Michelle Obama to Speak at New York Historical Society
Michelle Obama, attorney, hospital administrator and wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, will be the featured guest at the New-York Historical Society’s new Women in Public Life series at the annual Strawberry Festival benefit on June 26. The event begins at 12:30 p.m. and concludes at 2:00 p.m., at 170 Central Park West at 77th Street.
Currently Vice President of Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals, Michelle Obama previously served as Associate Dean of Student Services and Director of the University Community Service Center. In 1993, she was the founding director of Public Allies, an Americorps-funded program that provides leadership skills training to young adults. She also practiced intellectual property law in the corporate sector prior to her tenure as an assistant to Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago.
Michelle Obama graduated from Harvard Law School in 1988 and received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1985; she majored in Sociology with a minor in African-American Studies. She grew up on Chicago’s South Side as Michelle Robinson, and met Barack Obama when she was appointed his advisor while they were both working as attorneys at Sidley & Austin in Chicago.. The couple has two daughters, Malia 8, and Sasha 5, and the family resides on Chicago’s South Side.
The 2007 Strawberry Festival marks the launch of the New-York Historical Society’s Women in Public Life series. The N-YHS annual Strawberry Festival dates to June 1856. Previous Strawberry Festivals have featured Hillary Clinton, Betsey Gotbaum, Anna Quindlen, Leslie Stahl, Christine Quinn and Wendy Wasserstein.
Proceeds will benefit the programs of the New-York Historical Society, including major exhibitions and educational programs on American history. Current N-YHS exhibitions include: New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War and A New Light on Tiffany. Strawberry Festival tickets are $300, $600, and $1,000. Media RSVP required.
