Teaching the First Ladies Using Material Culture

Abstract

Wrhen presenting historical issues in the classroom, em ploying a variety of teaching resources can make the curriculum more engaging to students. One such re source is the use of material culture?artifacts and objects?as primary sources of information. Using objects to teach not only engages students, but presents alternative ways to read the past. Within the objects themselves is embedded cultural information that can be extracted to understand a particular historical period. First Ladies offer a rich field for the use of material culture as a teaching tool. In this article I address two aspects of the First Lady's role that lend themselves to this type of study: 1 ) the First Lady's social role, its impact on the presidential administration, and its use as a reflection of the changing status of the nation; and 2) the First Lady's role as campaigner. In conceptualizing two major exhibitions, First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and The Pleasure of Your Company: Dining at the White House for the Museum of Old Salem in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, I pondered how material culture could convey complex historical concepts to a public audience unfamiliar with the First Lady's historical role or the nuances of White House etiquette and politics (1). The objects used for these exhibits may also be helpful teaching tools for the classroom.