Former first lady Rosalynn Carter cut the red, white, and blue ribbon at the June 8 dedication of the National First Ladies' Library, located in the Canton, Ohio, childhood home of first lady Ida Saxton McKinley.
Setting the mood for the event were a number of women dressed in elegant Victorian dresses, including library founder and president Mary Regula, wife of U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), who was attired as first lady Mary Todd Lincoln in a regal purple dress with a hoop skirt, according to the June 9 Akron Beacon Journal.
Carter said she became interested in the subject of first ladies after she became one in 1976. The library, which launched its Web site February 23, will serve as a repository for information on various related topics, including one that's particularly fascinating to Carter, that of the history of White House china.
Posted June 15, 1998.