mr. mccollough would like to tell the audience is there a secret affair with abigail? >> who has he been talking to? i feel very strongly that if i can -- if i were to bring to light, bring down stage, that medal of recognition, people who deserve that now at the time who haven't gotten it, then i'm fulfilling a need that is important. it's one of the reasons i wanted to write about harry truman. it took a great deal of courage. i felt the same way about john adams. i felt the same way about emily robely, the wife of washington robely, the builder of the griffon bridge. and when he contracted the bridge and put out of commission fairly early in the project, she took over and never got sufficient credit for it. and she was a brilliant, brave, and impressive person. i felt the same way about catherine wright, the sister of the wright brothers. i don't think they would have succeeded with their full innovation had it not been for her. and the same, of course, with enumerable quantities of evidence, abigail adams. it's the goal now to be recognizing women, and it's long ov

mr. mccollough does not write so well. listen to this sentence. [ laughter ] rosalie, where are you, sweetheart? please stand. stand up. [ applause ] i am -- i feel very strongly that education is one of the most important aspects of life. not just in preparation to take part in life, but to appreciate and enjoy life. and education is one of the foundations of greatest importance to our whole american way of life. and one of the reasons the revolutionary era, the the war and the whole spirit of the revolution, are so important, is so important, remains so important, is because of the emphasis in that time by those specific people on the importance of education. jefferson said it perfectly. he said any nation that expects to be ignorant and free expects what never was and never will be. and all of them, each and every one of them, either was an example of the importance of education because he or she had education or because she did it themselves. george washington being a prime example. abigail adams being another prime ex

mr. mccollough then discusses how these ideals then shaped american society. following his talk, he sits down to discuss why he thinks studying history is important. what his writing process is like. and how he started writing books. he also previews his upcoming book about the pioneers of the northwest territory. this event was part of the series of the founding fathers hosted by the society of fine arts in palm beach, florida. >> wow, it's great to see it fill like this. and thank you, all. good morning. and i'm really happy that there are students here today from cardinal lumin and also from palm beach atlantic university. ultimately the people i want to reach most are the children and grandchildren of all the people in this room. but today i'm introducing a dear ie