Special Thanks to Coka-Lani at WKYS
Over the weekend, the National Museum Of American History in Washington D.C. reopened the 10th edition of the “FIRST LADIES” exhibit, featuring dresses and other items from First Ladies dating back 100 years to the present! Our First Lady, Michelle Obama, was on hand at the opening!!
The new exhibition “The First Ladies” features 26 dresses and about 160 other objects ranging from Martha Washington’s White House collection to a first look at Laura Bush’s china. It’s the 10th version of the first ladies exhibit in nearly 100 years. The last one closed in October as the museum moves historic objects out of its west wing for a major renovation beginning early next year.
“We knew that it would be unacceptable during the renovation timeframe for the public to go two years without this popular and almost 100-year-old tradition at the Smithsonian,” interim museum director Marc Pachter said.
When it first opened in 1914, the first ladies collection was the first time the Smithsonian Institution gave women a prominent place in history, he said. Every first lady since Helen Taft has followed the tradition of donating her inaugural gown to the collection. Last year, Obama gave the museum her dress designed by Jason Wu.
According to the Smithsonian, the term “first lady” was first used in 1849 by President Zachary Taylor in his eulogy of Dolley Madison. Before that, a variety of other terms were used over the nation’s first 100 years.
