At the height of the Great Depression, Mrs. Roosevelt realized, “unless women reporters could find something new to write about,” they might lose their jobs. The first lady insisted her conferences would stick to women’s issues, not politics, or her “husband’s side of the news.” 

By year’s end, she had invited foreign dignitaries and guests such as Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins to discuss topics like affordable housing, women’s work, and minimum wage. 

The first lady held 348 press conferences over 12 years. The first was two days after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first Inauguration, and the last was just hours before he died on April 12, 1945.

The Red Room is one of three parlor rooms on the State Floor and serves as a setting for informal and formal events.