First Ladies
Article
Woodrow and Edith Wilson: Costumed for the World Stage
Clothes provide a barometer of life, livelihood, status, and culture. They tie the wearer to a moment in history. The most available means of establishing historical provenance for clothing is photography; the maker’s labels sewn into the garment are another means. The medium of photography introduced in 1839 provides extensive contemporary documentation about costume and how it is worn. Historical ph
Article
Foreword; White House History Number 32
We introduce costume to White House History in this issue, with plans for other issues on the subject. Looking good speaks for itself. For the president and first lady, it is a requirement. They need not be fashion plates, although some have been that, as, for example, Dolley Madison and Jacqueline Kennedy—and as you will see in this issue, Sa
Article
First Lady Helen Taft's Luneta
“That Manila could lend anything to Washington may be an idea that would surprise some persons, but the Luneta is an institution whose usefulness to society in the Philippine capital is not to be overestimated.”–Helen Herron TaftIn her memoirs, Recollections of Full Years, Helen Herron Taft wrote about a promenade by the Manila Bay that inspired the first public projec
Article
Flight of the Madisons
The flight routes of President James Madison and First Lady Dolley Madison are not exact and much of the evidence of where they stayed is circumstantial. Many of the stops along the two routes of the Madisons are no longer in existence or are privately owned. Intense development of the region in the twentieth century greatly impacted the historic integrity
