SIMI VALLEY : Reagan Library Exhibit to Focus on First Ladies

Sandwiched between the time Martha Washington dressed herself in lace and finery and Hillary Rodham Clinton hung her law degree on her office wall is a lot of history, said Richard Norton Smith, director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Simi Valley.

A soon-to-open exhibit called “Madame President” will use these items and others gleaned from each of the nation’s more than 40 First Ladies to tell the story of how roles have changed.

“A typical First Lady exhibit would be more like a fashion show--bland, really,” Smith said. “We’re trying to do something different here. We’re trying to show the evolution of the First Lady’s role in the White House by telling more than 40 individuals’ stories.”

Using $50,000 in private donations, the library contacted museums, private collectors and descendants of each of the nation’s presidential families to gather the more than 200 artifacts that will be used in the exhibit.

Along with slippers worn by the nation’s first First Lady, there is a whalebone corset worn by Abigail Adams, a modish-looking black turban headdress with plume worn by Dolley Madison, a well-worn Bible owned by Julia Grant and Clinton’s law degree.

Smith hopes that people will be drawn to the exhibit by the unique collection of items on display and then drawn into the history of the women as they learn each First Lady’s biography.

“People might learn that First Lady activism didn’t start with Hillary Clinton or Eleanor Roosevelt--the history is much richer than that,” Smith said.

Lucy Hayes, wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes, was a pioneering feminist, according to Smith. In the late 1870s, the mother and First Lady was campaigning for women’s right to vote, he said. The press referred to Abigail Adams as Mrs. President, suggesting that she controlled her husband, John Adams.

“It wasn’t true, but she was a better politician than her husband,” Smith said. “If he had listened to her, he may have won a second term.”

The six-month exhibit will open May 6 with Luci Johnson, Susan Ford and Peggy Hoover recollecting how their mothers coped with life in the White House.

The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $4 general, $2 for senior citizens and free for children under 15. For details, contact the Reagan Library at 522-8444.