Boston Athenæum

June 9, 2016 at the Boston Athenæum. Born in London to an American father and a British mother on the eve of the Revolutionary War, Louisa Catherine Johnson was raised in a manner very different from the New England upbringing of her future husband and president John Quincy Adams. Their often tempestuous but deeply close marriage lasted half a century. They lived in Prussia, Massachusetts, Washington, Russia, and England; they lived at royal courts, on farms, in cities, and in the White House. Louisa saw more of Europe and America than nearly any other woman of her time. But wherever she lived, she was always pressing her nose against the glass, not quite sure whether she was looking in or out. The other members of the Adams family could take their identities for granted—they were Adamses; they were Americans—but she had to invent her own. The story of Louisa Catherine Adams is one of a woman who forged a sense of self. As the America found its place in the world, she found a voice. That voice resonates sti