10-year-old's letter asked President Carter to include women in the military. He wrote back
'I have held on to this letter through seven more presidents and countless moves, but it’s still in pristine condition.'
Kids have one of the most noble and bravest hearts to do whatever their inner voice whispers. Then-10-year-old Jane Rosenzweig also went all out in her enthusiasm to pen a letter to Jimmy Carter, former president of the United States, per WBUR. Written back in 1980, the little girl in Rosenzweig was eager to hear what the President had to say about her ideas and views. She pointed out an extraordinary issue — the need to have women registered in the military. While she didn’t expect much, she was stoked to receive a reply from the White House. Years later, she was bold enough to share it with the world.
Written to the former President when he was in his final year of ruling, the woman was only in the fifth grade at the time. “I have held on to this letter through seven more presidents and countless moves, but it’s still in pristine condition — a crisp page of cream-colored letterhead, carefully folded in thirds, the only sign of its age being that it was typed on an actual typewriter,” Rosenzweig noted. She mentioned that she wrote to him about the idea of registering women into the military on grounds of equality among others. She took time out to highlight how, in those days, nothing was instant. She had to count days, figuring out whether the mail had reached the White House and if someone read it.
She recalled how she anticipated a reply for days before she found herself looking at a letter in her mailbox. It was from Daniel M. Chew. Director of Presidential Correspondence at the White House. It read, “In acknowledging your message to President Carter regarding the registration of women for possible military service, I want to apologize for the long delay. As you can imagine, the volume of mail sent to the White House has been heavy in recent months.” Mr. Chew went on to mention that the President was appreciative of the then-little girl’s suggestion. However, he also noted that the “House and Senate subcommittees rejected the proposal to include women.”
But it was not just a blunt no. There was redirection, assuring Rosenzweig that her voice had been heard and noted, not silenced. “Certainly, in line with your suggestion, we will seek to increase the understanding of Congress and the public regarding the current work women are doing and the contribution they are making. We also will continue to strive diligently for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment,” the letter concluded. For the little girl, it felt like a jackpot that the president read her words. “I do remember how excited I was when I received a response, even though it wasn’t from Carter himself,” she recalled.
Just the fact that the letter came from “THE WHITE HOUSE” was mind-boggling to her. Mr. Carter passed away on December 29, 2024, per ABC News. He was the longest living president who made it to 100 years. In his time as a dad, grandfather and even the president, he impacted lives beautifully. And Rosenzweig’s experience was but one of them. She revealed the letter a month after his passing and pointed out the message she took from the experience. “I couldn’t walk up to the White House and ask to speak to President Carter, but I could write down my words with the hope that someone would read them. And when I received a response, my world grew larger,” she remarked.
She also left a message for Mr. Chew, who sent her the letter. “If you’re out there, I want you to know that 14 years after I received your letter, I wrote a master’s thesis about women in the military, and your response to my letter was the first assurance to me that I had something to say on this topic.” The letter and the response, the connection itself, all proved to a little girl that the impossible can be possible, and she lives every day believing just that. “President Carter spent his life building bridges, and I’m grateful for the one that letter built from his White House to me,” Rosenzweig said.
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