Museum out to doll up old gowns
Author:   MARA KLECKER
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Publication: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, AR)
Section: Arkansas
Date: July 8, 2015
Page: 9

In a dark room on the second floor of the Old State House Museum on Tuesday, three former Arkansas first ladies pointed at the floorlength dresses behind the glass, joking about the curveless shape of the forms holding them up.
In another room containing other first lady ensembles, former first lady Gay White gasped at a cream-colored skirt suit. "Lordy," she said with a laugh. "Look at those shoulder pads. I must have looked like a football player."
But on a January night in 1981, she felt like Cinderella. She entered the inaugural ball for her husband, Frank White, the 41st governor of Arkansas, wearing a white long-sleeved dress with sparkling beads.
"It was the most beautiful dress I've ever worn," she said to an audience of about 20 gathered for the announcement of a fundraiser for restoring the Old State House's 27 inaugural gowns. First lady Susan Hutchinson, along with the board of directors of the Old State House Museum Associates, will host a lunch on the grounds of the Governor's Mansion on Oct. 6 to raise funds for the preservation.
The four other former first ladies at the event - Barbara Pryor, Betty Tucker, Janet Huckabee and Ginger Beebe - all said they felt like princesses in their inaugural gowns. But beyond that, the dresses represent a piece of the state's history, Susan Hutchinson said.
"I've often said when you meet a man who is married, you really haven't met the whole man until you've met his wife," she said. "We are the wind beneath their wings.
"These dresses are more than a nod to the ladies that helped shape the men that led Arkansas," she said. "Each one explains an era and the woman alongside."
Museum curator Jo Ellen Maack wants the "First Ladies' Gowns" exhibit - which is the most popular in the museum, she said - to be more than just dresses lined up in a cool, dark room.
"[The first ladies] were women with influential thoughts and ideas," she said. "They were so much more important than what they wore at a party, and we look forward to the exhibit reflecting that."
Maack envisions displays highlighting the efforts and projects of the former first ladies.
"We have dynamite plans," she said, hoping that the new focus on the women's accomplishments will inspire young girls who tour the museum.
The dresses will remain a staple, and Maack hopes to get new LED lighting and new cases for them. "Gravity and poor lighting are these dresses' worst enemy," she said, pointing at Mabel Martineau's 1927 tangerine-colored flapper, adorned with more than 12,000 beads. To keep it from falling apart, Maack wants to display it on a slightly slanted board, rather than have it hanging on a form. "These dresses are like my babies," she said. "I'm protective."
Some of the dresses are in "dire need" of restoration, but it's a worthy cause, she said. "We chose to allow the gowns to stay on exhibit and share them with people of Arkansas - that's who they belong to."
Three of the dresses - belonging to the 21st first lady, Elizabeth Little; the 23rd first lady, Ewilda Robinson; and the 32nd first lady, Estelle Adkins - have already been shipped off to a preservation expert in Indiana. Mary Eagle's 1889 off-white dress with puffed sleeves has also been taken off display because it needs restoration. Maack estimates the cost of work on the four dresses will total more than $55,000.
The new upgraded exhibits will cost about $390,000, or $300 per square foot, she said.
As each of the first ladies said at the podium, the project is a personal one, though it's also about preserving the past for Arkansans.
"This Old State House houses a part of our life and a part of our history," White said as the other first ladies nodded.
Then, she shared a story about her dress. She wore it twice - once to the inaugural ball for her husband and again shortly after, for the inauguration of Ronald Reagan in 1981.
On the car ride to the White House, White noticed a few of the beads were coming loose. She reached into her purse, pulled out a small sewing kit and looked at her husband.
"Frank, you are going to have to stitch me up," she said.
Refurbishing these dresses is important, she told the audience.
"But it's not cheap like when Frank did it in the back seat of the car."