Rosalyn Smith Carter

Did you ever think of becoming a First Lady? Well, Rosalyn Carter is a First Lady and an author.

Rosalyn Carter was born in Plains, Georgia on August 18, 1927. She was the oldest of three children of Frances Allethea Murray and Edgar Smith. When Rosalyn was 13 her father died of leukemia. After that Rosalyn helped raise her brothers and sisters. She graduated from Plains High School as valedictorian (that’s the person with the best grades in the class), and then went to Georgia Southwestern College.

After her freshman year she first dated Jimmy Carter when he was home from the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Then they got married on July 7, 1946 in Plains.

They had four children. Due to Jimmy Carter’s military duties their children were born in different places. John William was born in Virginia, James Earl III was born in Hawaii, and Donnel Jeffery was born in Connecticut. The Carters only had one daughter; her name was Amy Lynn, who was born in Georgia.

In 1953, when her husband’s father died, he left the Navy. Jimmy and Rosalyn returned to Georgia to run the family peanut farm. Rosalyn worked hard helping with the business.

Jimmy Carter was elected to the Georgia senator in 1962 and Rosalyn was active in her husband’s campaign. She also worked on her husband’s campaign for Governor of Georgia in 1970. As Georgia’s first lady, Rosalyn was a very hard-working campaign worker in the campaign team. Rosalyn served as a volunteer helper at the Georgia Regional Hospital and five years as chairperson for the Georgia Special Olympics for Mentally Challenged Children.

Rosalyn traveled across the United States for the campaign team when her husband was running for president in 1976. During this time Rosalyn was elected to the board of directors of the National Association of Mental Health. She was given the Award of Merit from the National Organization for Women for her support. In January 1977, she and her husband walked down Pennsylvania Avenue, hand in hand, after his inauguration. As first lady Rosalyn focused the nation’s attention on the performing arts, mental health, and the elderly.

Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association the Distinguished Service Award for Leadership Christian Social Ethics from the Christian Life Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention was awarded to her when she returned back to Georgia.

In 1984, Rosalyn wrote an autobiography which was called, First Lady From Plain, which was published in May 1984. In 2001 she was elected into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. As chair of the Rosalyn Carter Institute in Americus, Georgia, Rosalyn works on issues related to care giving in the US. She is currently vice chair of the Carter Center in Atlanta. The Carter Center promotes peace and human rights throughout the world. She and President Carter both work with Habitat for Humanity, helping to build homes.

As you can see Rosalyn Carter is a very special lady. She won many awards, but the thing that I love most is how she was very supportive to her husband.

By Isabella S., fourth grade, 2007