Press/Journalists

National Archives Hosts Event on the Letters of Clover Adams January 17
Press Release · Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Cokie Roberts and Max Byrd to discuss Gilded Age DC’s Liveliest Hostess

Washington, DC…On Tuesday, January 17, at noon, the National Archives welcomes news analyst Cokie Roberts and writer Max Byrd for a discussion of the letters of Clover Adams, wife of Henry Adams, and Gilded Age Washington’s liveliest hostess. The program is free and open to the public, and will take place in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. Attendees should use the Special Events entrance, located on the National Mall at Constitution Ave. and 7th Street, NW.  Metro accessible on the Yellow and Green lines, Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter station.

Join moderator Cokie Roberts for a discussion on the letters of Clover Adams, wife of Henry Adams, (grandson of John Quincy Adams). Newly re-published by Max Byrd, First of Hearts: Selected Letters of Mrs. Henry Adams, tells stories of entertaining in her magnificent Washington house, later to become the Hay-Adams hotel. Here Clover held a salon for politicians and writers including Henry James, General Sherman, President McKinley, Clarence King, Oscar Wilde, and dozens of others. Her warm, chatty, hilariously perceptive letters expose Washington life and politics in the Gilded Age. A book signing with the speakers will follow the program; the book is available at a discount from the Archives Shop (202-357-5271) before and during the event.

A senior news analyst for NPR and a political commentator for ABC News,Cokie Roberts has won three Emmy Awards. She is the best-selling author of We Are Our Mothers’ Daughters (1998), Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation (2004), and Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation (2008), and in 2000 she and her husband co-authored a book on marriage, From This Day Forward. She currently serves on the board of the Foundation for the National Archives.

Max Byrd writes for the New York Times Book Review, Barnes & Noble.com, and the Wilson Quarterly, where he is a Contributing Editor. He has written numerous books ranging from detective novels to historical fiction. He is co-founder of Willowbank Books, publisher of The First of Hearts—Selected Letters of Mrs. Henry Adams.

The National Archives is fully accessible. To verify the date and times of the programs, call 202-357-5333, or view the Calendar of Events online.

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For Press information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs Staff at (202) 357-5300.

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