Liv IKS Rosalynn Carter 1 d3.jpg

In this file photo, Rosalynn Carter greets well-wishers on April 16, 1976, at the opening of the Jimmy Carter campaign headquarters at 339 W. King St., Lancaster.

 LNP ARCHIVES

Editor’s note: According to LNP archives, former first Lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Nov. 19, visited Lancaster on April 16, 1976, to open Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign headquarters on West King Street. She wore a red rose corsage; snipped a green ribbon to open the headquarters; visited Lancaster Central Market, where she bought a bouquet of pink carnations; had lunch at the Hotel Brunswick; shook hands with shoppers at Park City; greeted Elizabethtown radio station employee Charles Smith (an old friend from Georgia); and spoke with supporters at the Conestoga Elks Lodge on Duke Street, local news stories about the visit said.

I remember it was Good Friday in 1976 and I had off work for the Easter spring break holiday. The previous day, there was an article in the Lancaster New Era about Rosalynn Carter campaigning for her husband, Gov. Jimmy Carter, for president, saying she would be leaving at the Lancaster Airport about 2 p.m. Friday.

My husband and I lived on East Oregon Road in Neffsville, so I told him I would walk across the cornfield to the airport to see Mrs. Carter.

When I got to the airport I expected to see a crowd, but there was no one there! I asked the desk clerk if Mrs. Carter had arrived, and he had no idea who she was. So I waited about 10 minutes alone, and two black limousines pulled up. One had a banner that said “Carter for President!”

Four men were in the first car and two men — I believe they were the Secret Service detail — and two women were in the second car. I asked if I could speak to Mrs. Carter and one gentleman said, “Sure. She’d be glad to talk to you.”

Rosalynn Carter and Jimmy Carter file photo

In this Feb. 8, 2017, file photo former President Jimmy Carter, right, and his wife Rosalynn arrive for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a solar panel project on farmland he owns in their hometown of Plains, Georgia.

So, after introductions, Rosalynn Carter and I sat on a bench inside the airport and had about a 20-minute conversation while waiting for the airplane to arrive.

I remember she said that Jimmy Carter’s mother, “Miss Lillian,” was volunteering in the Peace Corps in India.

She also said she was anxious to get home to Plains, Georgia, because her daughter, Amy, was home from school for the holiday. We also talked about family and mental health.

I asked if she knew that Lancaster was a Republican county. She said, “Oh, yes, I realize that — there was a very small turnout at the rally.”

Rosalynn Carter Celebrated

A guest holds the funeral program for former first lady Rosalynn Carter inside the Maranatha Baptist Church, in Plains, Georgia, on Nov. 29, 2023. 

We talked very little about politics, mostly about the spring and good times to come.

She was a strong, loving wife, doing what she could to support her husband. After a while, the airplane landed and they boarded and I waved goodbye.

I later talked to friends about Jimmy Carter running for president, and no one had even heard of him at that time. It was early in the campaign.

I will always remember talking to this very gracious lady. Little did I know she would be the next first lady.

She was the most famous person I ever carried on a conversation with in my life.

The author lives in Lititz.

If you know an interesting story, please write it in 600 words or less and send it to Mary Ellen Wright, LNP editorial department, P.O. Box 1328, Lancaster, PA 17608-1328, or email it to features@lnpnews.com. Please include your phone number and the name of the town you live in.

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