- [Narrator] Considering the nation's desire for calm and consistency, one might expect Betty to have conducted herself as nothing but the most prim, proper, and unimposing First Lady.

(whimsical music) At first glance, the main area of the exhibit may suggest that Betty had always been that idyllic traditional woman, a graceful dancer and model, a blushing bride married just two weeks before Gerald Ford began his congressional term, a nurturing mother raising four children, and eventually a gracious host and fashion icon, entertaining diplomatic guests as First Lady, but a closer look reveals that what allowed Betty to steal the hearts of countless Americans during Gerald Ford's presidency and beyond was not just how well she operated within traditional bounds, but also how comfortably, confidently, and tactfully she defied them.

While Betty unquestionably possessed the elegance of a dancer, her love of dance was ignited by the flappers of the 1920s who danced, drank, and smoked, which was completely new behavior for the women in this era.

Empowered by these examples, Betty herself enjoyed social freedom and embraced her independence.

As a girl and young woman, Betty was inspired by self-assured ambitious women and a strong mother who modeled independence by becoming a real estate agent to provide for their family after Betty's father passed away.

- And in addition, she also had two older brothers, so she was always striving to keep up with them.

She played hockey, she played football.

Even when she was in seventh and eighth grade, played on an all girls Sandlot football team, so she was just very active as a child.

- [Narrator] Betty also flourished under the professional tutelage of her highly esteemed dance instructor, Martha Graham, when formally studying dance as a young adult at the Bennington School of Dance in Vermont and the Martha Graham Dance Company of New York City.

- Martha Graham was a pioneer in the dance world, and so that gave my mother a lot of hope that she too could be a pioneer.

When I go back and I look at her going to Bennington and working with Martha and that sort of thing, and then going to New York and being a dancer with the Martha Graham Company and then coming back to Grand Rapids and working at Herpolsheimer's and teaching dance to the kids at Mary Freebed, Martha was a huge example for my mother that you could do anything and you could be a pioneer.

- [Narrator] Betty knew what she wanted to experience in life and had the confidence to make it happen, even when that meant choosing to divorce her first husband, William Warren, and living in her own apartment, which were both highly unconventional occurrences for women in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Betty even went so far as to work to support both herself and William, who was seriously ill at the time throughout the last two years of their marriage.

Once married to Gerald Ford, Betty and Gerald had a family, and Betty chose to stay home with her children during her husband's congressional career.

She enjoyed doing things like sewing Halloween costumes and hosting homemade themed Christmases just like the one she later held at the White House.

All of these activities would've been viewed as traditional interests of housewives in the 50s and 60s and resonated with those in society who preferred tradition.

- My mom taught Sunday school.

She was my brother's den mother, so she did Cub Scouts.

I remember selling Girl Scout cookies and her supporting me during that.

I think probably the one thing that people would say is if my mother wasn't in the Alexandria Hospital emergency room once a week with her boys, something was wrong at the Ford House.

- It was really important to her also that her role as a housewife was recognized, and she talked about how important it was to value women's work in the home, because by devaluing that work, all women's work was devalued, and so that was something that was very important to her as well.

- [Narrator] In addition to taking on a traditional role in her family, Betty's role as a congressman's wife was also quite traditional.

- So I think she had actually a fairly traditional congressman's wife experience.

When she first came to Washington DC with her husband, Gerald Ford, she met a number of other wives of new young congressmen, including Muriel Humphrey, Hubert Humphrey's wife, and Pat Nixon, Richard Nixon's wife, and so they, along with all of their peers, did a lot of the things that Congressman's wives did at the time, such as giving constituents tours of Washington DC when they came to visit.

She was also very involved in the Congressional Spouses Club where she helped to raise money through things like fashion shows.

She was involved in the Republican Women's Club as well, and so she was very involved in a variety of different congressional wives organizations.

- [Narrator] Betty embraced traditional roles for women, but she was also someone who maintained perspectives on topics like abortion, drinking, and premarital sex that were not typical for a woman of her time.

When asked about the Supreme Court's recent ruling legalizing abortion, she said, "It was the best thing in the world," because in her opinion, it was time to, "Bring it out of the back woods and into the hospitals where it belonged."

- She really had a great sense of self.

She said, if they don't like me, they can kick me out, and she used this platform throughout her time in office.

She was the first First lady since Mamie Eisenhower to hold a press conference, which she did on September 4th, just a month after her husband took office.

In this press conference, she really laid out some of the things that were important to her, causes that she wanted to champion as First Lady, including speaking about her support for abortion rights as well as the Equal Rights Amendment.

- [Narrator] Betty truly did not believe that there was any need to shy away from speaking her mind simply because of her husband's political career even when her views contrasted with her husband's perspectives.

By honoring and embracing both her roles as a traditional housewife and an outspoken feminist, Betty appealed to just about everyone to some degree without alienating anyone.

(bright music)