Many people approach Michelle Gullion at the Canton, Ohio-based National First Ladies Library & Museum—the home of Ida McKinley—confessing they don’t know anything about Mrs. McKinley, the wife of William McKinley, the 25th president.
It’s fair to say, too, that in the immediate years after her time serving as first lady, people’s understanding of her legacy was limited and to some extent hidden. That’s largely because Mrs. McKinley had a disability—epilepsy—while in the White House at a time period when the affliction was still terribly stigmatized and remedies barely emerged.
It’s that and more Gullion wants to share with the visiting public. And recently she had the opportunity to elevate Mrs. McKinley’s story as part of the In Pursuit essay project spotlighting lessons from American presidents and select first ladies.
Gullion, director of collections and research at the library and museum, calls the former first lady “brave” and “honest” and a…
