2020 CELEBRATION:
With a Stroke of Her Pen;
Women’s Imprint on American Culture

Honoring Linda Greenhouse and Cokie Roberts

On Friday January 17, 2020 the Benjamin Franklin Birthday Celebration commemorated the centennial anniversary of Congress’ act to grant women the right to vote. The 19th Amendment crowned more than a century of persevering feminine activism. This event honored those who fought for the vote, as well as those women who have contributed significantly, often behind the scenes, to the development of the American nation.

Deborah Franklin kept the family business going while Benjamin represented the colonists overseas, and Abigail Adams oversaw the farm while urging her husband and his colleagues in Philadelphia to “remember the ladies “ as they crafted a new nation. Time and again women filled critical jobs left vacant when men went off to war or addressed political and social needs. They have also harnessed their power as writers to shape a nation’s consciousness, from Harriet Beecher Stowe in Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Rachel Carson in Silent Spring.

2020 Photos by Darryl Moran Photography

EVENT SCHEDULE:

FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 2020

9-11 AM: Panel discussion on women’s impact on American Culture (Free)

Benjamin Franklin Hall American Philosophical Society 427 Chestnut Street

11:15 AM-12 PM: Public Procession to Franklin’s Grave (Free)

American Philosophical Society to the Christ Church Burial Ground
5th and Arch Streets

12-1:45 PM: Luncheon and Presentation of Franklin Founder Award (Registration required.) Keynote address by Linda Greenhouse, "Journalism as Useful Knowledge", and remarks to honor Cokie Roberts' life, career, and contributions.

Linda Greenhouse won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998 for her “consistently illuminating coverage of the United States Supreme Court” as correspondent for the New York Times. She is the Joseph M. Goldstein Lecturer in Law at the Yale Law School, and a Contributing Columnist to the NY Times Op-Ed Page. The American Philosophical Society recently elected her president, the first female to hold that prestigious position.

Cokie Roberts has excelled in her long career as a leading political commentator and as an author. She recognizes the contributions of women in American history in her books, Founding Mothers The Women Who Raised Our Nation, Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation, and Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington. The Library of Congress has named her a Living Legend, a rare achievement.

We note with great sadness the death of Cokie Roberts, and the Franklin Committee extends its sympathy to family, colleagues and admirers.

Both of these women are being honored for their successful careers, and for their determination to advance the roles of women in today’s society.

Museum of the American Revolution 101 S. 3rd Street, Philadelphia

Morning Panelists:

Rosalind Remer, Ph.D., Vice Provost and Executive Director, Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships, Drexel University

Ellen Cohn, Editor-In-Chief, Benjamin Franklin Papers , Yale University 

Angela Dodson, Journalist & Author, “Remember the Ladies”

Page Talbott, Senior Fellow, Lenfest Center for Cultural Fellowships, Drexel University, and curator/project manager for Vision 2020's Seat at the Table exhibition