Nothing. I really only know that there is no full biography written of her, which apparently is at least partly because she is another whose correspondence was burned at death. I know that there is a short, 35-page booklet written about her and that that is the longest piece of writing ever produced focused specifically on Elizabeth Monroe. I know this booklet exists from a Google search; I learned it was the only real biography of her life from a fellow First-Ladies blog, "Remember the Ladies": http://rachelschmoyer.blogspot.com/. I stopped reading after learning that the blogger acquired the booklet from the gift shop at Ash-Lawn Highlands, the Monroes' home, for $4. Since I have set up a rule to not spend money to complete this project, I will not be acquiring this booklet.
Instead, I have chosen to learn about the Monroe administration by reading Harlow Giles Unger's The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness.
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| Image from Amazon |
There are many pages referencing Elizabeth Kortright Monroe in the index, so hopefully I will gain some education on her life as I learn about Monroe the President. I'll definitely learn a lot by reading the book, since all I really know about James Monroe is that he lived in Virginia, not far from Jefferson and Madison, and that he is largely remembered for what we call the Monroe Doctrine, which, if I remember correctly, basically said that the United States would not tolerate further European colonization of the Americas.
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