The First Ladies - Gowns, China and More
A stop on Washington DC National Mall Walking Tour, a free self-guided tour.
The First Ladies gallery, at the center of the third floor, is one of the oldest and most popular displays in the Smithsonian. It began in 1912, when two Washington women, Cassie Mason Myers Julian-James and Rose Gouverneur Hoes, set out to collect clothing worn by the presidents' wives.
Helen Taft, the first lady at the time, gave the gown she wore to her husband's 1909 inaugural ball, starting a tradition that most of her successors have followed. Today the gallery shows a selection of their gowns alongside White House china, jewelry and personal objects, and it rotates pieces to protect the fragile fabrics.
The exhibit also looks at how each first lady shaped the role, from hostess to campaigner to advocate. Next, walk to the west side of the third floor for Dorothy's ruby slippers.
More on Wikipedia: First Lady of the United States · Helen Herron Taft
Stops on this tour
- Washington Monument
- National Museum of African American History and Cu
- National Museum of American History
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
- National Gallery of Art
- United States Capitol
- United States Botanic Garden
- National Museum of the American Indian
- National Air and Space Museum
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
- The Smithsonian Institution Building - The Castle
- Freer Gallery of Art
- Jefferson Memorial
- World War II Memorial
- Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
- Korean War Memorial
- Lincoln Memorial
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- White House Ellipse
- White House
- Lafayette Square