This paper is a preliminary portion of a larger study about media coverage of First Ladies. Nineteen indexed items from the New York Times about Mary Todd Lincoln were analyzed in order to answer questions about
1) how the First Ladyís role is defined in press content,
2) what types of images of the First Lady appeared and dominated the news coverage, and
3) whether these images conformed to the prevailing notions of women's acceptable behavior during the period.
Coverage was examined to try to identify what seemed acceptable for the First Lady role during the Civil War when Mary Todd Lincoln held the position. The examination suggests that the role was expected to wholly support the president--the husband of the First Lady.
Images of Mary Todd Lincoln in news reports cast her as a passive, dependent woman, whose actions were in compliance with the ideal of "true womanhood" and limited to the proper sphere.
Last updated: November 24, 1997
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