The First Ladies at the Smithsonian A report based on a study of visitors at the National Museum of American History April 2011 Office of Policy and Analysis 1 PREFACE The Office of Policy and Analysis (OP&A) was pleased to undertake this study of visitors to the current installation of the first ladies exhibition, the First Ladies at the Smithsonian at the National Museum of American History (NMAH). The permanent exhibition has been popular for more than half a century. It was the first time OP&A studied visitors to the first ladies exhibition since the Museum’s 2006-2008 renovation. At NMAH our contact was Howard Morrison, Director of Education and Interpretation, who saw the importance of the studies and supervised the data collection Special thanks are extended to staff and interns of NMAH. Invaluable assistance with data collection was provided, amidst their other duties, by the following colleagues: Peter Albritton, Shannon Dotso, Naomi Coquillan, Caitlin Donnelly, Tanya Garner, Kate Geiser, Camy Glomsh, Joycinna Groves, Kay Haberger, Heather Paisley-Jones, Cathy Keen, Beth Kline, Kate Lauricello, Andrea Lautner, Karen Lee, Jan Lilja, Erin Mack, Suzanne McLaughlin, Ben Miller, Amanda Murray, Erin Nielsen, Debbie Schafer-Jacobs, Kathy Sklar, Kimberley Tarr, Rosemary Phillips, Matt Ringelsletter, James Zimmerman. Within OP&A, Zahava Doering and Andrew Pekarik were liaisons with NMAH and designed the study. Interns, Givi Khidesheli assisted with questionnaire preparation and Daniel Garcia conducted the data processing and initial data analysis. Ikuko Uetani was responsible for the complete analysis and report writing. Lance Costello also assisted with report review. I thank them all for their efforts. Carole M. P. Neves Director Office of Policy and Analysis 2 BACKGROUND The first ladies exhibition at the National Museum of American History (NMAH) has been one of the most beloved exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution. The collection itself dates back to 1912, when the Smithsonian set a goal of collecting the historic gowns of the first ladies. Since then, as the public’s interest in learning more about the first ladies has grown and the roles of first ladies have evolved, the collection has expanded to include artifacts related to the first ladies’ social and political contributions and the exhibition has incorporated this expansion, consequently reflecting the history of American women. Initially, the dresses were on display as part of the “Collection of Period Costumes” exhibition. A separate exhibition that focused on the first ladies’ gowns was created in 1955 and installed in a new hall, the First Ladies Hall, in the Smithsonian’s now closed Arts and Industries Building. The exhibition and the Hall moved into NMAH (then the Museum of History and Technology) in 1964 when it opened. This exhibition included first ladies’ personal belongings and presidential china in addition to dresses. In 1992, “First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image,” the immediate predecessor of the current exhibition, opened. As the title indicates, it featured not only the fashion but also the evolving roles of the first ladies and their contributions to the presidency and the society. “First Ladies at the Smithsonian,” the current first ladies exhibition, opened in December, 2008, a month after NMAH reopened after two years of architectural renovation. Although an additional new gallery opened in March, 2010, the size of this exhibition is smaller than its predecessors. The Museum plans an expanded first ladies exhibition in the west wing of the building which is yet to be renovated. The main gallery of the current “First Ladies at the Smithsonian” consists of three sections: “The First Ladies Collection” focuses on the development of the collection, “The Tradition of the Gowns” focuses on the inaugural gowns and “A First Lady’s Contribution” focuses on the first ladies’ social and political contributions. The artifacts on view include dresses, personal possessions and portraits, White House china and furnishings. “A First Lady’s Debut” in the added gallery focuses on the first ladies introduction to the public and showcases inaugural gowns of 11 modern first ladies, from Mamie Eisenhower to Michelle Obama. This report presents an analysis of data gathered from visitors to the current exhibition, “First Ladies at the Smithsonian.” Cover: Michelle Obama's Inaugural Gown, 2009. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Institution. 3 METHOD Data for the study were collected with a sample survey. A random sample of visitors were intercepted as they exited the exhibition and asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire (Appendix A). Data collection took place in the fall of 2010, between September 24 and November 4. Of the 419 selected visitors eligible1 to participate, 298 completed the questionnaire, for a response rate of 71 percent (Appendix B contains the frequencies of responses to the questions2 ). Martha Washington’s Silk Gown. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Institution. 1 Only voluntary visitors to the exhibition, age 12 or older, were eligible to participate in this study, i.e., Smithsonian staff and contractors, members of organized tour or school visit groups were not interviewed. 2 Based on the sample size, the results presented in this report are representative of the population visiting the exhibition during the period of the study with a 95% probability that the actual percentage for the population will be within plus or minus five percent of the survey percentage. 4 FINDINGS The Audience Overall A large majority of visitors interviewed were US residents (84%), including four percent of individuals from the Metropolitan Washington, DC region. Visitors from outside the United States make up the remainder (16%). Three in four visitors were women (74%). In other studies of visitors to the Museum3 Of those eligible to be interviewed, the average age was 43 and the median age was 44. Visitors can be divided into three approximately equal age clusters: ages 12 to 35 (36%), ages 36 to 55 (33%) and over the age of 55 (31%). , the ratio of women to men was even or slightly in favor of women. Not surprisingly, based on the contents, visitors to First Ladies at the Smithsonian consisted predominantly of women. Learning about the Exhibition From a list of possible five responses, respondents reported where they learned about the First Ladies exhibition. The data suggest that almost half or more of visitors had known about the exhibition prior to their visit to the Museum (36% heard about it and 23% saw it before, and few from the Museum’s web site). The rest indicated that they learned about the exhibition during their visit to the museum (36% happened upon it and 10% learned about it at the information desk (See Figure 1). Figure 1: Sources of Learning about the First Ladies Compared to others, those ages 12 to 35 were more likely (44%) and those aged over 55 were less likely (21%) to say that they happened upon the exhibition. Not surprisingly, the younger visitors, ages 12 to 35, were less likely (11%) and the older visitors, ages over 55, were more likely (33%) than others to have seen the exhibition before. 3 Demographic Characteristics at the National Museum of American History 1994-2010, unpublished, OP&A 5 Satisfaction with the Visit Respondents were asked to rate their overall experience in the exhibition on a five-point scale of Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent and Superior. From previous study results, OP&A has found that visitors tend to mark Good, Fair, or Poor when their experience was less than satisfactory. Visitors rate it Excellent when they are satisfied with the visit. If the visitor has an outstanding experience or feels that the visit was more than satisfactory, the individual would be likely to mark Superior. The ratings for the First Ladies exhibition indicate that three in four were satisfied with their overall experience and the rest, one in four, were somewhat critical4 of the exhibition. The results are broadly in line with those from a recent study of visitors to the Museum5 and other Smithsonian exhibitions that OP&A has studied6. However, compared to the ratings collected in 20057 , visitors appeared to find their 2010 experience in First Ladies at the Smithsonian less exceptional (See Figure 2). Figure 2: Comparisons of Ratings Women were markedly more likely than men to rate their overall experience Superior (19% of women vs. 6% of men). Those who happened upon the exhibition were more likely than others to rate their experience Poor, Fair or Good (36%). 4 The breakdown of the lower ratings is presented in Appendix B. 5 Visitors Count!—National Museum of American History Visitor Exit Survey, OP&A, Summer 2010 6 This rating scale is used by OP&A for museum or exhibition visitor surveys. The data are from OP&A unpublished tabulations. 7 Visitor Ratings of Exhibitions at the National Museum of American History, OP&A, June 2005. “First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image,” the immediate predecessor of the current exhibition was on view. 6 Exhibition Elements Respondents were also asked to indicate how each of eleven listed elements of the exhibition contributed to their experience using a seven-point scale, where 1 = Very Negative, 4 = Neutral, and 7 = Very Positive. The frequency distribution8 shows that respondents rarely chose any of the categories from 1 to 3, and that the majority of responses overall were in the last two categories. The trend can be interpreted in terms of three larger categories, under the assumption that visitors marked 1, 2, 3 or 4, Very Negative through Neutral, when they felt less positive or somewhat critical with the item, marked 5 or 6 when they felt more positive than Neutral, and used the highest rating, Very Positive, when they were most pleased. Based on this interpretation, in the following charts (Figures 3, 4 and 5) we present the results9 Figure 3 shows how the four items about the collection objects contributed to visitors’ experience in the exhibition. One-third to over two in five visitors indicated that three items, Display of more recent dresses, Display of older dresses and Display of first ladies’ personal belongings made a Very Positive contribution. First ladies’ dresses and personal belongings were clearly of strong interest for visitors. converted into a three point scale; i.e., Less than Positive, Positive and Very Positive. Women were more likely to select Very Positive than men for First ladies’ personal belongings (41% of women vs. 19% of men) and White House china (28% of women vs. 8% of men). Figure 310: Contribution of Objects in the First Ladies 8 Responses to this question are presented in Appendix B. 9 The results shown in the charts exclude those who marked “Didn’t See it.” The frequency distribution tables for all respondents are found in Appendix B. 10 Wording of the response items is shortened in the figure. 7 Figure 4 shows four items related to stories surrounding the first ladies or the first ladies collection. Over one-third indicated that Large photos of the first ladies, had a Very Positive contribution and one-third or slightly fewer felt that Video with stories about the first ladies, Text & photos about the history of the collection, and Text & photos about the first ladies' roles had a Very Positive contribution. Women were more likely to select Very Positive and less likely to select Less than Positive than men for Video with stories about the first ladies (38% of women vs. 22% of men, 11% of women vs. 25% of men, respectively). Figure 4: Contribution of Information in the First Ladies The contribution of the last three items in the list was reported as less positive, one in five to three in ten marked Very Positive and nearly half marked less than positive (See Figure 5). However, it should be noted that one-third of respondents marked Didn’t See It in answering Docent in gallery and Visiting what someone in my family had seen, i.e., less than positive responses among all the respondents were between one in four and one in three. Figure 5: Contribution of context Except for the last item, Visiting what someone in my family had seen, all of the listed items showed strong positive associations with visitors’ ratings of their overall experience in the exhibition. 8 Elements That Would Have Enhanced Visitors showed only mild interest in elements that were suggested as possible enhancements. From a list of five possibilities, one-third chose A way to leave your thoughts or memories with the museum (written) and A way to access more information using a cell phone with Internet capability. One in five expressed their interest in the other three elements (See Figure 6). Figure 6: Interest in Enhancements Two in five respondents said No to all the listed items (42%). The younger visitors, ages 12 to 35, were less likely (33%) and the older ones, those ages 36 to 55 and those aged over 55 were more likely (54% and 62%, respectively) to say No to all. Those ages 12 to 35 were more likely than others to agree that A way to access more information using a cell phone with Internet capability would have enhanced their experience (46%). Particular elements were associated with visitors’ positive experiences in the exhibition. Those who rated their experience Superior were more likely than others to indicate that the following would have enhanced their experience:  A way to leave your thoughts or memories with the museum (written) (54%)  A way to leave your thoughts or memories with the museum (audio) (40%) Those who reported that Text & photos about the first ladies' roles contributed to their experience very positively were more likely than others to indicate that A way to leave your thoughts or memories with the museum (audio) would have enhanced their experience (36%). 9 Those who reported that a docent in the gallery contributed to their experience very positively were more likely than others to indicate that A way to leave your thoughts or memories with the museum (written) would have enhanced their experience (66%). Suggestions by respondents of other possible enhancements can be sorted into three categories as follows11  New media technologies—smartphone apps, audio guide, interactive devices in the exhibition, emails, and website :  Exhibition contents—objects, information on the objects and the first ladies  Exhibition design or presentation— lighting and presentation, exhibition size, and flow in the exhibition OBSERVATIONS Based on the combined ratings of Excellent and Superior, visitors to First Ladies at the Smithsonian came away quite satisfied. Predictably, visitors to the exhibition were predominantly women and they tended to have better experiences there, compared to men. However, this should not be a major problem for NMAH as long as the other exhibitions can set off the imbalance in interest and response. The data suggest that the artifacts that belonged to the first ladies, dresses and personal possessions, are of foremost interest to visitors, and especially so for women. Although the stories that surround the first ladies and the collection also contribute to visitors’ experiences in the exhibition, the major draw appears to be the objects, mainly the dresses. The finding that those who rated the overall experience Superior more often would have liked a way to leave their thoughts or memories with the museum suggests that qualitative analysis of interviews or comment books could be a meaningful way to explore what makes the visit to this exhibition outstanding. 11 Responses to Other are presented in Appendix C. Appendix A: Questionnaire A - 1 Appendix B: Response Frequencies [In Percent] N o t e: th e percen t a g es of r esp o n ses to th e qu e st io n s may n ot su m to 100 du e to rou n d in g an d the ab ilit y of resp o n d en t s to mark more th a n on e an sw er with som e qu est io n s. A - 2 1. Where did you learn about this exhibition, The First Ladies at the Smithsonian? [Mark one or more] 3 4 Happe ne d upo n it 3 6 Heard abo ut it 10 Info rm at io n desk 4 Muse um 's web site 2 3 Saw it befo re 2. How would you rate your overall experience in this First Ladies exhibition? 0 Poo r 3 Fair 24 Go o d 5 9 Exce lle nt 1 5 Supe rio r 3. On a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 = Very Negative, 4 = Neutral, and 7 = Very Positive How did EACH of the following contribute to your experience? Table 1 Didn't See It Very Negative Neutral Very Positive 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 D isplay of olde r dresses 2 0 1 2 9 13 29 4 3 Display of mo re rece nt dresse s 0 1 0 1 9 11 31 47 Display of first ladie s’ personal belo ngings 2 0 2 3 12 16 31 35 Display of Whit e Ho use china 11 1 1 6 20 16 25 21 Text & pho to s abo ut the first ladie s' ro le s 6 0 0 2 14 2 4 2 8 2 6 Text & pho to s abo ut the hist o ry of the co lle c t io n 6 0 1 4 12 22 2 6 29 Vide o with sto ries abo ut the first ladie s 16 0 0 3 10 1 8 26 2 8 Large phot os of the first ladie s 2 0 0 0 9 13 3 3 43 Docent in galle ry (if one was on duty ) 3 5 0 2 3 20 8 13 19 Place s to sit down 1 6 2 5 7 25 11 17 17 Visit ing what som eo ne in my fam ily had seen 34 0 1 3 29 7 12 14 Response Frequencies [In Percent] A - 3 3 [Continued]. On a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 = Very Negative, 4 = Neutral, and 7 = Very Positive How did EACH of the following contribute to your experience? Table 2: Without “Didn’t See It” Very Negative Neutral Very Positive 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 D isplay of olde r dresses 0 1 2 9 13 30 4 4 Display of mo re rece nt dresse s 1 0 1 9 11 31 47 Display of first ladie s’ personal belo ngings 0 2 3 12 16 3 2 3 5 Display of Whit e Ho use china 1 1 6 22 18 28 2 3 Text & pho to s abo ut the first ladie s' ro le s 0 0 3 15 25 29 2 8 Text & pho to s abo ut the hist o ry of the co lle ct io n 0 1 4 13 23 27 31 Vide o with sto ries abo ut the first ladie s 0 0 3 11 21 3 1 34 Large phot os of the first ladie s 0 0 0 9 13 33 44 Docent in galle ry (if one was on duty ) 1 3 5 31 1 3 19 29 Place s to sit down 2 6 8 30 13 20 20 Vi sit ing what som eo ne in my fam ily had seen 0 1 5 44 1 1 1 9 2 1 4. Would any of the following have enhanced your experience in this exhibition? Yes No A way to rece ive addit io nal info rm at io n (tex t ) via cell pho ne 17 84 A way to rece ive addit io nal info rm at io n (vo ice ) via cell pho ne 18 82 A way to acce ss mo re info rm at io n using a cell pho ne with Inte rne t capability 30 7 1 A way to leav e yo ur tho ught s or mem o rie s with the muse um (writt e n) 33 67 A way to leav e yo ur tho ught s or mem o rie s with the muse um (audio ) 23 77 Othe r 34 6 6 Response Frequencies [In Percent] A - 4 5. What is your age? Aver age: 43 Median: 44 Ages 12 to 35 36 Ages 36 to 55 33 Age s 56 or older 31 6. What is your sex? 7 4 Fem ale 26 Male 7. Where do you live? 8 4 U.S. 16 Othe r co unt ry M etr o Washingt on 4 Sout heas t 2 0 Mid Atlant ic 1 1 Midw est 1 5 New England 5 Mount ain Plains 1 0 West 1 2 Unspecified U.S . 9 Count r y other than U.S . 1 6 Appendix C: Open-ended Responses to Other in Question 4: Would any of the following have enhanced your experience in this exhibition? A - 5 New media technologies Apps fo r Dro id/ iP ho ne Audio guide M o re info at display s on dem and I nt e rac t iv e reco rdings (push a b utt o n to hear the first ladie s) E - m ail E - m ails W e b site w/o t he r dresses, etc. from co lle ct io n + info . Exhibition contents M o re knick knack s, acce ssorie s , etc. that accom pany the go wns M o re china and serv ing piece s Ne w gowns - I tho ught Miche lle O bam a’s gown wo uld be on display M o re detail abo ut designs Slight ly mo re perso nal info on the first ladie s wo uld be of inte re st Add mo re abo ut what each of these ladie s did — T he ir cam paigns, etc. no t just their mate rial po sse ssio ns- alo ngside the dresse s perhaps! Fo c us on their achiev em e nt s, to o! Add mo re go wns to 1st lady muse um , like the video Exhibition design/presentation Slight ly bette r light ing (seve ral co rne r exhibit s were alm ost com ple te ly dark) B e t t er light ing! Ne e ds bett e r light ing Glare in glass made it hard to read so me of the signage . M anne quins neede d to be mo re realist ic or mo re dram at ic , fo r exam ple, like those use at the Metro po lit an Muse um of Art in NY - Nanc y Reagan’s dress didn’t fully rev e al bo dice of dress. T he display was co n fusing & co uld be more excit ing m o re video / AV It is much to [sic] sm all M o re ro om in olde r sect io n M o re places to sit Cle are r inte nde d flo w of foo t traffic