Elizabeth Willing Powel
From Civics In A Year by The Center for American Civics
June 9, 2026 · 24 min · Season 1 · Episode 230
About this episode
The episode discusses Elizabeth Willing Powel's influence on George Washington and the broader implications of her actions in a time when women could not vote or hold office.
A woman in Philadelphia tells George Washington, plainly, that the country needs him to serve again and she does not write for personal gain. That single moment opens a much bigger story about how influence works when you cannot vote, cannot hold office, and still refuse to stay silent. We sit down with Samantha Snyder from the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon to talk about Elizabeth Willing Powel, the subject of Samantha’s forthcoming full-scale biography (Univer...
People in this episode
Guest: Samantha Snyder
Topics covered
- influence
- women in history
- American government
- biography
- George Washington
Keywords
- Elizabeth Willing Powel
- George Washington
- influence
- women's history
- biography
- Philadelphia
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: George Washington Presidential Library
Places: Philadelphia
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