. she continued to be connected to this house throughout her life. she visited throughout her parents' lives. this was a place where her character and ideals were formed so it's very important to her. we are an all volunteer organization and we try to continue her spirit by offering educational programs and we also offer seasonal tours and private tours. and if you would like more information, please check out our website at abigailadamsbirthplace.org. when i first joined the abigail adams birthplace board a few years ago, despite knowing how prevalent slavery was in early new england, i was still shocked to discover that there were slaves in the home where abigail adams grew up. her antislavery sentiments are well-known, but her father, reverend williams smith, had at least four slaves. cato, tower, tom and phoebe. these individuals were i

. >> and what of the relationship between martha washington and abigail adams? >> it was wonderful. abigail loved martha. she met her when she was the wife of the vice president. and whenever they had social events, they were very close. and abigail wrote whenever she wrote about martha which wasn't that much but when she did write about martha it was in the most glowing terms. >> one of the things she did is that just after she knew that john was going to be elected, she wrote to martha washington asking her about how to be the first lady. about etiquette and how she would carry on. >> right. martha wrote back and said -- you know inside yourself how to behave. >> and we know that is a tradition that continues today for new incoming first ladies reach out to the people who have served before to understand the enormity of this task. here is a call next. it is from ron in everett, washington. hi, ron. >> caller: good evening. thanks for the program. thanks for taking my call. i've read and one of miss gelles's books and some of the earlier works on john adams, but i still think the mo

tonight, we look at the first two first ladies, martha washington and an abigail adams, watch it tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on americann abigail ad watch it tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv o abigail adams, watch it tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv oabigail adams, watch it tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. >> now on a look at the history of gay rights in the united states, the pioneering gafiy fis of lilli vincenz and a guy rights group founded in 1950. ♪ >>> a portion of the 1968 film the second largest minority by producer and director lilli vincenz. joining us is charles francis the president of the society ney washington, d.c., which is what? >> we are an lgbt history society with the motto of archive activism and by that i mean we find old materials that have been forgotten, sealed or just basically deleted and use those materials to talk about gay civil rights and the ongoing struggle for gay civil equality. >> we will show you both of the films in its entirety and the one is seven minutes, and the other 12 minut

left so and bringing this full circle, for people who have been introduced to abigail adams, tonight was the important thing to know about her? what was her impact your influence on american history

soon pretty will be just on adams or abigail or jeff with the adams or entire adams family.avid: this is still open for discussion and the congress has passed a bill making it possible. and the president has signed the bill. now at work out location. we become part of the group was trying to see this happen. it has to be location in keeping with the importance principally disgrace. there is no monument, no stature nothing of john adams in my opinion the opinion of others, except for george washington. as the most important american the time. but if you to know what i think it should be read i think it should not be another marble tomb or something like that's. i don't think it should try to rival either the washington monument of the lincoln memorial the jefferson memorial and skill. i cannot be 18th century skill. noises should be modest in size. the name promoting is mistaken, the idea that it will be adams library american letters. it will be a library open to visitors in a garden. and some more as idea of was a library in the garden. john adams thought that to read i kno

tonight, we look at the first two first ladies, martha washington and an abigail adams, watch it tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on americann abigail ad watch it tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv o abigail adams, watch it tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv oabigail adams, watch it tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. >> now on a look at the history of gay rights in the united states, the pioneering gafiy fis of lilli vincenz and a guy rights group founded in 1950. ♪ >>> a portion of the 1968 film the second largest minority by producer and director lilli vincenz.

i should say john and abigail adams. it has been a journey such as i have never had before i never set foot in the 18th century before. when one goes into the 18th century you give up a great deal that is advantageous to the writing biography in the 19h and 20th centuries. there are no photographs, no old outtakes from television interviews. very few examples of what we take to mean as journalism to bear very little resemblance to the newspaper coverage that continues into our own time. but what it does have and in many ways are the letters and diaries of the people of the time but in the case of the adams it is possible because of what they wrote and their letters to each other and other members of the family and their diaries, to know them better than we can know any of the founders. not even franklin takes us into his confidence the way john adams did. he poured out his innermost feelings all of his life on paper. sometimes to his detriment to tell us more than he should. he was a wonderful writer as was abigail. eith

old john adams was struck to her. abigail never really did, but john did. >> she was born in england and educated in france and remained a foreign personality to many of the adams, but not to henry as a world traveler himself. >> she was very well educated, very sophisticated, socially i would say, and she sort of entertained john quincy's road to the white house. >> she was not happy about returning to washington as the weight of a congressman. we >> p) >> louisa catherine a ams essentially became the campaign manager for her husband john quincy adams run for the presidency in 182 by dominating the capital ci y's social circuit. cr> following a conte ted election, the adams'our years in the white house ere a turbulent perio in american politic in washington society. cr> >> we'll look at lo isa adams'relationship with ohn quincy adams and his pare ts, abigail and john at a ife that encompassed diplom tic posts in berlin and russi on the road to 1600 pennsylv nia avenue. cr> >> good evening and wel ome very much to our contin

abigail adams, we saw last week thousands of letters over the course of her lifetime.t about dolley madison? what did she preserve and did she have a sense of her legacy? edith: i think she probably did have a sense of her legacy, and she is writing to, i believe, her sister as the british are coming to burn the white house. and she is telling her sister what she's doing and what she's saving so that, you know, there will be something to put in the history book. she wants it known that she is saving the state documents, the important pieces of silver, the portrait of george washington, for which she is so famous. but she is writing literally as everything is being packed to be carted off to virginia to safety. so she is very aware of what she is doing, and she writes a number of letters to her family members. catherine: susan, i want to weigh in, because this questioner knows that, as historians, this is the heart of what we do. these are the primary sources. and for a long while, to find dolley's actual letters and what she wrote, it was really hard to do. but in the

in fact, martha washington had a relationship with abigail adams. and i was tickle to find out there was almost a sisterhood of revolutionary ladies. can you tell us about who is in that and how they interacted with each other? >> they really had a lot in common. they were both wives who were partners and not wives who were stuck to the side and left out of everything. and they both were deeply committed to the idea of this new republic. that is something that they care about. >> they were very political in that sense? >> they were very political in that way. they also helped each other socially. abigail was extremely pleased and tickled by the fact that her place was to the right of martha washington on the sofa and, that if another lady came up and took her place before she arrived that the president himself would ask her to leave so that applicable could sit there. so she almost had a crush on martha washington. she said she was a wonderful person, which she was. >> also, abigail, being an adams, has left us some great accounts of life in philade

tonight we look at the first two first ladies, martha washington and abigail adams. watch tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. >>> historian marc stein is the editor of the stonewall riots a documentary history and up next a look at some of his documentary followed by a conversation with mr. stein about the 1969 stonewall riots which were a key turning point in the gay rights movement. >> having to lie, i feel, is the saddest and the ugliest part of being a homosexual, when you have your first bad love experience and you can't go to your brother or your sister and say i'm hurting. >> at first i was very guilty. and then i realized that all of the things that are taught you not only by society but by psychiatrist to fit you in a mold and i rejected the mold and when i did reject the mold, i was happier. >> mostly independent organizations all across the country, there are somewhere between 60 and 75 independent groups across the united states, maybe more because they grow up overnight. and this is a unified effort on the part of somewhere be

tonight we look at the first two first ladies, martha washington, and abigail adams. watch first ladies, influence and image tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv. on c-span 3. >> and now on american history tv's look at the history of gay rights in the united states the pioneering gay films of lil lilli vincenz and a conversation about those films with the mattachine society a gay rights group founded in 1950. ♪ >>> a portion of the 1968 film the second largest minority by producer and director lil lilli vincenz and joining us in our studios in washington is the president of the mattachine society of washington, d.c., which is what? >> we are an lgbt history society. we find old materials that have been forgotten, sealed, or just basically deleted, and use those materials to talk about gay civil rights and the ongoing struggle for gay civil equality. >> we'll show you both films in their entirety in a couple minutes. one is 7 minutes and the other is 12 minutes here on c-span 3's american history tv and reel america. your connection to the films is what

martha washington and abigail adams. watch first ladies influence and image tonight at 8:00 p.m.ered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court and public policy events. you can watch all of cspan's public affairs programming on television, online or listen on our free radio app and be part of the national conversation through cspan's daily washington journal program or through our social media feeds. cspan,

martha washington and abigail adams. watch first ladies, influence and image tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. each week american artifacts takes viewers into historic sites across the country. we visit the newseum in washington, d.c. to visit the 1969 stonewall riots and how they served as a catalyst for the modern lgbtq rights movement. >> welcome to the museum. i'm patty rule the vice president of exhibits and content here and we are here at the prolog, stonewall, rise up and stonewall was an event in 1969 and uprising at a gay bar in new york city that propelled forward that modern day lgbtq rights movement and this is how we tell the story that the americans used their first amendment freedoms and the freedom of speech, the press, to advocate for change and to change society. >> now we'll walk around the corner in this prologged area and look at some artifacts of two of the earliest lgbtq rights that rose up in the 1950s and '60s. >> gay americans lived in fear and secrecy, gay people could be arrested for showing affection in public and police p

tonight we look at the first two first ladies, martha washington and abigail adams. watch first ladies, influence and image tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. >>> each week american artifacts takes viewers into archives, museums and historic sites around the country. up next we visit the rise up exhibit at the museum in washington, d.c., to learn about the 1969 stonewall rights and how they served as the catalyst for the modern lgtbq rights movement. >>> welcome to the museum. i'm patty rule, vice president of exhibits and content here. we're here at the prologue of our newest exhibit, rise up, stonewall and the lgtbq rights movement. stonewall was an event in the summer of 1969, an uprising at a gay back in new york city that propelled forward the modern day lgtbq rights movement. this is where we tell the story how ordinary americans used first amendment flee dorms, freedom of speech, press, petition, assembly, to advocate tore change and to really change society. now, we're going to walk around the corner in this prologue area and look

native american populations for hundreds of years to come without a more complete story 15 year-old abigail adams says that statue must come down that celebrates men like that. >>should not be on but adam says she's gotten some pushback because in town the statue has a history of its own most columbus's had a christopher columbus statue. and still do daniel a motto commissioned the work in 1981 and he says the statue played a role in the local economy has served the purpose for us we raised money. >>to support wisconsin matching grants for scots and chamber orchestra for 2 years at the capitol. they played music that david crosby road. >>but that was when the statue was in its prime, so i'm happy with where you are goals or whatever happens a statute if the city agrees adam says she wants to see the statue where people can understand the full context we need to be learning this history such an important. >>and i think by taking it down like my petitions asking for not just write it off you see that taking it down we're sending the message. the city of columbus is not stand for certain like that t

everyone wants to be a george washington or martha or abigail adams. it talks thousands of men to follow through the suffering decides whether we are successful. to be non-committal, any -- any of these hallowed grounds, fields or monuments that talk about would we have done the same thing. would i have done? it's brave to say that when you are in a car with air conditioning in 90-degree weather and you get out and read a sign and get back in the car and go, it must have stunk to be in wool uniforms here when someone is shooting on you and you go to the next tour. take a moment and realize, we were many wool uniforms being shot at, not being fed, not being paid and fighting for an idea of what is american and living it out day by day. that's what drove my grad school and continues to drive me. the sacrifices on those hallowed grounds. any battlefield. >> you don't have to be on a battlefield to think about the sacrifice of the common troops. a few blocks from here at the presbyterian church, you can see the tomb of the unknown revolutionary war soldier

everybody wants to be a george washington or a martha washington or abigail adams but it takes thousands of men, women, all of these people to do the suffering that answers that question, decides on whether we are successful or not. who anyplace, yeah, any of these hollow grounds, these health fields or mine that talk about what we've done and that's the question i ask myself every time, what would i have. dunn it's very safe to say in a car with air condition and you read a sign and go back in the car and say wow it must have stunk to be in uniform and have someone shoot at you. the wool uniforms are being shot at, not being fed, not being fed and fighting for an ideal of what is the american. well that's what drove my grad school to the sacrifices in this hall around. any battlefield. >> you don't have to be in the battlefield to think about the sacrifice of the common troops just a few blocks by here in the presbyterian church -- or soldier, so if you never check that out also check that out in alexandria. do you have anything to go on? i'm >> going to take a lazy approach to this but

everyone wants to be a george washington or martha washington, or abigail adams. but it takes thousands of men and women to follow these people. to do the suffering that answers that question. deciding whether we are successful or not. to be noncommittal, any place, any of these hallowed grounds, he's monuments that talk about what would we have done the same thing? it is the question i ask myself every time. it's easier to say that when you are in a car with air conditioning in 90-degree weather. and you think it must have stung to have that uniform in wool when somebody was shooting at you. but imagine them being shot at, not being fed, not being paid. what is an american living it out day by day? that is what drove my grad school and continues to drive me. the sacrifices in this hollow ground. any battlefield. >> and you don't have to be on a battlefield when you think about sacrifice of the common troops. just a few blocks from here at the presbytery in church, you can see the two move the unknown revolutionary world were revolutionary war soldiers. check it o

there's only one object to the white house that was also in the white house on the day the john and abigail adams meet and that is the large corporates to a trip to washington reminding presidents today what the white house is and what it represents the white house does not belong to a president or 1st family the white house belongs to the american people for the news with rick sanchez i'm fair and friends like you know it's interesting because as we look at those pictures and report you can't help but be marveled by the fact that it's a wide green space and anybody can get there to see the white house not now somebody covering this story for us is actually bags following the demonstrations that have been taking place in front of the white house. right here. not to borrow away from. the white house where people are gathered here today using their cell phones to take pictures of messages that are on the ground that they think might walk smatter gautam buddha but i want to point our attention to a memorial that's right behind me and has pictures of people have died at the hands of law enforcement l

there's only one elevator to the white house that was also in the white house on the day the charm abigail adams. that is the lord school perched george washington reminding presidents today what the white house is and what it represents the white house does not belong to a president or 1st family the white house belongs to the american people for the news with rick sanchez i'm fair in front. of the way throughout the day we've been covering protests that are taking place not only in cities in the united states but in cities all over the world more than the nation's capital right here in washington d.c. where our own ashley banks has been ferreting out the situation. i'm here i think you see the it's not too far away from the white house where people are gathered here to take using their cell phones to take pictures of messages that are on the ground that they think might watch the matter got a vote and a part of the lead so i want to point our attention to a memorial that's right behind me and that's pictures of people have died at the hands of law enforcement like land ok still to mark clark a

martha washington and abigail adams. tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span 3. >> every saturday night american history tv takes you to college classrooms around the country for lectures in history. >> why do you all know who lizzie borden is, and if of raise your hand if you had heard of the gene harris murder trial before this class. >> the deepest cause where we'll find the true meaning of the revolution, is the true transformation that took place in the minds of the american people. >> the tools, the techniques and we'll talk about the tools and techniques of power that were practiced by enslaved people. >> watch history professors lead discussions with their students on topics from the american revolution to september 11th. lectures in history on c-span3 every saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. lectures in history is available in pod cast, find it where you listen to pod casts. >>> to mark the 50th anniversary of the raid on a gay bar,

abigail adams had taken some heart hits from the press as well. being referred to as madame president, president first. so that's the, first time the sort of thing happened. but this was the first time someone actually went out attempting to find dirt, found out what they thought was dirt and publicized widely. >> who was the first person looking for the dirt? >> charles hammond. he was in cincinnati any hated jackson and wanted to see jackson go down, and he didn't care what it. took and then when he found out she's been divorced he really despised her. he was very regularly fundamentalist. it was a moral issue for him. he thought she would disgrace the white house. >> how did john quincy adams play into this campaign against breach will jackson? >> well adams, what am i trying to say, >> he didn't do it but he didn't stop. it >> hammond was one of his party hacks in a way. he sort of sat back and said we'll look at that charles hammond, isn't he amazing. >> and we saw in the open political cartoons that were all targeted, was this a new phenomen

among the 19th century ones she and abigail adams would be my favorite. would rank her quite high. i also think you have to look at her vision as a partner. there were several first ladies who considered themselves to be partners with their husband. not that they were trying to tell them what to do but to help advise them, help take care of them whether mentally or physically or politically. i think she was a very significant influence on her husband. >> she's a tragic figure. >> yes, that's part of it. >> and part of that tragedy is that very partnership, which arguably did help contribute to his becoming president, in many ways was destroyed by the war and the presidency that they worked together to achieve. >> and the vilification. >> department is in queen, new york. you're on. >> caller: thank you so much. thank you for producing such a wonderful program. i watched it every night. i want to also comment about carl sandberg. "lincoln" there was a television movie in 1974. i think today's movie is good but if you want to get a good picture of the linco

tonight we look at the first two first ladies, martha washington, and abigail adams. watch first ladies, influence and image, tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, on american history tv. on c-span3. the house military personnel subcommittee holds a hearing on racial disparities in the military justice system. live coverage begins tuesday at 12:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3. the senate judiciary committee convened a hearing tuesday, to examine police department use of force roles, and community policing. watch it live at 2:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. online at c-span.org, or listen live on the free c-span radio app. >> binge watch book tv this summer. every saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. eastern, settle in and watch hours of your favorite authors, saturday we feature your times best-selling author david marinus, the author of a dozen books including, once in a great city, a detroit story. obama, the- barack story. and most recently, a good american family. and we feature historian david mccullough. binge watch book tv all summer on c-span2. kevin landrigan, a political reporter fo

. ♪ >> all types of things are here, abigail adams hung her laundry in this room.was not too thrilled when she got here. >> no, this was her laundry room for a little bit. the room was finally finished as a formal reception room in 1829 for president jackson. brian: now this is the story most kids know from school. washington is burning, white house is on fire, dolly madison so what does she say? >> she says the frame of this painting needs to be broken in the painting is rolled up and taken away from the white house. and so, she saves this painting. honestly, this painting was put here in the white house in 1800 and it is the only original piece that remains from that collection here today. ♪ brian: so interesting because dolly madison was the first lady and jefferson was a widow when he became president and she did her own politics. >> exactly. brian: even today when you see this in the back room, this is the room president trump used and present obama. >> today is mostly used for press conferences, bill signings as well as award ceremonies and things like that.

the hingham historical society and abigail adams historical society co-hosted the event. >> welcome. welcome. i have the pleasure of serving as the executive director of the hingham historical society and what a treat to welcome you all here tonight for the sold-out program. i

of course, john and abigail adams lived in the white house at the very end of the presidency just fora few months. jefferson lived there, but he is a widower and does not really finish it off. when the madisons move into the white house, they know they need to furnish the space. dolley worked with the architect of the capitol and his wife on furnishing the rooms of the white house. this is a well-informed imagining of the most spectacular of the rooms that dolley creates. we can say comfortably that dolley creates it because all of the correspondence is from dolley. in this elliptical room, latrobe has red curtains. a color scheme that would have been the height of fashion. i want you to notice the chairs people are sitting on. they are very thin, skinny, curvy legs. dolley herself wears red. she uses fashions and food to create the conditions that are so important to her husband's political life. this form of a chair is called a klimsos. i want you to look at the chair with the deep curved legs. this is a well-informed and the tablet back. this is identical to the chairs latrobe desi

abigail adams. now catherine wright, the sister of the two wright brothers. i don't think it would've succeeded and they've never got an adequate credit for that. i hope that my book does that. exist to the point where she has recognized pretty because not only have been important. but interesting. an admirable is human being. host: i'm also surprised as people who have been seen this heroes they do not care as well as the historian eyes is a renaissance and etc. i think john kennedy is very now read. david: pending very well . liberally in a point where we stand really pass judgments. truman said have to wait 50 years for the dust to settle. 750 years. he will begin, it's not just went before him, but he was followed him. as he compared to that. learn the consequences of decisions he made didn't make. we need to look much more at the importance of the decisions that the presence didn't make is important is decisions that they did. eisenhower made not go into vietnam for example. decision the john adams made his president not to go to work with france which t

then, and an hour and a half, the life of abigail adams, the first woman to be both wife of a presidentand a mother of a president, john quincy adams. now, march the washington. martha washington was george washington's confidant. >> she was a person very capable, but she did not like that, she called herself a prisoner of state. >> by the same token that everyone in washington

martha washington and abigail adams. tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span 3. >> every saturday night american history tv takes you to college classrooms around the country for lectures in history. >> why do you all know who lizzie borden is, and if of raise your hand if you had heard of the gene harris murder trial before this class. >> the deepest cause where we'll find the true meaning of the revolution, is the true transformation that took place in the minds of the american people. >> the tools, the techniques and we'll talk about the tools and techniques of power that were practiced by enslaved people. >> watch history professors lead discussions with their students on topics from the american revolution to september 11th. lectures in history on c-span3 every saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. lectures in history is available in pod cast, find it where you listen to pod casts. >>> to mark the 50th anniversary of the raid on a gay bar, stonewall at 50, the movement for lgbt civil rights. this is an hour. >> we'll now

tonight we look at the first two first ladies, martha washington and abigail adams. watch tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. >>> historian marc stein is the editor of the stonewall riots a documentary history and up next a look at some of his documentary followed by a conversation with mr. stein about the 1969 stonewall riots which were a key turning point in the gay rights movement. >> having to lie, i feel, is the saddest and the ugliest part of being a homosexual, when you have your first bad love experience and you can't go to your brother or your sister and say i'm

monday night, we look at the first two first ladies, martha washington and abigail adams.ch monday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. with the federal government the congressional directory for contact information for members of congress, governors, and federal agencies. ♪ c-span has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events. watch all of the programming on television, online, or listen on our free radio app. be part of the national conversation through our daily programs. or through our social media feed. table --y america's ande-television companies brought to you by your television provider. during wednesday's prime minister's questions, boris johnson took questions on race relations and relations with president trump. >> answer the engagement question. >> approach the third anniversary this coming sunday of the grim tragedy the whole house would wish to join me in sending a heartfelt sympathies to the families and friends of the 72 people who lost their lives and to the survivors.

tonight we look at the first two first ladies, martha washington and abigail adams. watch "first ladies influence and image" tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span 3. >>> the president, from public affairs. available now in paperback and e book. presents biographies of every president organized by their ranking by noted historians from best to worst. and features perspectives into the lives of our nation's chief executives and leadership styles. visit our website, c-span.org/the presidents to learn more about each president and historians featured and order your copy today wherever books and e-books are sold. >> up next on american history tv a discussion on the 1959 police raid on the stonewall inn in new york city and how it sparked the gay rights movement. this is from a national law enforcement museum in washington, d.c. >> it is my pleasure and honor to be back with you and back as we stream as well looking back on 50 years. where we were 50 years ago at the stonewall riots and how far we've come. the changes that have been made and the ch

which she political in the sense of abigail adams? no. think she was a little bit more in the dolly madison vein of the socially helpful to him. he trained her to listen well. to observe. to take note of what was going on, and to form opinions. she was usually quite quiet about expressing her opinions, which was one of the reasons that she was very popular. she never did anything wrong. >> here is a question from christopher. how did the duties and position of ladies of all from martha washington until this day? it sounds like there's a lot of similarities. it depends on the individual first lady -- >> it does. actually, the first three first ladies, martha, abigail, and dolly, for far harder working and more actively involved in their husbands lives and in their careers. my own opinion was that when we stopped being colonies and started being a country, maybe by the 1800s or so, that generation growing up. we were growing to be more prominent. very prosperous. men wanted their wives to have all sorts of lovely things, and they catered to

was she a political adviser in the sense of abigail adams? no.little bit more in the dolly madison vein of the socially helpful to him. she was subservient. he trained her to listen well and to observe and to take note of what was going on and to form opinions, but she was usually quite quiet about expressing her opinions, which was one of the reasons that she was very popular is because she didn't do anything wrong. >> here's a question from christopher coco, how have the duties and positions of first washington to this day? >> it sounds like there's a lot of similarities, really. and it depends on the individual first lady as to how involved they get? >> it does. actually, i think that the first three first ladies, martha, abigail, and dolly were far harder working and more actively involved in their husband's lives and their careers. and then my own opinion was that when we stopped being colonies and started being a country, maybe by the 1800s or so, that generation, growing up, and they were growing to be more promine prominent. we were very

no, i would say that the first power couple in washington were john and abigail adams, but the first power couple in the presidency were martha and george. >> we'll go to another call. this is... >> it's a good question, though. >> and delighted to have people watching in venezuela tonight. lindsay is in kingston, pennsylvania. what's your question? >> hi, i don't have a question either. i thought it might be fun for your viewers to know that i'm a distant relative of rutherford birchard hayes on my father's side of the family. my maiden middle name was birchard, much to my dismay, because nobody understood it, but i'm proud to have it as part of my heritage now. and when i was in high school, i did some research on rutherford b. hayes, and i found out that he had quite the sense of humor and even ended up riding a bicycle through the white house. and i thought your viewers might get a kick out of knowing that. thank you. >> thanks so much. did he have a sense of humor? >> he did. it was a bit understated, but he had the habit of cutting up apples at the dinner table and tossing the

abigail adams best articulated this articulation between masculine presence in the home and authority as a british army advanced in philadelphia. she declared if men will not fight and defend their own particular spot, if they will not drive the enemy from their doors, they deserve the slavery and subjects in which awaits them. this notion became increasingly pervasive in the post war years. as the idea of the private home came to epitomize american independence. after eight long years of war, property confiscation, disrupted households, billeted soldiers, american men reclaimed their homes. declaring that households would never again face the disruption and incursions of the war years. george washington's lauded return to mount vernon, the americans retiring to sit under his own vine and victory, embodied the sentiment. domestic tranquility was washington's just reward for his sacrifice for the nation. an emerging cultural discourse is in the early republic linked the private household to civic virtue that undergirded the fledgling -- fledgling nation. the home was the repository for

abigail adams perhaps best articulated this connection between masculinity of the home and authority in the fall of 1777 british army advanced on philadelphia. she declared if men, quote, will not fight and defend their own particular spot, if they will not drive the enemy from their doors, they deserve the slavery and subjection which awaits them. adams articulates a marshall masculinity and the right to political legitimacy rested upon the defense of their particular spot, their home. this notion became increasingly pervasive in the post-war years. as the idea of the private home came to epitomize american independence. after eight long years of war, property confiscation, disrulted households, billeted soldiers, american men reclaimed their homes clarg that households would never again face the disruption of the war years. george washington's return to mt. vernon the american retiring to sit under his own vine and fig tree embodied the sentiment. emerging cultural discourses and the early republic linked the private households to the civic virtue ungendered the fledgling -- underg