NEWS

Hayes Center exhibit celebrates first ladies, dresses

Daniel Carson
Reporter

FREMONT – Visitors to the Hayes Presidential Center will get a taste of White House fashion this week, as the center launches its Dressed for Life: First Ladies’ & Red Dress Collection exhibit

The exhibit starts Wednesday and runs through Jan. 4, 2016. It will showcase nine red dresses worn by First Ladies ranging from Lucy Hayes to Laura Bush, as well as 10 dresses worn by celebrities at the annual Red Collection fashion-week show in New York City.

Nancy Kleinhenz, the center’s communications manager, said Thursday the exhibit not only focuses on the historical aspects of First Lady fashion choices, but is also aligned with the National Institutes of Health “The Heart Truth” campaign.

Bush was a founding ambassador of that initiative, and Kleinhenz said the Hayes Center incorporated a lot of information about heart health into the exhibit.

“I call it marrying White House history and the very hot topic of women’s heart health,” Kleinhenz said.

The Fremont Company is sponsoring the exhibit.

Kleinhenz said Nan Card, the center’s manuscripts curator, was a catalyst in organizing the exhibit.

Card said other First Ladies with red dresses included in the exhibit are Caroline Harrison, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Betty Ford and Rosalyn Carter.

She said Hayes’ burgundy dress was the one she wore in her official White House portrait, with the other dresses on loan from other presidential centers.

“These are all authentic,” Card said.

The center is also starting a new Walkers’ Club to promote the exhibit and good health, with a kickoff walk by staff members April 7 at 8:30 a.m. and a registration event for the club beginning April 10 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Kleinhenz said Spiegel Grove is a favorite local spot for walkers, with the new club looking to get members to walk 300 miles during the remainder of the year. She said new members get a free pedometer when they join the club.

“We’re just trying to get people interested in doing simple things to improve their health,” Kleinhenz said.

dacarson@gannett.com

419-334-1046

Twitter:@DanielCarson7