Theres a scene on the day of the vote where Fernando Wood is waving papers saying i have affidavits. Thats not 19th century congress. Thats what you realize when you see a movie like lincoln. Or think about mr. Smith goes to washington, almost all of what we think we know about past politics comes from movies. And popular culture, and we absorb it so much, we think its real. Thats why its so important to try to sort it out. I dont want to be one of those scholar squirrels that gore vidal used to make fun of, but thats what i have been doing, digging around in the script and pointing out the small differences, but ultimately, they matter. As much as i think youre right, the Lincoln Movie will produce good things, when we teach it, teachers need to be aware of how it departs from what we know about the record. Greg. You need to wait for the microphone. Sorry, how does it skew in terms of younger audiences . Because my experience, which could be which is only anecdotal, when i poll my que
Climactic scene on the floor of the house on the day of the vote, january 1st, 1865, they have james spader and john hay running to the white house to get the note from lincoln. None of that happened. The note, we think, is real, though we dont have the original of it. Its a recollection from james ashley, but James Spaders character, william bilbo, was in new york at the time, at the st. Nicolas hotel. The lobbyists were in new york in the final weeks of the fight working the press. The race scene is just a hollywood chase scene. Its no different than the airport race scene in argo and i have no problem with that, like i said, but key moments in this story are altered. And theyre altered for dramatic reasons. We need to understand that if were going to teach it and appreciate it. I call it fiction and i dont mean it as an insult, but i do think people need to appreciate the difference betweenviction and the record. The record is far more complicated. I think its just as interesting, b
So, i am going to ask all of our panelists, why do we care so much about what the first lady wears . What is the impact . What is the legacy . What is the message . A symbolicshe is figure. Little bit at her a like the queen of america. People want to emulate her from how sheance is conducting herself and with theg herself world. I want to remind everyone, we are going to have a question and answer session at the end of this, so if you have questions and you think you might forget, write them down. We have Dolly Madison, who presided over the first ball. Ral what do we think about Dolly Madison and the impact that she had . Its taking us back, way back. People criticized her. They thought she was too fancy and not aristocratic enough. When you think that Dolly Madison grew up as a quaker when she married James Madison she broke from this quaker background. A woman who was demurely dressed rake out inty to amazing close. A nod to the quaker cap. Wonder if this is what she longed to look
Styles of the times in which they lived as well as their personal style. Joining us is the curator of the first ladies collection at the National Museum of american history. The National Archives posted this 90 minute event. [applause] hello, everyone. Thank you for being here. Were going to have a rousing evening, i hope. Certainly an interesting one and an interesting discussion. The whole topic of what the first lady wears, we know is a frequent topic of discussion. We have lisa here who wrote the ladies the first collection at the smithsonian. I would speculate you run most visited department at the smithsonian. We are told it is the most visited and its one of the oldest, 100 years old this year. How fantastic. That is wonderful. One task all of our panelists why do we care so much about what the first lady wears . What is the legacy . What is the message that the first ladies have . Ica symbolic figure. She is in a way a little bit like the queen of america. We look at her to see
Well as their individual personalities. Joining the panel is Lisa Kathleen graddy, the curator of the first ladies collection at the National Museum of American History. The National Archives hosted this 90minute event. Hello, everyone. How are you . [ applause ] thank you for being here. Were going to have a rousing evening, i hope. Its certainly an interesting one and an interesting discussion, and i have to say the whole topic of what the first lady wears we know is a frequent topic of discussion, and we have Lisa Kathleen graddy here, who wrote the book on the first ladies collection here at the smithsonian, and Lisa Kathleen, i would speculate that you run the most visited Curatorial Department at the smithsonian. We are told it is the most visited exhibition at the smithsonian and at this point the oldest. We turned 100 years old this year. How fantastic. 100 years old. That is wonderful. I want to ask all of our panelists why do we care so much about what the first lady wears. W