RARE President Gerald R. Ford\'s 1979 Wedding Invitation & Documents for Daughter
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
RARE President Gerald R. Ford\'s 1979 Wedding Invitation & Documents for Daughter:
$49.99
RARE President Gerald R. Ford\'s 1979 Wedding Invitation for Daughter Susan\'s & Other Related Ephemera
This is an awesome piece of history. It is a group of documents related to Gerald R. Ford\'s daughter Susan\'s wedding including original invitation and Gerald Ford Rancho Mirage envelope. It comes from the personal archives of Mary Fisher, who worked directly with President Ford during his time as president. She held the position of Staff Assistant to the President, the first woman to hold such a position. The documents are in excellent condition. See photos for more details.
Interestingly, Mary Fisher is an important historical figure in her own right. Below is a brief biogarphy from Wikipedia regarding Ms. Fisher:
Mary Fisher(born April 6, 1948) is anAmericanpolitical activist,artistandauthor. After contractingHIVfrom her second husband, she has become an outspokenHIV/AIDS activistfor the prevention, education and for the compassionate treatment of people with HIV and AIDS. She is particularly noted for speeches before two Republican Conventions: Houston in 1992 and San Diego in 1996. The 1992 speech has been hailed as \"one of the best American speeches of the 20th Century.\"
She is founder of a non-profit organization to fund HIV/AIDS research and education, the Mary Fisher Clinical AIDS Research and Education (CARE) Fund. Since May 2006, she has been a global emissary for theJoint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS(UNAIDS).
Fisher was bornLizabeth Davis Frehlingon April 6, 1948, inLouisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Marjorie Faith (née Switow) and George Allen Frehling.Her parents were of Russian Jewish descent. Her parents divorced when Fisher was four, and the following year her mother married multimillionaireMax Fisher, who adopted Fisher.
Raised inMichigan, Fisher attended Kingswood School (today\'sCranbrook Kingswood School) inBloomfield Hills(where she had briefly dated politicianMitt Romney),and attended college at theUniversity of Michiganfor a year before taking a volunteer position atABC televisioninDetroit, Michigan, which she left when afforded an opportunity to join the staff ofGerald R. Ford, thenPresident of the United States, as the first female \"advance man\".
In 1977, Fisher entered her first marriage, which soon dissolved. In 1984, she sought treatment at theBetty Ford Centerfor alcoholism; while there, she realized she was artistically inclined.After rehabilitation, she resettled toNew York City,New York, and in 1987 she married fellow artist Brian Campbell.The couple relocated toBoca Raton,Florida, and expanded their family. Fisher gave birth to son Max and after several miscarriages, adopted a second son, Zachary, with her husband.In 1990, Campbell requested a divorce and in 1991 informed Fisher that he was HIV positive.Fisher soon learned that she had contracted the virus from him, although their children tested negative.
Fisher decided to be open about her illness, and after theDetroit Free Presspublished her story in February 1992, she was invited to speak at the1992 Republican National ConventioninHouston,Texas.There, she urged the Republican Party to handle the AIDS crisis and the HIV positive with compassion.In 1995,The New York Timescredited Fisher, along withElizabeth Glaser, who spoke on her experience with AIDS at the1992 Democratic National Convention, with having \"brought AIDS home to America.\"Fisher\'s Republican convention speech was listed as #50 in American Rhetoric\'s Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century (listed by rank).After that appearance, Fisher created a support group for families affected by AIDS and healthcare workers, the Family AIDS Network, and continued speaking as its representative, promoting education, prevention and acceptance of sufferers.In October 1992, PresidentGeorge Bushappointed her to theNational Commission on AIDSto replaceMagic Johnson.Fisher spoke again at the1996 Republican National ConventioninSan Diego,California.Fisher did not return for the2000 Republican National ConventioninPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania; she was replaced by fellow AIDS activist (and \"abstinence-only\" proponent) Patricia Funderburk Ware.
In 1999, Fisher made news when she, like some other HIV-positive people, decided to stop taking anti-HIV medications which she felt were hurting her quality of life.
But she and her doctors continued to try new drug combinations and, by 2001, were able to suppress the virus without unmanageable side effects. Finding medications that could prolong healthy life marked a turning point, Fisher said in a 2007Moremagazine interview: \"For years it was waiting to die, and then it was turning everything around and trying to figure out how to live.\"
Fisher expanded her AIDS activism from public speaking into writing, art and international advocacy. She founded the non-profitMary Fisher CARE Fund,based at the Center for AIDS Research at theUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham, to support clinical AIDS research and promote public education about HIV/AIDS medicine and policy. She serves on the leadership council of the \'Global Coalitionon Women and AIDS\' and with other HIV-positive women has toured the United States to raise awareness about the disease.
Fisher\'s international work has focused on Africa and especially Zambia, where she hasled fact-finding toursand has promoted income-generation projects to employ HIV-positive women.She has taught African women to create handmade jewelry which is then sold online and in U.S. galleries, with profits returned to the women artisans.
Fisher\'s art has been exhibited in public and private collections around the world. Collectors include: President and Mrs.George H. W. Bush, President and Mrs.Gerald Ford, Mrs. Henry Ford II, President and Mrs.MwanawasaofZambia, and many others. Seven of her sculptures are displayed at theGeneva,Switzerland, headquarters ofUNAIDS, as part ofArt for Aids, a collection created to recognize the role art has played in the response to AIDS. Fisher\'s work also has been shown at theGerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.
Fisher is represented year round by Goldenstein Gallery.Uptown Sedona, Arizona. A special show featuring her work is held annually in November. The show is titled: CHI: Art as a Healing Medium. The opening reception is held the first Friday in November. Fisher speaks in the gallery at least once a year.
She is active with the Sedona Visual Artists Coalition.
Fisher is the author of six books: An autobiography calledMy Name is Mary: A Memoir;Angels in Our Midst, a photographic tribute to AIDS caregivers;ABATAKA, a collection of her \'AIDS-themed and African-influenced arts works; two books containing transcripts of speeches,Sleep With the AngelsandI\'ll Not Go Quietlyand in 2012,Messenger: A Self-Portrait(Greenleaf Book Group, Austin, TX)
*** Please see my other listings for more from this collection. Please also check out my other items under user ID millerhousedotca for many more great political items and much more (as well as a 5000+ positive response rating). Thank you. ***
Buyer pays shipping. I SHIP WORLDWIDE. Feel free to ask any questions or raise any concerns that you may have. I try to answer all questions, but questions asked during the listing\'s closing hours may not get answered in time.
Please view my other items up for sale.Combine items and save on shipping.
RARE President Gerald R. Ford\'s 1979 Wedding Invitation & Documents for Daughter:
$49.99