As America celebrates its 250th birthday, much is made of the founding fathers’ impact in the early days, but at the Weisenberg Lutheran Church March 21, the founding mothers were front and center.

For an hour and a half, Darlene Moyer highlighted those women who made significant contributions to American history.

Moyer distilled her extensive research, focusing on figures from Martha Washington to Abigail Adams, peppering her presentation with anecdotes and observations that brought them to life.

Entitled “Founding Females: The Women of the American Revolution,” the event was the brainchild of Gloria Zimmerman, president of the Weisenberg Lowhill Historical Society.

“I had heard of these people, but I didn’t know too much about them,” she admitted. “I knew we needed to hear from Darlene. I heard about her from the Longswamp Historical Society.”

Moyer began her talk with a short bio about Hannah Callowhill Penn, William Penn’s second wife. “Just imagine,” she said, “that at the time women had no power,” but when “Penn gave his wife land through his will, he also gave her all the responsibility connected with managing it all. She is very, very important to Pennsylvania.”

“Today, she would be called a governor,” Moyer observed, “and yet, we’ve never had a woman governor here.”

In describing Martha Washington, Moyer said, “Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wealthiest woman in Virginia at that time.”

“She always went to where her beloved George was,” she said. “She often took goods and food to the troops.”

“She was 17 years old when she married Custis. By the time she was 25, she had lost two children and her husband, all before she married George Washington.”

Moyer included artist’s paintings and sketches to give the audience an idea of what these women looked like.

Many of the women knew one another.

In Martha Washington’s case, Moyer said “She was happy to have John Adams, the husband of her good friend Abigail, follow George [to the presidency].”

“Abigail Smith was 19 years old when she married John Adams,” she said. “She’s probably the best known first lady,” in part because of her extensive writing and also as the wife of John Adams and the mother of John Quincy Adams.

“I wish most sincerely there was not a slave in these provinces,” Abigail Adams once wrote. She also implored her husband and his friends to “Remember the ladies and be more generous to them.”

Despite her admiration for the founders, Moyer did not gild the lily.

“Deborah Reed Franklin raised Ben Franklin’s illegitimate son,” she said, obviously not a Ben Franklin fan.

“Martha Washington had 300 slaves as part of her dowry,” she said, adding that the enslaved were eventually freed. “It was a different time.”

A question-and-answer period followed the presentation.

One audience member raised the name Phillis Wheatley, (1753-84), who was the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry.

“I love this time in history and how people stepped up for what they believed in,” Moyer said, who continues to celebrate the nation’s early history.

“My house is decorated in red, white and blue. I have lights and flags everywhere,” she said.