National First Ladies Day
American holiday
National First Ladies Day, more simply known as First Ladies Day, is an American observance that celebrates the women who have served as First Ladies of the United States. It is observed annually on the last Saturday in April to coincide with the anniversary of the first inauguration of George Washington, at which time Martha Washington became the nation's inaugural First Lady.
History
The National First Ladies Day Commission was founded in 2021 by Rev. Nicholas W. Inman, in collaboration with the Society of Presidential Descendants, to create a national day of service in honor of women who served as first ladies of the United States and to recognize their contributions to American history, culture, and civic life. Charter members of the commission were Nicholas W. Inman, Mary Jean Eisenhower, Massee McKinley, Ulysses Grant Dietz, Jennifer Coolidge Sayles Harville, Andrew Och, James Earl Carter IV, Jennie Highfield, Andy Person, Patricia Taft, and Clifton Truman Daniel. Eisenhower and McKinley were elected to serve as co-chairs of the commission and Highfield was appointed as the commission's secretary. Larry Cook, Margaret Hayes Clark, James A. Garfield III, Patty Dowd Schmitz, Andrew Greer, and Reagan Inman were later appointed to the commission.
On March 30, 2022, the National Day Calendar officially designated the last Saturday in April as National First Ladies Day, aligned with President George Washington's first inauguration on April 30, 1789 to commemorate the beginning of the first lady's role with Martha Washington. The public announcement of National First Ladies Day was made during the annual First Ladies Tea at the Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival in April 2022 by Andrew Och. Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter sent a letter offering support to the commission and acknowledgement of the holiday that was read aloud during the festival.
“National First Ladies Day” enters the record as american holiday. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what National, First and Ladies can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“National First Ladies Day” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, National, First and Ladies provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q135765188. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2021, 2022 and 1789.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “National First Ladies Day”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow National First Ladies Day primary sources, National First Ladies Day archive and National research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “National First Ladies Day”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “National First Ladies Day” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.