The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will display First Lady Michelle Obama’s second inaugural gown worn to the January 2013 inaugural balls beginning Jan. 14. This special one-year loan from the White House coincides with the centennial of the First Ladies exhibition at the Smithsonian and the museum’s 50th anniversary. The gown will be displayed in the center of the museum’s popular exhibition, “The First Ladies.”
For a century, the First Ladies Collection has been one of the most popular attractions. The original First Ladies exhibition opened Feb. 1, 1914, and was the first display at the Smithsonian to prominently feature women. The exhibition itself has changed in size, location, style and focus several times during the past 100 years, and the museum, which opened in 1964 as the Museum of History and Technology, has been its home for 50 years.