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Journalist Cokie Roberts to Speak at Duke on 'Capital Dames'

Veteran National Public Radio and ABC News journalist Cokie Roberts will speak at Duke University on Thursday, April 14, about remarkable women in Washington, past and present.  Her talk, “Capital Dames: Politics in the Nation’s Capital, Past, Present and with a Look to the Future,” takes place at 4 p.m. in Rubenstein Library’s Gothic Reading Room. The event is free and open to the public. For visitors attending the event from off campus, a limited number of free parking spaces will be available at the Bryan Center parking garage, and additional paid parking is available at the visitors’ parking lot on Science Drive. Roberts’ talk will draw upon her recent book, “Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868,” and will also include reflections on contemporary events.  Duke’s Rubenstein Library houses papers for two women who figure centrally in Roberts’ book -- Rose O’Neal Greenhow and Virginia Clay Clopton. Roberts is a commentator and news analyst for NPR and for ABC News. Previously, she reported on Congress for NPR for more than a decade before joining ABC News, where she covered politics, Congress and public policy and co-anchored the Sunday morning broadcast, “This Week with Sam Donaldson & Cokie Roberts.”  She is also the author of several books, including “Founding Mothers” and “Ladies of Liberty,” two histories of women in early America. Roberts was the commencement speaker at Duke in 1999.