New ‘Eras Exhibit’ at Canton’s First Ladies museum chronicles women’s history through the ages

CANTON, Ohio – On the eve of her husband’s inauguration, Julia Grant wrote to her childhood family’s former slave, Kitty, and invited her for a visit to the White House.

“Tell the girls for me it is a fudge about there not being rooms at the White House,” she writes. “I think there must be one or two spare rooms. If not, there ought to be, so I shall arrange it so each and all of our Galena girls shall visit us. Don’t you think it will be nice?”

It’s a small, poignant glimpse into the role of not just Julia Grant, the wife of 18th President Ulysses S. Grant, but American women in the years following the Civil War.

Much of the history of the United States is told through the stories of white men. Not so in Canton, where the nation’s first ladies are the primary storytellers, from Abigail Adams to Eleanor Roosevelt to Hillary Clinton.

The First Ladies National Historic Site opened 25 years ago in downtown Canton, a trove of artifacts and written materials devoted to the women behind the men who governed the nation.

The museum this year is getting a jump on a more consequential anniversary – the 250th birthday of the United States in 2026. To celebrate, the museum this week unveiled a new wide-ranging exhibit, “The Eras Exhibit: 250 Years of First Ladies’ Progress and Power.”

The exhibit, which runs through 2026, offers details on many of the 55 women who filled the role of first lady, from Martha Washington to Melania Trump, seeking to place their lives within the greater context of the world around them.

Among the artifacts on display:

• A letter from first lady Lucretia Garfield, calling out the unequal pay to one of the physicians who treated her husband, 20th President James Garfield, after he was shot in July 1881. “This I suppose is granted on the ground that she was a nurse and Dr. Reyburn one of the surgeons, without taking into account the fact that Miss Edson is a practicing physician of quite as much celebrity,” she wrote, accusing the government of discrimination and asking for justice for her husband’s female doctor.
• The shoes and eyeglasses of Florence Harding, first lady to Ohio native and 29th President Warren Harding. A quote from Mrs. Harding included in the exhibit suggests the influence she wielded in the White House: “I know what’s best for the President. I put him in the White House. He does well when he listens to me and poorly when he does not.”
• A “Just Say No” T-shirt that was emblematic of first lady Nancy Reagan’s anti-drug campaign in the 1980s.

There are also numerous first lady gowns on display, including a red velvet beauty worn by Grace Coolidge in the 1920s, deemed risque by the Smithsonian Institution because it was sleeveless and not full length; and the off-the-shoulder crepe gown that first lady Melania Trump collaborated on with designer Herve Pierre for her husband’s inauguration in 2017.

There’s also the 1905 inaugural gown from Edith Roosevelt, who “like many women who lived frugally,” recycled her clothing by removing lace and other trimmings to incorporate into other pieces. “When the Smithsonian museum’s staff asked her for a contribution, Mrs. Roosevelt had removed the gown’s bodice,” according to the exhibit.

One note: The gowns on display are reproductions, although the museum owns 95 original dresses. An ongoing issue with the museum’s air-conditioning system led to concern about moisture in the space, so the decision was made to display the reproductions. But you’d never know they’re not the real thing.

Patty Dowd Schmitz, president and CEO of the National First Ladies Library and Museum, said the exhibit was organized in an effort to bring an alternative perspective to a traditional history lesson.

“We often tell the story of American history through presidents,” she said. “This is American history through the eyes of women. These women were the original trailblazers, long before the spotlight was there.”

The exhibit was created with a nod toward another American female trailblazer, Taylor Swift, the musician who recently concluded her massively popular Eras Tour.

“We took a page from Taylor’s book,” Schmitz said, in an effort to perhaps attract a younger demographic of history lover.

The exhibit is organized chronologically, by era – from the Founding Era to the Contemporary Era, with the Civil War, Reconstruction, Gilded Age, Jazz Era and others in between.

Included among the artifacts: Hundreds of photos, political buttons, magazine covers and other materials.

There’s an invitation to William Howard and Helen Taft’s 25th wedding anniversary, celebrated at the White House in 1911; a Prohibition-era “Bread not Booze” shot glass, circa 1917; and a “Ban the Bra” button from the 1970s.

Though they lived during very different times and occupied varying positions of influence, Michelle Gullion, the museum’s senior director of curatorial services, said the first ladies are linked by a shared duty.

“They were all doing things, they were all involved,” she said. “They were all representing our country.”

If you go: First Ladies National Historic Site, Canton

The site, at 205 S. Market Ave. in downtown Canton, is operated jointly by the National Park Service and the nonprofit National First Ladies Library and Museum.

Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, through October (reduced hours November through April). The Eras Exhibit runs through 2026.

Admission: The museum is free.

The museum offers guided tours of the nearby Saxton-McKinley House, the childhood home of first lady Ida Saxton McKinley and the Canton home of President William and Ida McKinley during McKinley’s time in office. Tours are offered on museum operating days at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. and leave from the museum. Cost is $7, $6 seniors, $5 under 18 and $4 America the Beautiful passholders.

More information: firstladies.org, nps.gov/fila

Read more: New in Ohio in 2025: Roller coasters, water slides, park updates and more

Ohio unveils Creativity Trail as part of nation’s 250th birthday celebration