Rosalynn Carter (1927-2023) American Writer and Activist

Rosalynn Carter (1927-2023) American Writer and Activist, Rosalynn Carter First Lady of the United States, Find a GraveRosalynn Carter find a grave, Rosalynn Carter dies at 96.

Rosalynn Carter was an American first lady (1977–81) the wife of Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States and mental health advocate. She was one of the most politically astute and active of all American first ladies.

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She was born and raised in poverty in Plains, Georgia. She was the eldest of four children of Wilburn Edgar Smith, an auto mechanic, bus driver, and farmer, and Frances Allethea “Allie” Murray Smith, a teacher, dressmaker, and postal worker. She graduated as the Valedictorian of Plains High School before attending Georgia Southwestern College. She married Jimmy Carter, whom she had known her whole life, in Plains on 7 July 1946. They would later become the first presidential couple to celebrate their 75th anniversary. They had four children. After their marriage, she helped her husband run the family peanut farm.

She helped her husband campaign for Georgia’s Governorship in 1970. As Georgia’s First Lady, she focused on mental health in the state, serving on the Governor’s Commission to Improve Services for the Mentally and Emotionally Handicapped.

During the 1975 U.S. presidential election, she toured most of the country campaigning for her husband. During this time, she was also elected to the board of directors of the National Association of Mental Health, honored by the National Organization for Women with an Award of Merit for her vigorous support for the Equal Rights Amendment, and received the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Southwestern Association of Volunteer Services.

When Jimmy Carter was elected president, Rosalynn declared that she had no intention of being a traditional First Lady of the United States. She often sat in on cabinet meetings to be fully informed while she traveled the country and took press interviews. She received criticism for her activism and diplomacy, but she was proud to do meaningful work beyond the White House hostess role, which “confined” many previous first ladies. She was the first First Lady to keep her own office in the East Wing. Mental health advocacy continued to be her top priority. She worked to improve mental health services and to dispel the stigma around mental health challenges across America.

After leaving the White House in 1981, the Carters returned to their home in Plains, Georgia, where they would live for the rest of their lives. She continued political activism and volunteer work for the remaining decades of her life. She advocated for mental health causes, women’s equality, peace in the Middle East, and more. The Carters were known for their work with Habitat for Humanity, personally working on the construction of numerous homes for the needy.

Rosalynn was a devout Christian. She and her husband often read the Bible to each other before bed at night. In 2006, she was ordained a deacon at the Maranatha Baptist Church.

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In 1999, Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. In 2001, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, only the third First Lady to do so. She received a number of awards for advocacy and service, as well as several honorary degrees. She authored five books about her life and about mental health issues.

In February 2023, Jimmy Carter entered hospice care at their home. In May, the Carter Center announced that Rosalynn had been diagnosed with dementia. She joined her husband in home hospice on November 17, 2023, and passed away two days later.