Hundreds of Americans of all ages poured into the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta to pay their respects to Rosalynn Carter, who lay at rest Monday evening.
Many of those who came to bid the former first lady a final farewell paused in front of her wooden casket, which was covered with a bouquet of colorful flowers and guarded by two members of the Georgia State Patrol. The public peace would last until 10 p.m
Earlier in the day, many other Georgians lined state highways as Rosalynn Carter’s motorcade headed toward Atlanta from her small hometown of Plains, in southwest Georgia.
The public tranquility began after a brief ceremony in which the Carter family and staff from the Carter Center and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum paid their respects — one of several planned through Wednesday to celebrate Rosalynn’s life and legacy Carter to honor.
She died peacefully at her home in Plains on November 19, at the age of 96, two days after the Carter Center announced she would enter hospice care at home. A tireless advocate for mental health reform and the destigmatization of mental illness, Rosalynn Carter devoted most of her life to humanitarian efforts, always at the side of her husband of more than 77 years, the former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. In May, the Carter Center said Rosalynn Carter had dementia.
The couple had returned to Plains, about 120 miles south of Atlanta, after leaving the White House in 1981 and had lived there ever since. Jimmy Carter, who is 99, received home hospice care in February after a series of hospital stays.
People from across the state – and across the country – came to Plains this past week to celebrate the life and legacy of Rosalynn Carter as the town of several hundred residents prepared to say goodbye.
“She gave so much back to the community, to our world,” Georgia resident Andy Huggins told CNN last week. “I just felt the need to come here again, just because I was here in the presence of her spirit. She was a beautiful person.”
The Carters’ last public appearance was on September 23, when they toured the Plains Peanut Festival. Jimmy Carter is expected to attend his wife’s memorial service in Atlanta on Tuesday, according to his grandson Jason Carter.
The ceremonies started Monday
Rosalynn Carter’s motorcade left downtown Plains at 10 a.m. Monday and traveled through the nearby town of Americus.
The motorcade made a brief stop at a medical center where former and current members of its U.S. Secret Service Protection unit were serving guided the hearse, according to the Carter Center, the nonprofit organization the Carters founded.
And in one of the first official celebrations of the former first lady’s death, two wreaths were laid Monday morning at a bronze statue of Rosalynn Carter on the campus of her alma mater, Georgia Southwestern State University. The statue shows the former first lady sitting on a bench, holding her book “First Lady from Plains.”
Hundreds of people gathered for that service, the university said.
University President Neal Weaver and Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers CEO Jennifer Olsen placed the wreaths on either side of the statue. The former first lady founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers on the school’s campus in 1987, and the organization has since supported and advocated for “tens of millions of Americans who provide unpaid care to their loved ones,” the school said.
“She leaves a legacy for us to emulate,” Weaver said. He praised “the way she dealt with people, saw humanity as something very positive and wanted people to be successful and invest in their lives.”
He said she was a “regular” at Georgia Southwestern State University before the Covid-19 pandemic and students had the opportunity to “be right next to her, work with her and get to know her.”
Members of the Carter family traveling with the motorcade briefly stepped off the bus to shake hands with the participants.
“We will always remember her incredible achievements and dedication to service, and will continue to build on her legacy of advocacy,” the school said said in a statement last week. “We will never forget what she means to this university.”
Tribute service will take place on Tuesday
A private tribute will take place Tuesday at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church on the Emory University campus, featuring President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden. Vice President Kamala Harris and the second gentleman are also expected.
A private funeral service for family and invited friends will be held Wednesday morning at the couple’s beloved Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains.
“Rosalynn Carter’s deep compassion for people around the world and her tireless strength on their behalf have touched lives around the world. We have heard from thousands of you since her passing,” her family said in a statement last week. “Thank you all for joining us in celebrating what a treasure she was, not just to us, but to all of humanity.”
The Carter Center said in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Carter Center Mental Health Program or the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers. Additionally, people can share their memories of the former first lady on a website created to honor her.
CNN’s Jaide Timm-Garcia, Devon Sayers and Eva McKend contributed to this report.
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