The National Archives hosted this 90 minute event. Hello, everyone. [applause] how are you . Thank you for being here. We are going to have a rousing evening, i hope. Certainly an interesting one. I have to say, the whole topic of what the first lady wears, we know, is a frequent topic of discussion. We have lisa here, who wrote the book on the first ladies collection. Lisa, i would speculate that you departmentt visited at the smithsonian. We are told it is the most visited exhibition at the smithsonian. We turn 100 years old this year. How fantastic. I want to ask all of our panel, why do we care so much about what the first lady wears . What is the impact . What is the legacy . What is the message . I think she is a symbolic figure. She is in a way, a little bit like the queen of america. People look at her to see what kind of a female image she is conveying. I think we also see her as i think that people definitely want time you late her. From how she is conducting herself to the w
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
The most visited department at the smithsonian. Were told its the most visited and at this point the oldest. We turned 100 years old this year. How fantastic. 100 years old. 100 years old. That is wonderful. I want to ask all of the 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 that the first lady sends . I think shes a symbolic figure. Shes in a way a little bit like the queen of america. And people look at her to see what kind of a female image shes conveying. And i think we also see her as a mother of our country for the time shes in office. And i think that people definitely want to emulate her and, you know, seek guidance, you know, from how she is conducting herself and projecting herself to the world. And i want to remind everyone were going to have a question and answer session at the end of this. If you have questions about any of these things and think you might forget, write them down. And we