Aristocratic and sophisticated, Edith Kermit Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore Roosevelt, ran the White House with a sure hand and figured prominently in how the institution of the first lady developed during the 20th century. But her reputation as a secular saint is misleading, says historian Lewis L. Gould, who points among other things to her virulent racism.

Gould, the Eugene C. Barker Centennial Professor Emeritus in American History at the University of Texas at Austin, discusses the complex subject of his book Edith Kermit Roosevelt: Creating the Modern First Lady.

The presentation is part of the Beyond the Gowns series, made possible by grants from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to the Kansas City Public Library and the Truman Library Institute.