On October 8, 2018, Dr. Sara Frear, associate professor of History, gave a presentation at a meeting of HBU’s American Museum Society in Houston. The AMS promotes public interest in the development of the cultural and educational aspects of HBU鈥檚 Museum of American Architecture and Decorative Arts. Dr. Frear opened by thanking the AMS members for their support, noting that her students benefited from the cultural resources of all of HBU鈥檚 museums, and a growing number were choosing to participate in HBU鈥檚 annual 鈥淧iece of the Past鈥� museum essay contest.
Dr. Frear was asked to speak on the topic of 鈥渇irst ladies鈥� of the Early National Era (the term 鈥渇irst lady鈥� not used until the mid-1800s). Her talk, titled, “Republican Panache: How Dolley Madison Remodeled American Politics,” compared the personal and social styles of the first three presidential wives with an emphasis on Mrs. Madison鈥檚 uniquely colorful and appealing style. First ladies, Frear noted, played an important role in the creation of a distinctive American culture suitable to its status as the first nation to be founded on Enlightenment-era principles of representative republicanism. In addition, presidential wives understood that they wielded political influence in the highly partisan atmosphere of the young nation.
The first three 鈥減resident鈥檚 ladies,鈥� Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison, all struck a careful balance between the elegance considered appropriate to their husbands鈥� high office, and the principle of 鈥淩epublican plainness,鈥� rooted in the American Revolution, that rejected luxury as symptomatic of European decadence and ostentation. The widowed third president, Thomas Jefferson, however, emphasized plainness and informality to such an extent that when his Secretary of State James Madison took office the American public was ready to welcome his flamboyant wife who, unlike her predecessors, embraced brilliant colors, rich fabrics, and low-cut Empire-style dresses. Dubbed the 鈥淩epublican Queen,鈥� Dolley nevertheless displayed a keen awareness of her countrymen鈥檚 distaste for extravagance. She often wore pearls, but never the diamonds that, in the American mind, symbolized European aristocracy. She made feathered turbans her trademark, but eschewed tiaras. At the same time, her good humor and talent for winning over even her husband鈥檚 enemies made her a peace-maker in an era of harsh political feuding. Dolley also democratized the social life of the White House, opening her popular 鈥淲ednesday Night鈥� receptions to Americans of all ranks. Finally, during the War of 1812, her courage and devotion to country in the face of personal danger won her national admiration.
In the end, Dr. Frear argued, it was not merely Dolley鈥檚 exuberant fashions but her genuine personal warmth that brought a new vibrancy to the political culture of the young American republic. She understood her own appeal in this light. When her friend Henry Clay commented, 鈥淓verybody loves Mrs. Madison,鈥� she immediately responded, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 because Mrs. Madison loves everybody.鈥�