Sarah Fling discusses the connections that early first ladies had to slavery and how few first ladies have engaged with civil rights. Martha Washington set a precedent for using enslaved labor at the president's house, and Dolley Madison never could have achieved her hostess reputation without it. Other first ladies, like Lou Hoover, who made the smallest of civil rights gestures by inviting a Black guest to the White House, faced tremendous blowback. Show transcripts are available at https://www.quinnipiacpodcasts.com/the-first-ladies

Show music credit: "Winning Elevation" by Hot_Dope.