Rosalynn Carter Interview

Back when she first lady of the United States, Rosalynn Carter advocated for the rights of those with mental illness.

And in the decades since her husband left the White House she’s stayed active in the field. She created the Carter Center Mental Health Task Force, an advisory board that works for change in the field. And more recently, she testified before a House Subcommittee to get the mental health parity law passed.

Last week she came to Pittsburgh to speak at The PostPartum Support International and Marce Society conference on Women’s Mental Health.


She spoke about her years of work as an advocate for those with mental illness.

"One of the highlights of my life came not too long after Jimmy was elected…the great anthropologist Margaret Mead came to see me. It was so wonderful and she came to see me for taking on this issue and how can you give it up? When Margaret Mead comes to thank you? And she came to thank me, she came to see me in the White House, we went to Canada together for meetings, but what she told me that first day was it was not going to be easy. And she was right," she told the crowd.

Before her speech, she spoke with DUQ's Erika Beras about her advocacy and her new book Within Our Reach, Ending the Mental Health Crisis.

Listen the the interview here.