[3] In the late 1960s, Shields lived with her family in a rented second floor apartment of a brick bungalow the South Side of Chicago that belonged to her aunt Robbie and her husband Terry.

Shields resumed work as an executive assistant at a bank when her daughter Michelle started high school.

[2] Robinson used to take her daughter Michelle to the library long before she started school and used to sit beside her as she learned to read and write.

Usually the kind of mother who expected her children to settle their own disputes, Robinson was quick to see real distress and stepped in to help when needed.

For example, when Michelle was in second grade and was distressed because of being devalued by a teacher, Robinson advocated for her and was instrumental in getting her daughter better learning opportunities at school.

Although she participated in several public events, and took her first trips outside the United States during the White House years, she was able to keep a low profile, and move comparatively freely around Washington practically unnoticed, much to the envy of her daughter.