Rosalynn Carter: Advocate for the Mentally Ill

Abstract

In January 1977, Rosalynn Carter of Plains, GA, became First Lady when her husband Jimmy Carter took office as the 39th president of the United States. Although she was new to the national limelight, Mrs. Carter had always maintained an active role in the family business, as mother of four children, and as partner in all her husband's politi cal activities.

As a member of the Carter Center Board of Trustees, the former First Lady created and chairs the Carter Center's Mental Health Task Force, an advisory body of experts, con sumers, and advocates promoting positive change in the mental health field. She serves as the honorary chair of the Rosalynn Carter Institute at Georgia Southwest ern College and is involved in a variety of national, state, and local initiatives that address social ills as sociated with poverty and mental illness.