When
Saturday, May 11th at 2 pm

Where
Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill (ERVK)
Route 9G, 106 Val-Kill Park Road
Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
Hyde Park, New York 12538
(ERVK is located at the end of the first left off the driveway)

Ticket Price: a donation of $20 or more

Book Price: a donation of $20 or more

Join us on May 11th for a panel discussion featuring Shannon McKenna Schmidt, the author of The First Lady of World War II: Eleanor Roosevelt’s Daring Journey to the Frontlines and Back. She will be joined by the Franklin D. Roosevelt Museum and Library’s Deputy Director, Kirsten Strigel Carter. The conversation will be moderated by ERVK’s Board Chair and Eleanor Roosevelt’s great-granddaughter, Anna Eleanor Fierst.

Light refreshments will be served.

You don’t want to miss this opportunity to learn how the First Lady supported our troops in the Pacific in ways that until now have been largely overlooked. Please join the conversation between a gifted historian, a lead archivist from the FDR Library, and Eleanor’s great granddaughter.  

Note: A limited number of books will be available at the event in exchange for a donation of $20 or more. All donations must be made using a credit card through the ERVK website. Please be aware that ERVK is unable to accept cash or check donations on-site.

About the book:

THE FIRST LADY OF WORLD WAR II:
Eleanor Roosevelt’s Daring Journey to the Frontlines and Back

In August 1943, Eleanor Roosevelt journeyed to the Pacific Theater, where the United States was at war with Japan. A goodwill tour, diplomatic mission, and fact-finding foray, the 25,000-mile trip was further, longer, and more dangerous than any previously undertaken by the well-traveled First Lady. 

The First Lady of World War II follows Eleanor on this daring trek, taken under arduous conditions in a theater of war that sprawled over vast ocean distances. The trip, which demonstrated how dramatically she had transformed the role of First Lady, still stands —in the words of a reporter at the time—as “the most remarkable journey any president’s wife has ever made.”

“This action-packed and suspenseful wartime drama vividly captures the selfless grit and tenderness of Eleanor Roosevelt’s battle-zone leadership.”  —David Michaelis, author of ELEANOR

Shannon McKenna Schmidt is the author of The First Lady of World War II: Eleanor Roosevelt’s Daring Journey to the Frontlines and Back. She is also the co-author of two previous books, Novel Destinations and Writers Between the Covers, and has written for National Geographic Traveler, NPR.org, and other websites and publications. She has appeared as a guest on television and radio programs, including MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and has spoken at such venues as the FDR Presidential Library and the National World War II Museum. From 2010 through 2017, Shannon traveled full-time—first in the United States by RV and then backpacking around the globe. She lives in Hoboken, New Jersey. More info at ShannonMckennaSchmidt.com