This special event follows the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Thomas Crane Library and takes place in the historic Richardson Building. Historical interpreter Laura Rocklyn will perform as Louisa Catherine Adams, wife of President John Quincy Adams.

The audience meets Louisa Catherine Adams on March 4th, 1825, the morning of John Quincy Adams’ inauguration as the sixth President of the United States. In a rare moment of solitude, Louisa reflects on the events of her tumultuous life in the public eye. From her childhood in England and France, to her adventures as the wife of an American diplomat in Europe, where she charmed heads of state from Berlin to St. Petersburg, Louisa’s memories provide a glimpse into international politics during the Age of Revolutions.

When Louisa and John Quincy returned to the United States, Louisa flair for entertaining and political savvy eventually assisted her husband in becoming President of the United States. In this moment, now that John Quincy has won the coveted office for which they both worked so hard, Louisa looks back over her life and contemplates why it is that she is not standing by his side at the inauguration ceremony, and what this means for her future as the President’s wife.

Laura Rocklyn has performed with theaters across the country and worked as an historical interpreter at museums up and down the East Coast. Her one-woman play Charlotte Brontë: To Do More & Better Things was presented as part of the North American Friends of Chawton House 2021 Speaker Subscription Series, and her play Emma is Presented in Washington City was performed as the curtain raiser for the Jane Austen Society of North America 2016 AGM. Laura has published articles in “Brontë Studies” and “The Revere Express.” She is a Member of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company and an Acting Troupe Member with History At Play. Laura holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College and an MFA from The Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University. 

Generously sponsored by the Friends of the Thomas Crane Public Library