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Campbell Graduate Looks Into Obscure Area of
Presidential History
 Campbell University law graduate Ann G. Gawalt has co-edited a
book with her father dealing with the correspondence between U.S.
presidents and their daughters, a rarely investigated area of
presidential history. The book, titled First Daughters:
Letters Between U.S. Presidents and Their Daughters, is
published by the Library of Congress and Black Dog & Leventhal
publishers.
Gawalt, who graduated from Campbell’s Norman Adrian Wiggins
School of Law in 1995, said she got the idea for the book while she
was touring one of her father’s exhibits. Gawalt’s father, Gerard W.
Gawalt, is a writer, American history specialist, and curator of the
papers of presidential families at the Library of Congress.
“The exhibit on Thomas Jefferson featured letters between
Jefferson and his daughters Martha and Mary,” said Gawalt. “It
struck me then how my own father’s letters, urging me to go to law
school, had such an impact on me and how Jefferson’s letters to his
own daughters must have had the same kind of impact.”
First Daughters chronicles the lives of 21 presidents and
their daughters as recorded in their private correspondence and
features rare insights into their lives, such as Harry S. Truman’s
lament that he would be happier if his daughter, Margaret, wrote to
him more often and the recollections of Woodrow Wilson’s daughter,
Jessie, of their quiet talks together.
“It’s an important part of our history that has rarely been
explored,” said Gawalt. “The book illustrates how these women in
public life were able to forge a private life that was often forged
through their letters.”
Drawing upon the Library of Congress’s vast collection of
presidential papers and supplemented with material from presidential
libraries and private collections, First Daughters gives
readers a fresh perspective on American history. Many of the letters
are being published for the first time, as well as photographs and
original artwork. The letters are grouped thematically, allowing
readers to see how different presidents and daughters handled
situations such as marriage, education, and politics.
A civil rights attorney for the U.S. Department of
Transportation, Gawalt has a passionate interest in history. She was
encouraged by Campbell law school professor Dr. Stanley McQuade not
only to pursue a law career but a scholarly career as well.
“McQuade told our class that we have a duty and obligation to use
the gifts we are given through education,” Gawalt said, “and to
share them with the community.”
While at Campbell, Gawalt was a member of the American Trial
Lawyers Association trial team and served as president of Women in
Law. She was also named Outstanding Woman Law Graduate in 1995.
Gawalt and her husband, Brian Rushforth, live in Springfield, VA,
with their daughters Sarah, 6, and Mary Elizabeth, 3.
“I am very pleased and proud of my Campbell University law
education,” said Gawalt. “They prepared me well.”
First Daughters: Letters Between U.S. Presidents and Their
Daughters will be available in bookstores in September.
Bulletin
0208-07/30/04
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