WASHINGTON — Whatever Michelle Obama chooses to wear to the inaugural balls could soon have a special place for display — right next to a dress worn by Martha Washington in the 1780s that featured painted flowers, butterflies and other insects.
Gowns worn by first ladies for more than 200 years returned to public view Friday in a revamped gallery at the National Museum of American History. The gallery, “First Ladies at the Smithsonian,” shows the evolution of the exhibit since it first opened in 1914 as the first Smithsonian exhibit to prominently feature women.
So far, curators don’t seem to have any hints about what Obama will wear on Inauguration Day, which is Jan. 20.
“We’re as anxious to see it as everybody else,” said Lisa Kathleen Graddy, curator of the first ladies exhibit. Already, Michelle Robinson Obama has been added to a timeline of the first ladies.
The exhibit places 14 first ladies’ gowns alongside other objects, such as Abigail Adams’ slippers and Nancy Reagan’s famously expensive china. Mamie Eisenhower’s rose-colored silk gown worn at a 1957 state dinner at the British Embassy stands near Eleanor Roosevelt’s pink rayon inaugural reception gown from 1945, trimmed with lace and sequins.
“We like the idea of juxtaposing some of them to show different shapes and just different people,” Graddy said. “We hope that we’ve managed to sort of hop-skip through time and show a variety of the different styles.”
It’s a scaled-down, temporary version of the first ladies exhibit while the museum makes plans to renovate its west wing with new permanent exhibits on the presidency, first ladies and other political topics.
