Not long after becoming first lady, Thelma “Pat” Nixon was asked what she intended to focus on in her new role. She responded, “People are my project.”

Image: White House Historical Association

Mrs. Nixon traveled around the nation to support various volunteer organizations and maintained the same tireless commitment to public service at the White House by ensuring that the mansion was experienced by the public as the “People’s House.”

Image: Richard Nixon Foundation

During her time as first lady from 1969 to 1973, Mrs. Nixon made the White House “more open to visitors than it had been in previous decades.”

Image: White House Historical Association

On October 21, 1971, children from the Washington Hospital for Sick Children visited the White House. In this photo, Mrs. Nixon sits with patients Dorothy Anderson and Sean McCombs in the White House Map Room.

Image: Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum/NARA

Twenty years before the Americans with Disabilities Act mandated that public buildings be made more accessible, Mrs. Nixon had the “first wheelchair ramps installed for the use of public visitors to the White House.”

Mrs. Nixon worked to “open the doors of the White House” for vision-impaired and blind visitors. She recorded the introduction for an audio-guided tour and permitted these individuals to touch the antiques and artifacts on tours, although it was traditionally not allowed.

Mrs. Nixon also organized specialized tours for hearing impaired visitors. White House guides were trained with specific instructions to address these groups directly and to speak slowly enough “to allow lip reading and for sign-language interpretation.”

First Daughter Julie Nixon Eisenhower served as a White House Guide and in July 1969, she conducted a tour for sight-impaired and partially blind children.

Image: Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum/NARA

Mrs. Nixon’s mark on the White House was undeniable. Through her commitment to volunteerism and public service, she helped make the White House accessible to more individuals than before.

Image: Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum/NARA

Interested in learning more about Mrs. Nixon and her role as first lady? Join us for today’s virtual #FirstLadies Symposium, hosted by the White House Historical Association and American University’s First Ladies Initiative!

Our late afternoon panel will explore the historic preservation efforts and achievements of Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, and Pat Nixon. Sign up now! https://www.crowdcast.io/e/flsymposium