Explore the vast range of titles available.

Almost from the start, first ladies rarely have been content to sit quietly in the White House, bake cookies and have teas. Many citizens of the fledgling nation were \"very critical of Abigail Adams,\" the influential wife of the second president, recalled Edith Mayo, curator of the Smithsonian Institute's new exhibit on presidential wives. \"Some called her 'Mrs. President,' which was definitely not praise.\"

The funeral for Edith Pratt Mathes Mayo, who died March 29, 2006, will be Tuesday at 11 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 70 Green St., Castleton, NY 12033. Calling hours will be from 4 to 8 at RAY FUNERAL HOME, 59 Seaman Ave., Castleton. Interment will be in Horizonview Cemetery, Castleton. Those who wish may make contributions to Trinity Lutheran Church. She also leaves a son-in-law, Anthony Hersko; two grandchildren, Arthur and Thomas Raney, of Castleton.

The funeral for Edith Pratt Mathes Mayo, who died March 29, 2006, will be Tuesday at 11 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 70 Green St., Castleton, NY 12033. Calling hours will be from 4 to 8 at RAY FUNERAL HOME, 59 Seaman Ave., Castleton. Interment will be in Horizonview Cemetery, Castleton. Those who wish may make contributions to Trinity Lutheran Church. She also leaves a son-in-law, Anthony Hersko; two grandchildren, Arthur and Thomas Raney, of Castleton.

[Edith Mayo] should know. She's editor of \"The Smithsonian's Book of the First Ladies.\" Mayo, now curator emeritus in the Smithsonian's political history division, researched, rethought and exhibited women's history for 34 years, culminating in the vastly popular exhibit \"First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image.\" Mayo pays close attention to 20th-century first ladies. Mayo's favorite, Eleanor Roosevelt, had \"difficult political and personal problems but she triumphed over them and did much for humanitarian, labor and women's rights,\" she said. \"Her political influence has been underestimated.\" Rosalynn Carter also was \"tremendously underrated,\" Mayo said. \"I believe history will acknowledge the Carters' very real partnership, and give her credit for the important work she did as head of the Commission on Mental Health.\" The Mental Health System Act passed, but after Carter's second-term defeat it was repealed in Ronald Reagan's first term. Everybody has heard about Nancy Reagan and astrology, which Mayo dismisses as \"not such a scandal - just terribly Hollywood. I think the men on the staff really resented her power in getting her husband to change dates because of the stars.\"

These private powers are examined in \"First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image,\" which opens Sunday at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. The new exhibit will include a display of first ladies' inaugural gowns, which had been removed for repairs. The gowns had been the museum's most popular exhibit since its opening 23 years ago. The exhibit is stocked with hundreds of historic photographs, paintings and artifacts -- assorted White House china and furniture, campaign memorabilia, jewelry, everything from Martha Washington's stationery to Jackie Kennedy's A-line mini dress to the camouflage jacket Barbara Bush wore when visiting the troops of Operation Desert Storm. All the living former first ladies helped raise money for the exhibit and donated items, said Ms. [Edith Mayo]. First lady Barbara Bush is scheduled to be on hand for a preview of the display today.

The exhibit contains iconic items from Martha Washington to Laura Bush, featuring more than 150 artifacts, including 12 full-length gowns, state china and political campaign materials. The exhibit looks at the development of the first ladies' political role, how their public image changed over time and the women's lives after the White House. The National Museum of American History, where the exhibit has been on permanent display since 1992, is closed to the public through the summer of 2008 for major architectural renovations. The First Ladies traveling exhibit is the first time the gowns have been out of the Smithsonian exhibition, [Edith Mayo] says. The museum accommodated more than 24,000 visitors during the three months the exhibit was in St. Louis. The Heinz History Center expects to exceed its monthly average of 10,000 to 15,000 visitors while the First Ladies exhibit is in Pittsburgh.

Five California entrepreneurs are among them: Maria de Lourdes Sobrino of Carson, owner of Lulu's Desserts; the Silicon Valley's Meg Whitman, eBay president and chief executive; Ruth Handler, co- founder of Mattel Toy Co. in El Segundo and creator of the Barbie doll; Pickford, Hollywood actress and movie producer; and Juana Briones, a Latino rancher and trader who pioneered the settlement of Yerba Buena, now known as San Francisco. [Edith Mayo] wasn't surprised when told of a young black man who zipped through the exhibit, stopping only at the interactive display to hear [Oprah Winfrey] tell her career strategies and goals, and the twentysomething Asian woman who was drawn to the face of Angela Suyeon Kim. The woman stood atop Kim's business-practical shoes painted on the floor and listened as the Internet marketer, co- founder and former chief customer officer of equalFooting.com told her story. \"There's a whole big world out there\" [Barbara Newton] added. \"If one girl wanders through here and it opens her mind to possibilities, then it has worked. You just don't know what the possibilities are until you see them.\" * \"Enterprising Women: 250 Years of American Business\" continues at the Los Angeles Public Library through Sept. 19. The exhibit is on display in the Getty Gallery during library hours:10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Four decades after John F. Kennedy's beautiful young wife stood at his side as he took the oath of office, our remembrance of Jackie's iconic look is as keen as ever, our fascination with it unslaked. And so, with great fanfare and the expectation of capacity attendance, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will open a major exhibition on Tuesday. To mark the 40th anniversary of Jackie's emergence as first lady, the museum is mounting a display of 80 designer garments and accessories Mrs. Kennedy wore during her White House tenure. Sunset apricot, pearlescent white and lawn green for [Jackie]'s 1962 trip to India, where she strolled the Taj Mahal by moonlight, sailed the holy Ganges River in a flower-garlanded boat, gazed at a snake charmer and dined with a maharaja. Azure blue for a foreign ministry reception in Mexico City. Shocking cherry for a White House Christmas party. Deep red to inspect the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Jonquil yellow for a diplomatic luncheon in Paris. Watteau pink for a visit to Notre Dame Cathedral. Viewing Jackie's wardrobe through the prism of photographs tends to make us disregard its rich texture. The exhibit reminds us how designers like [Oleg Cassini], who created 300 outfits for the first lady, scoured the world for drop-dead fabrics. Her suits were made of beautifully thick wool and impeccable linen. Her state dresses the finest dupioni silk. Her gowns shimmering duchess satin and, in one memorable instance, pink straw lace.

With Bush on the cusp of taking over as the nation's social hostess, the issues of her outfit choices and (lack of) dress sense suddenly have become important among the fashion elite. Bush, publicly content in her role as wife, mother and former teacher and librarian, has never feigned any desire to come even close to the cutting edge of fashion. But that hasn't warded off the increasingly catty criticism of her clothes and an outcry for her to spruce up - pronto. Sharyn Wizda, the Austin American-Statesman's fashion writer who has charted Bush's style for years, said the new First Lady's fashion leanings have always been conservative. Wizda said Bush prefers wearing skirted suits without blouses because they're convenient and she doesn't like fussing over her clothes. Bush has used Texas designer Michael Faircloth since she entered the limelight as the governor's wife in 1994, and Wizda speculated that this arrangement will not change. In fact, Bush commissioned Faircloth to design her inaugural outfits. Shawny Burns, fashion coordinator at Saks Fifth Avenue in Chevy Chase, offered other tips to Bush for fitting into her new role. Burns said Bush would look great in longer jackets and pantsuits, which would elongate her figure, or perhaps a dress with a matching jacket. She suggested that Bush experiment with elegant accessories like nice pearl earrings or a great strand of pearls, shed the outfits in taupes and grays for brighter colors like red and also that she stay away from prints, which often don't show up well in photographs.

Mrs. [Nancy Reagan]'s comments about abortion were the highlight of what was otherwise a low-key, chatty appearance before about 600 students who had paid $375 for the 12-week course. Three other first ladies, Rosalynn Carter, Barbara Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton, are scheduled to appear over the next three months. Mrs. Reagan came under fire several times during the Reagan presidency, most notably when [Donald Regan] revealed in a book that she regularly consulted astrologers and sometimes urged her husband to base his schedule on their prognostications. COLOR PHOTO; First ladies all: [Betty Ford], Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton last May.; Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS