Kathleen Dalton wanted to write a biography of Theodore Roosevelt with a different angle.
While many biographies of the former president are written from a male perspective, Dalton wanted to highlight the contributions women made to Roosevelt's career.
"It is time to reinterpret progressivism as a co-educational movement," Dalton told a sparse but enthusiastic audience last Wednesday night at the Penn Bookstore.
Dalton appeared at Penn as part of a promotional tour for her new biography Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life.
Dalton esteemed Roosevelt as "one of the most vivid personalities of the time period," a figure whose character traits and achievements are still idolized by numerous contemporary politicians.
Dalton emphasized the importance of extensive archival research to her success, particularly her use of newly uncovered Roosevelt primary sources.
A self-described "archive rat," Dalton took 27 years to complete her Roosevelt study, incorporating what she feels are critical progressive era women's and social issues that have been neglected by former, more politicized, Roosevelt biographers.
Dalton credited important aspects of Roosevelt's political success to the women in his life, particularly his wife and other women active in progressive social reform. She also credited important promotions of American cultural excellence to Roosevelt.
The audience responded positively to the author's lecture.
"I was not planning on staying but I'm glad I did," said Brendan Lake, a graduate student in Penn's Fels Institute for Government, who happened upon the talk while browsing the Bookstore. "It's fascinating to juxtapose today to that era."
Classical Studies graduate student Stephanie Puglisi added, however, that, "It would have been nice if she could have given more of an overview..." but that she was "definitely interested in reading the book now."
In response to the lack of undergraduates at the event, Jeremy Puglisi commented, "I am shocked by how few students are here tonight."
Christine Hibbard, director of marketing at the Penn Bookstore and an event coordinator, was also slightly disappointed by the small student turnout.
"It is perplexing to me," Hibbard said. "It would be good to think about how to get more undergraduates at these events."
An associate fellow at Harvard University's Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History and a research fellow at American University's Gilder Lehrman Institute, Dalton is currently on leave as a history instructor at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass.
