We are saddened to hear the news about the passing of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter (August 18, 1927 – November 19, 2023). She was 96.
Rosalynn Carter served as the First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981. She, along with her husband former President Jimmy Carter, spent a life dedicated to making the world a better, fairer, safer and healthier place.
Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born on August 18, 1927 in Plains, Georgia. She was the eldest of four children of Wilburn Edgar Smith, an auto mechanic and farmer, and Frances Allethea "Allie" Murray Smith, a dressmaker. She and Jimmy Crater got married on July 7, 1946.
Rosalynn exemplified what it means to be a First Lady. Rosalynn was a leading advocate for numerous causes including mental health, caregiving, equal rights and poverty eradication.
Let’s take a photo look at the journey of this remarkable lady.
Rosalynn was politically active during her White House years, sitting in on Cabinet and policy meetings as well as serving as her husband's closest adviser and as an envoy abroad.
The next few pics and their descriptions are from the www.rosalynncartertribute.org/… website.
As active honorary chair of the President’s Commission on Mental Health, Rosalynn Carter presented President Carter with the commission’s recommendations for sweeping reforms to mental health policy and programs on April 27, 1978. The report led to The Mental Health Systems Act of 1980.
Rosalynn Carter talks with Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Carter on September 7, 1978, during negotiations between Egypt and Israel at Camp David.
Rosalynn Carter was a strong proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment. She spoke at the opening reception of the National Women's Conference in Houston, Texas on November 18, 1977. Joining Mrs. Carter and speaking at the opening reception were former First Ladies Betty Ford and Lady Bird Johnson along with activists Coretta Scott King, Bella Abzug, Betty Friedan, Barbara Jordan, Liz Carpenter, Jean Stapleton, and Maya Angelou.
Mrs. Carter holds a baby while Amy Carter looks on in Lagos, Nigeria, on April 2, 1978, during the first visit by a seated U.S. president to sub-Saharan Africa.
NASA Administrator Robert Froscoch shows a model of the space shuttle to President Jimmy Carter, first lady Rosalynn Carter and daughter Amy during their visit to the firing room of the Launch Control Center at Cape Canaveral in October 1978.
Rosalynn, the writer, at a signing for Helping Someone with Mental Illness: A Compassionate Guide for Families, Friends and Caregivers in 1998.
The Carters wearing traditional Ghanaian attire, a gift from the chief of Tingoli village in northern Ghana on Feb. 8, 2007, during a visit to see Ghana’s progress in eradicating Guinea worm disease and controlling trachoma, a devastating eye disease.
Another picture from the trip to Ghana.
Pic from 2018 of Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter, both tireless souls at Habitat for Humanity.
Tributes
From one Wonder Woman to another -
A statue of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter sits outside two buildings dedicated in her honor at Georgia Southwestern State University, her alma mater and home of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers.
Please visit www.rosalynncartertribute.org for info about the schedule of memorial events and funeral ceremonies. The website includes the family’s official online condolence book and opportunities for memorial gifts, as well as an official biography and downloadable photos.
RIP Rosalynn, you made the world a better place.