Sarah & James K. Polk: Power, Partnership, and Politics in the 1840s

About the event:

Two leading scholars bring to life the dynamic partnership of President James K. Polk and First Lady Sarah Polk—one of the most influential political couples of the 19th century. Amy Greenberg and Matt Costello explore territorial expansion, wartime leadership, and the often overlooked political power wielded by Sarah Polk. A lively and insightful look at a transformative decade.

Amy Greenberg is a historian of antebellum America (1800–1860) whose work explores the United States’ relationship with the wider world in the decades before the Civil War, with particular focus on gender, politics, and American expansion. She is the author of five books, including Lady First: The World of First Lady Sarah Polk, A Wicked War, and Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion, examining topics from female political power and masculinity to imperialism and partisan politics. An award-winning teacher and Guggenheim Fellow, she currently serves as President-Elect of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic and is at work on a new study of nineteenth-century American attitudes toward empire.

Dr. Matthew Costello is the Chief Education Officer and Director of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History, where he holds the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation Chair in White House History. In this role, he oversees the Association’s education programs, historical research, digital archives, public programming, and partnerships. Costello joined the Association in 2016 as the Senior Historian after completing his Ph.D. and M.A. in American history at Marquette University. He has published articles in academic journals and magazines, as well as two books. The first, The Property of the Nation: George Washington’s Tomb, Mount Vernon, and the Memory of the First President, was a finalist for the George Washington Book Prize. He also co-edited the volume Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture.

Dr. Colleen Shogan served as the 11th Archivist of the United States, becoming the first woman confirmed by the Senate to lead the National Archives and Records Administration. A political scientist, author, and civic leader, she has held senior roles at the White House Historical Association, the Library of Congress, and the U.S. Senate, and is widely recognized for her commitment to expanding public access to history and strengthening civic education. She currently works with More Perfect, Stand Together, and Georgetown University and is the recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Hubert Humphrey Award for outstanding public service.

This program is made possible in part through partnership with The Leach Foundation and InPursuit an Initiative of More Perfect.