By Melyssa Allen

Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin spent the day at Meredith College on Thursday, Aug. 31, as part of the College's Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Presidential Lectures Series.

The Pulitzer Prize winning author was invited to campus to discuss No Ordinary Time, Meredith's Summer Reading Book for 2006, which chronicled Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency during World War II, with a focus on the partnership between the president and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

An informal Q&A with Meredith students, faculty and staff was held during the afternoon, prior to Goodwin's public lecture at 7 p.m. During both sessions, she discussed Eleanor Roosevelt's influence on FDR and the nation.

"Who better to talk about to a predominately female audience than Eleanor Roosevelt?," Goodwin asked.

According to Goodwin, Eleanor Roosevelt served as FDR's eyes and ears after he became paralyzed, traveling across the country 200 days a year.

"FDR's empathy for people was possible in large part because of Eleanor's efforts…she argued that you could not fight for democracy abroad without strengthening it at home."

The lecture focused on the impact Eleanor Roosevelt had in areas including civil rights and women's rights.

"Eleanor Roosevelt really used her platform [as first lady] in the broadest possible way…no first lady has come close to Eleanor in terms of impact," Goodwin said.

Goodwin also sprinkled in comments about her childhood, her parents' influence on her career choice and her love of baseball.  

Nearly 1,000 people, undeterred by rain that necessitated moving the event from the College's outdoor McIver Amphitheater to Jones Auditorium, attended the lecture, including overflow audiences who viewed the lecture from satellite locations across campus.

The lecture was part of Meredith's 2006 campus theme, "The Status of Women: Our Future, Our Responsibility," a yearlong series of speakers and events examining the status of women from political, economic and social perspectives.