Frankie Hewitt was an American theater producer and founder of the Ford's Theatre Society, responsible for restoring and reopening the historic site as a working theater.

Born Frankie Teague in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma

Roger Mills County, Oklahoma

Roger Mills County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 3,436. Its county seat is Cheyenne.-History:Roger Mills County takes its name from Roger Q. Mills, a prominent American politician from Texas...

, she was women's editor of the Napa Daily Register from 1949 to 1951 and later worked for the California Institute for Social Welfare (1954-55), the National Institute for Social Welfare (1956-58), the US Senate Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency (1959-61), and the US mission to the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 (1961-63) under Ambassador Adlai Stevenson. She founded the Ford's Theatre society in 1967 and the theater reopened with a production of John Brown's Body

John Brown's Body (poem)

John Brown's Body is an epic American poem written by Stephen Vincent Benet. Its title references the radical abolitionist John Brown, who raided Harpers Ferry in West Virginia in the fall of 1859. He was captured and hanged later that year, and his name and rebellion inspired the civil war song...

by Stephen Vincent Benet

Stephen Vincent Benét

Stephen Vincent Benét was an American author, poet, short story writer, and novelist. Benét is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Brown's Body , for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929, and for two short stories, "The Devil and Daniel Webster" and "By...

 on February 12, 1968. She produced over 150 shows and network television specials at the theater. For her work with the theater she was awarded a 2002 National Humanities Medal

National Humanities Medal

The National Humanities Medal honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities.The award, given by the...

.

Her second marriage was to 60 Minutes

60 Minutes

60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....

producer Don Hewitt

Don Hewitt

Donald Shepard "Don" Hewitt was an American television news producer and executive, best known for creating 60 Minutes, the CBS television news magazine, in 1968, which at the time of his death, was the longest-running prime-time broadcast on American television...

until their divorce in 1974.