Michelle McClellan, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan

Proposal Type: Roundtable or Structured Conversation

Abstract: First Ladies, the wives of American presidents, have often served as tokens or proxies for women’s history writ large. Yet with a few exceptions such as Eleanor Roosevelt or Abigail Adams, these women barely have a public identity of their own—we may not even know their names. Their fame, such as it is, comes from being “on the edge”—on the edge of power, on the edge of history, because of their status as wives. More than many other women, their presence in historical memory can be seen through well-known objects and places: the iconic display of inaugural ball gowns at the Smithsonian Institution, for instance, and footage of Jacqueline Kennedy leading a tour of the refurbished White House. At presidential historic sites, interpreting First Ladies can be a challenge, particularly when the site is a birthplace and the president in question might not have even met his wife until adulthood.

I wish to explore how the interpretation of First Ladies at historic sites associated with them or their husbands can illuminate important issues at the intersection of public history and women’s & gender history. While First Ladies may not seem the most compelling topic for many current women’s historians, the status itself brings an acknowledged (if contested) place in American history. In their lives, and in how they are commemorated today, the First Ladies offer a way to consider fundamental questions of gender and power. How can public historians leverage that automatic familiarity with the role—if not yet with the individual women who have served in that role —to enrich the presentation of women’s & gender history more generally?

Seeking: Historical interpretation of women’s and gender history, as well as sexuality and family, has received considerable attention recently, from the National Park Service, the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, analysis of sites in the Northeast (subject of a session at the 2014 NCPH), and controversy related to the proposed National Women’s History Museum. I will analyze the First Ladies as part of the wider constellation of issues raised in these recent developments. I do not have a particular format in mind–it could be a panel with other specific papers, or a roundtable or more fluid format (such as structured conversation) in which the First Ladies could be one example.

Related Topics: Museums/Exhibits, Preservation, Women/Gender History

If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to share contact information for other people the proposer should reach out to, please get in contact directly: Michelle McClellan, mmcclel[at]umich.edu

If you have general ideas or feedback to share please feel free to use the comments feature below.

 

Discussion

6 comments
  1. Paula A. Treckel says:

    Ms. McClellan: As an historian of American women’s history at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA, I taught a first year seminar, “America’s First Ladies.” The course was taught ten times, with 15 women per class. It was probably the most successful class that I have ever taught in my 36 years of teaching! Why? Because, I believe, of the mix of the content—-women on the “edge” or the cusp of power, authority, life experience—-and the young women in the class who, themselves, were on that “edge” in their own lives, as they embarked upon college and the life that would follow. Most used the opportunity to study the FLs as a way of exploring their own potential. All were required to lead a class discussion and write a lengthy research paper on “their” FL. By the end of the semester, these young women referred to each other by their FL names. They bonded around the content of the course and the lives of these women. They often socialized together. Many of them, now in careers and graduate school, or married and with children and families of their own, are still connected with each other! And with me. They have connected with each other from class to class, too. Bonding, for example, as “Barbara Bush,” or “Nancy Reagan.” Partisan politics has never reared its head in the class, although I know I have had Democratic women working on Republican FLs, and the reverse. Teaching and learning about First Ladies was transformative for us all. Studying these women, from Martha Washington to Michelle Obama, has been a way that my students have explored life choices, options, disappointments, achievements. And been introduced to the field of American women’s experience as well as college life. I would be happy to speak with you about this class and the value of studying and teaching about America’s First Ladies. Please feel free to contact me. Best wishes to your exploration of a worthy subject!

  2. Michelle McClellan says:

    Dear Ms. Treckel,
    Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful reflections on your course about the First Ladies. It sounds like a terrific way to encourage students to imagine themselves into another time and setting, with empathy, which is so important and sometimes challenging. I also think you are right about the developmental role this course played with young adults, women specifically in this case. It seems to me that sometimes we are not as mindful as we could be about the life stage of our students, whatever it may be. I would be happy to learn more as my project takes shape. Are you interested in joining the proposed NCPH panel?

  3. Denise Meringolo says:

    My first job was working with Edith Mayo on her revision of the First Ladies Gallery at NMAH. It was quite an eye-opener for me –people were VERY attached to their image of the First Ladies as icons, not as women. We got MANY complaints about our “feminist” approach to the subject. Granted, that was 20 years ago….

    In any case, I wonder if you should reach out to Lisa Kathleen Graddy or other NMAH curators who continue to care for and display the First Ladies Collection –now with little interpretation!

    1. Michelle McClellan says:

      Thanks, Denise — great suggestion and also encouraging, at least in the sense that there is something important going on here in the intensity of the attachment so many people feel to these women, for all sorts of reasons. Or the antipathy they can inspire too I guess, which is intense in its own way. Thanks again!

  4. Jill Ogline Titus says:

    Denise’s suggestion is an excellent one. Have you made any contacts with historians/interpreters from presidential homes interpreted by the NPS? If you haven’t already spoken with her, Sue Ferentinos, who is leading the NCWHS’s collaboration with the NPS might be a great resource.

    1. Michelle McClellan says:

      Yes, I am really just starting, but you are exactly right about NPS. Part of what intrigues me about the First Ladies is their official status as part of a national narrative, as well as intersections among archives, libraries, museums, and historic sites. Much of my thinking about this originated during a wonderful conversation with the archivists at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and their analysis of Lou Henry Hoover and what researchers and visitors do or do not know about her. Great suggestion about Sue Ferentinos too–she was a terrific resource for a grad class I taught on issues related to gender, sexuality, and public history.

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