[Inaugural Gown] Lucretia Garfield wore this gown to the 1881 inaugural ball. The gown's original color was a delicate lavender. It was dyed with fuschine, a light-sensitive synthetic dye that faded to oyster white.

James Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881 and lingered 3 months before dying. Mrs. Garfield participated in his public memorial services-- the first president's widow to do so. She later helped organize and preserve Garfield's papers.

Courtesy of the National Museum of American History, gift of Mrs. G. Stanley-Brown and the Garfield children, 1921
Inaugural Gown worn by Lucretia Rudolph Garfield (1832-1918), 1881; oyster satin and lace

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