The Franklin D. Roosevelt 

Presidential Library and Museum 

presents a Women’s History Month 

conversation and book signing

with Christopher C. Gorham author of

THE CONFIDANTE: THE UNTOLD STORY 

OF THE WOMAN WHO HELPED WIN

WWII AND SHAPE MODERN AMERICA

Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 6 p.m.

In-person*: Wallace Center at the

FDR Presidential Library and Home

[*local health metrics permitting; 

REGISTER HERE]

Online: Streamed live 

to the official FDR Library YouTube, 

Twitter and Facebook accounts

HYDE PARK, NY -- The FDR Presidential Library and Museum will present a Women’s History Month conversation and book signing with Christopher C. Gorham author of THE CONFIDANTE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE WOMAN WHO HELPED WIN WWII AND SHAPE MODERN AMERICA, at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. The event will be held in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home and streamed live to the official FDR Library YouTube, Twitter and Facebook accounts. This is a free public event*, but registration is required for in-person attendance. REGISTER HERE. [*local health metrics permitting]

Synopsis:

As Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s special envoy to Europe in World War II, Anna Rosenberg went where the president couldn’t go. She was among the first Allied women to enter a liberated concentration camp, and stood in the Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s mountain retreat, days after its capture. She guided the direction of the G.I. Bill of Rights and the Manhattan Project. Though Rosenberg emerged from modest immigrant beginnings, equipped with only a high school education, she was the real power behind national policies critical to America winning the war and prospering afterward. Astonishingly, her story remains largely forgotten.

With a disarming mix of charm and Tammany-hewn toughness, Rosenberg began her career in public relations in 1920s Manhattan. She became friends with Eleanor Roosevelt, who recommended Anna to her husband, who was then running for Governor of New York. As FDR’s unofficial adviser, Rosenberg soon wielded enormous influence -- no less potent for being subtle. Roosevelt dubbed her “my Mrs. Fix-It.” Her extraordinary career continued after his death.

By 1950, she was tapped to become the assistant secretary of defense -- the highest position ever held by a woman in the US military -- prompting Senator Joe McCarthy to wage an unsuccessful smear campaign against her. In 1962, she organized John F. Kennedy’s infamous birthday gala, sitting beside him while Marilyn Monroe sang. Until the end of her life, Rosenberg fought tirelessly for causes from racial integration to women’s equality to national health care.

More than the story of one remarkable woman, THE CONFIDANTE explores who gets to be at the forefront of history, and why. Though she was not quite a hidden figure, Rosenberg’s position as “the power behind,” combined with her status as an immigrant and a Jewish woman, served to diminish her importance. In this inspiring, well-researched book, Christopher C. Gorham affords Anna Rosenberg the recognition she so richly deserves.

Christopher C. Gorham is a lawyer and teacher of modern American history at Westford Academy, outside Boston. He has degrees in history from Tufts University and the University of Michigan, where he studied under legendary labor historian Sidney Fine. He has a J.D., summa cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law, where he served on the editorial staff of the Syracuse Law Review. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post and in online journals. He and his wife Elizabeth live in Watertown and Chatham, Massachusetts.

Please contact Cliff Laube at (845) 486-7745 with questions about the event.