Museums are full of “firsts”—objects that represent the first person to complete a task, to win an award, to hold a position, to achieve a goal, or to reach a new height. Firsts must mean something to us. Look at how many expressions we have for them: blazing trails, opening doors, breaking barriers, shattering ceilings, paving the way.
Firsts help us create a timeline. They are benchmarks we use to document change and, hopefully, progress. We celebrate firsts, and we analyze them.
The museum’s Political History collection holds material related to George and Martha Washington, the first president and first lady of the United States; John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States; and Frances Perkins, the first woman to be a cabinet secretary.
Today we welcomed a new first into our collection, with objects donated by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who in 2007 became the first woman to serve as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
During this morning’s ceremony, Democratic Leader Pelosi visited the museum and donated the gavel she received and used at her 2007 swearing-in ceremony, the suit she wore during the ceremony, the vote tally of the election, her reading copy of her first speech as Speaker, and a copy of that day’s Congressional Record.
Nancy Pelosi’s donation joins objects in the museum that reflect firsts achieved by women who changed America and who inspired—and continue to inspire—others to make change themselves.
Along with her suit, the clothes on stage represented firsts: the ensemble worn by Marian Anderson, the first African American performer to sing at the Metropolitan Opera, during her historic concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939; the U.S. Army mess dress uniform worn by Brigadier General Anna Mae Hays, the first woman to attain the rank of general in the U.S. military; the judicial robe worn by Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice; and the in-flight suit worn by astronaut Sally K. Ride, the first American woman in space.
Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro Pelosi was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1940, the daughter of Annunciata and Thomas D’Alesandro Jr. Her introduction to American politics came early. During her childhood, her father served as both a U.S. congressman and as the mayor of Baltimore. She married Paul Pelosi in 1963 and the couple moved to San Francisco, where Nancy Pelosi raised a family of five children and began a career in Democratic politics, serving as a member of the Democratic National Committee from California.
In 1987 Nancy Pelosi was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. There were only twenty-four women in the House of Representatives then, and none were in leadership positions. Her committee assignments included the Appropriations Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. She championed legislation to bring equality for more Americans. In 2001 she became the first woman to serve as a party whip; one year later she was the first woman elected to be a party leader. And in 2007 Pelosi became the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives. As Speaker, Pelosi worked to pass legislation that included the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Clean Energy and Security Act, and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Today she is one of the most recognizable figures in American politics.
In her 2007 speech, the newly sworn-in Speaker noted the significance of firsts:
For our daughters and our granddaughters, today we have broken the marble ceiling. For our daughters and our granddaughters, now the sky is the limit. Anything is possible for them.
The firsts we celebrate are often chosen because they, in some way, change the trajectory of American history. They create diversity, add new experiences and viewpoints, and create new possibilities. But they also can represent important points of continuity with the past. Nancy Pelosi was the first woman Speaker of the House. And the 52nd Speaker of the House. Change and continuity. A women’s first, an American first, and a part of a position that can trace its roots to the earliest days of our country.
This is a wonderful donation for Women’s History Month, one that will be both part of the National Museum of American History’s longstanding effort to document the history of women in America and the first in our expanded curatorial effort to document women in American politics. So for all the trail-blazers, door-openers, barrier-breakers, ceiling-shatterers, and way-pavers—we’re here waiting for you, ready to tell your American stories.
Lisa Kathleen Graddy is a curator of political history at the National Museum of American History. She looks forward to many years of encouraging American women to make their stories part of the national collections.
