Mary Todd Lincoln’s life, losses, and contested legacy will take center stage when the Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania welcomes bestselling author and national political journalist Lois Romano to its Annual Meeting and Dinner on Thursday, November 19, 2026, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Hotel Gettysburg ballroom.
Romano will discuss her New York Times bestseller, An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln, in conversation with Michelle A. Krowl, Civil War and Reconstruction Specialist in the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress.
A longtime national political journalist for The Washington Post and Politico, Romano has covered numerous campaigns, presidents, and first ladies. Her groundbreaking biography explores one of history’s most misunderstood women, challenging assumptions that have shaped Mary Todd Lincoln’s legacy for more than 150 years.
“It is an honor to be in Gettysburg during the anniversary week, a place where the fate of our Union was tested, and the meaning of our democracy was forever changed,” Romano said. “As a biographer of Mary Todd Lincoln, I am especially mindful of the sacrifices made to preserve the Union and of the women whose contributions to that struggle have too often been overlooked. Gettysburg reminds us that history is never simply a story of the past; it is a continuing conversation about who we are as a nation and the values we hope to carry forward.”
The dinner takes place on the 163rd anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and during Lincoln at Gettysburg: Shall Not Perish, the November 16–19 commemoration produced by the Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania and Gettysburg National Military Park.
The serious conversation will offer guests an opportunity to reconsider Mary Todd Lincoln’s place in American history and the personal sacrifices behind one of the nation’s most consequential presidencies.