This past month D.C got an amazing opportunity to meet and greet with the one and only Martha Stewart. On November 17th she spoke with Marc Pachter, interim director of the National Museum of American History, for a talk back at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.). Marc sat down with the author, entrepreneur, magazine publisher, television host and all-around genius of domesticity to discuss the evolution of American domestic culture and her profound impact on it. The program, hosted by the Smithsonian Associates, is in timing with the recent release of her latest book, Martha’s Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations—an update to her inaugural book.

Throughout the conversation, Martha touched on a lot of her own personal experiences in the home environment as she grew up, many of her inspirations and notions came from her adolescent years. Being the second oldest of six children she saw first hand how her mother handled such an immense amount of household chores. Martha was quoted saying "I love chores, only child that didn't have to be asked to do them." She described her fascination with her fathers garden and planting herbs. She watched as her parents raised there growing family on average a $13,000 income and still always made sure there was enough to eat and everybody was comfortable. "It was scary but Mom and Dad always made it work, always had fresh vegetables on the table. I love them for that." From a young age Martha learned how to help her mother work and maintain a proper household, which transitioned into a lifestyle that she made into a very successful career. Although Martha did not start out this way. "I always wanted to be a teacher like my mom". But her plan quickly changed, by the time she got to high school she wanted to go to Stanford, but she knew her parents could never afford it. he was presented a full scholarship to NYU but chose Barnard College instead. 

 Her college years were where people started seeing a more business like persona in Martha. After getting married at 19, she quickly became fascinated by Wall street, and focused more on business in school. After graduating college she became a stock broker, and was the only women stock broker in her firm. "It was an exciting place after two martini lunches with clients go to museum bookstores buy books and collect art, I absolutely loved it!"  

 So how did this up and coming business woman turn into America's favorite home entertainer extraordinaire? "If I stayed on Wall Street I would probably be running a company, but well I still kind of run a company" she laughs "a very different company, an exhausting career being an owner of a catering company". Martha needed something new, something different than what she was used too, so she combined two things she knew a lot about and was good at, business and cooking. "My food was kind of voluptuous, different than anything else." Her food was different, very natural, she would bring baskets of live chickens to work. She said Julia Childs is her mentor. "I cooked every recipe in Julia Childs book. Julia did not have pictures in her book, unlike Martha, they have different styles. Martha made wedding cakes with her Julia on the Julia Childs show in Boston, which gave Martha her biggest inspiration yet, to do television. From television transitioned into Martha's radio program, and then came her first book. "After my first book I was hooked, but not yet ready for another book so I decided to start a magazine on how to ideas for everyday decorating tips, to recipes, etc...Needless to say Martha Stewart has become a marketing and publishing genius, who has inspired people across America, and will continue to keep inspiration going. 

-Sarah DeAngelis