An unfortunately large portion of the historic site was devoted to superficial subjects, such as inaugural ball gowns. In John’s opinion, it should have been more about the First Ladies, the programs they endorsed, and their roles as White House hostess. This page is less history and more fluff.

Spread throughout the museum, there were life sized posters of some of the First Ladies with interesting quotes that showed some of the personality of the people and the views of the times. In order from oldest to newest.

They also had a First Lady group standee. John said, “One of those is not a First Lady.” The curator indignantly exclaimed, “All of them are First Ladies!”

And then she looked up and said, “Oh, nevermind.”

John was disappointed that so much of the museum was a “fashion” show. He thinks that what they wore at the inaugural ball is far less important than what they accomplished when they were a First Lady. It seemed a little demeaning.

They had miniature gowns.

We hope that pink notice was for children or a joke. And, they had full sized dresses.

We are pretty sure that third red outfit (from the left) was not the only thing a First Lady wore to the inaugural ball. That would still be in the news today.

They also had some nifty old time chandeliers and sconces.

The stairs to the second level had the names of the donors and organizers. You could stomp on the rich people on the way up the stairs. The one in the corner of the landing was, Mary Regula, a founder of the First Ladies library.

Upstairs, they had the kids section, the library, and the press area mentioned in the previous post. They have a Junior Ranger standee.

You can see the set of 42 commemorative First Lady thimbles in the background.

The research library is by reservation only.

In the store, they had an interesting framed bas relief (sand sculpture?) of five First Ladies, and a First Lady cheat sheet. We are not sure, but we think the First Ladies, from the left, are Eleanor Rossevelt, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Betty Ford, and Nancy Reagan. In 2026, a bipartisan initiative set up five former and serving First Ladies serve as the honorary chairs of the museum. Currently, this is Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, Jill Biden, and Melania Trump. Clearly, these are not the five in the image.

In the basement, they have the auditorium and that swanky exit.

After this, we headed on to the McKinley memorial.