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68 pages 2 hours read

Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

The First Ladies

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

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Chapters 41-50Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 41 Summary: “Eleanor”

In DC, 1936, Mary hosts Eleanor at her home for dinner. Eleanor confides to her friend about Louis’s condition. Louis, Franklin’s closest adviser and friend, has always had breathing problems, but he appears to be on his deathbed. Mary lets Eleanor cry, and then they sit down for dinner. As they talk, a crowd of white people approaches, watching them with irritation through the bay window. Eleanor and Franklin have been getting threatening letters over their involvement with Black Americans, but they’ve ignored them and heightened security. Eleanor’s security, including Earl, moves to disperse the crowd. Eleanor invents a plan to invite her corps of women journalists who will photograph them eating together. The women hope the photo will normalize people of different races sharing a meal.

Chapter 42 Summary: “Mary”

In Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1936, Mary meets with her family, Albert Jr. and Albert Sr. for quality time. They walk to their favorite restaurant, but Mary is overheated and winded. Albert asks if she’s all right. She feels short of breath again walking from the car to the house but ignores the pains.

Steve Woodburn calls her from DC. He’s taken over the press and advising responsibilities since Louis passed away in the spring. Steve addresses her as “Mary,” and she insists his informality isn’t appropriate since they’ve never met. She tells him he may address her as “Dr. Bethune,” but he calls her “Mary” one more, and Mary ends the call. He calls back, this time addressing her as she’s requested. Still, his tone is condescending, and he informs her that Eleanor won’t attend Mary’s upcoming conference because he’s been trying to limit her appearances to events that will “enhance and improve her image” (238). Mary insists that Eleanor is scheduled to give the keynote speech and that she’ll talk to Eleanor. Steve wants all communication to go through him to ensure Eleanor’s image remains positive, but Mary refuses that and hangs up.

Chapter 43 Summary: “Eleanor”

In DC, 1937, Eleanor attends the National Conference on the Problems of the Negro and Negro Youth—despite Steve Woodburn’s insinuations that it will harm her image. She gives a riveting speech to the diverse crowd about the importance of ensuring equality in America and extending all resources to Black Americans. She calls Mary “the First Lady of the Struggle” to honor her work and equate her as another first lady (242). At the speech’s end, Eleanor shakes Mary’s hand, as planned, breaching the rule that white and Black people never touch. The crowd first reacts at the gesture with silence, then erupts with applause.

Afterward, Eleanor and Mary eat at a famous restaurant in the front window, where they can be photographed again as equals and friends. Mary shares that she wanted to be a missionary, but she wasn’t allowed to go to Africa. She feels her missionary work is carried out in America though, especially with Eleanor’s help.

Chapter 44 Summary: “Mary”

In DC, in 1937, Mary goes to visit Eleanor, but she’s intercepted by Sara, Franklin’s mother. She thanks Mary for all her hard work campaigning for Franklin, who won re-election, and insists Mary stop by to say hello to Franklin. Mary hesitates because she recently wrote the Blue Book, a giant document listing the plights of Black citizens with solutions—and asking for a response from Franklin.

In his office, Franklin thanks Mary for her support and earnestly shows his appreciation for her Blue Book. He likes her ideas and wants Steve Woodburn to set up a meeting for them to discuss it. Steve agrees, but, once out of the room with Mary, he tells her Franklin’s calendar is booked for the foreseeable future. Mary is upset.

Chapter 45 Summary: “Eleanor”

In DC, 1937, Eleanor and her family attend Franklin’s second inauguration. She’s lost touch with Marion and Nan, who repeatedly asked too much of her, and she’s told Hick she’s come to see her as a dear friend rather than lover. Still, Hick attends the ceremony, and Mary will too.

She’s ready to prompt Franklin for his speech if needed, but she spots Mary being turned away from her seat in the reserved section. Eleanor rushes to chastise the usher who didn’t let Mary through to her seat. Eleanor scolds him and demands he help find Mary. When she discovers Mary in the crowd, she escorts her to the podium seats.

Chapter 46 Summary: “Mary”

In DC, 1938, Mary arrives at the White House and has tea with Eleanor prior to a gala downstairs. Eleanor warns Mary she may be the only Black person; Mary says she’s accustomed to white spaces and that Eleanor shouldn’t worry.

At the event for politician’s wives, Mary notes that there are many Black people working as servers whom Eleanor didn’t count. Mary is introduced as Eleanor’s dear friend to the many guests, and she’s seated beside her and Hick at the table of women. When Mary interacts with the girl serving their tea, she realizes the shy girl has been told not to speak to the guests. Mary and Eleanor kindly ask her name, which is Mary after Mary Bethune. She’s honored. Meanwhile, Eleanor realizes most of the wait staff are Black and understands her mistake. Mary pats her hand.

The women perform skits making fun of politicians, laughing so hard they cry. Eleanor plays a female Supreme Court Justice, and though the portrayal is funny, Mary wonders why a woman couldn’t rise to this position of power someday.

Chapter 47 Summary: “Eleanor”

In Alabama in 1938, Eleanor attends the Southern Conference for Human Welfare. She sits beside Mary while listening to the first speaker. The Alabama police approach Eleanor and tell her the law requires she must move to the section reserved for white people. Earl comes over and reprimands him for offending the first lady. The police officer doesn’t back down, stating she must abide by Alabama’s segregation laws or be arrested.

Eleanor and Mary had heard the police commissioner intended to enforce this law, so she enacts the plan she and Mary invented in case this happened: She stands, picks up her chair, and takes a ruler from her purse. She measures the distance between the white section and the Black section and sets her chair down in the exact middle of the two. This way, she isn’t breaking any laws but instead makes a statement for equality. With the Nazi violence in Europe, Eleanor wants to be extra aware of making symbols of justice, peace, unity, and freedom for the world to see.

Chapter 48 Summary: “Mary”

In DC, 1939, Mary attends a benefit concert by the famous singer Marian Anderson, an opera contralto, at the lawn by the Lincoln Memorial. Howard University, the concert host, originally wanted to rent Constitution Hall, owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution, but they refused because Marian Anderson is Black. After extensive persuasive strategies and public outcry, the DAR still refused, and the concert was held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Before Marian begins, she’s introduced by a Secretary Ickes, a white man who says genius draws no color lines, and “God makes no distinctions between race, creed, or color” (268). Mary knows these statements show real progress.

Chapter 49 Summary: “Eleanor”

Meanwhile, Eleanor secretly attends the concert behind a curtain to hear Marian sing. Given anonymous death threats recently about her involvement in Civil Rights Activism, Eleanor and Earl had to attend the event secretly. She wanted to hear Marian, especially since she arranged the location of the event and for it to be broadcasted. Marian starts her concert with “America, My Country ’Tis of Thee,” and ends with Black anthems, including Louis Armstrong’s “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.” Eleanor and many others are moved to tears by the music.

Chapter 50 Summary: “Mary”

In Florida in 1940, Mary waits for Eleanor to come to Florida for the first time to honor the 35 years of Bethune-Cookman College. They greet her at the train station with a song performed by the college band, then handshakes, the key to the city, and press. Mary escorts her to the car with Albert Sr. and Albert Jr., and they talk and laugh together as usual. Still, Mary notices Eleanor’s weariness and dark circles under her eyes. Eleanor is thankful for lunch at her house before she gives a speech.

Later, Mary gives her a tour of the college. She also surprises Eleanor by showing her the outreach programs that provide food, books, and private tutoring to impoverished children in Daytona. Eleanor is touched, not having fully realized the extent of Mary’s contributions. Mary had pressed her to come and see the college’s work for herself to ensure Bethune-Cookman maintains funding, not only to educate people but transform the lives of children in the community. Eleanor states she needs to speak with Mary alone.

Chapters 41-50 Analysis

Continuing their Civil Rights Activism, Eleanor and Mary make another splash when they attend a conference in Alabama and invent a strategy so that Eleanor can defy the law prescribing segregated seating. The chair plan effectively allows Eleanor to sit directly between the Black and white sections and stay safely away from jail while also making a statement about the absurdity of the seating arrangement. Because of her position of power and privilege as first lady, Eleanor makes a widely publicized symbolic statement that Black and white attendees are equal and should not be separated. In instances such as the Alabama conference, Mary and Eleanor are more effective together than they are separately. Their joint public activities consistently normalize Black-white relationships, and they receive more publicity than they might singly. Their courage to defy societal norms has grown over the course of the novel; where Eleanor was nervous to chastise the women at the club luncheon when she met Mary, she is now unafraid to stand up to the police.   

Like Eleanor’s symbolic act of placing her chair directly between the segregated sections, Marian Anderson’s singing is another act that represents the power of art. She first sings “My country ’Tis of Thee” a patriotic song that resonates with Americans regardless of race. She, like her audience, loves her country. She also sings “Ave Maria,” which resonates with people of faith, and she ends with Black-inspired, traditional songs such as “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” by Louis Armstrong. Moving from songs all of her audience will know to Black songs and letting people sing along, Marian recognizes art’s power to unite.

Eleanor’s decision to attend the concert also signals her character’s growing courage. Where once she feared mobs and people retaliating against her and Mary, she now goes to the concert in secret—even when she’s been getting death threats due to her involvement with Black people. Still, Eleanor fights for the cause, working with Earl and carrying her gun to ensure she stays safe. This increasing risk of life and death increases tension in the novel and conveys with historical accuracy how fraught the struggle for civil rights was in its infancy.

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