National First Ladies Library and Museum

Patty Dowd Schmitz was named President & CEO of the National First Ladies Library and Museum at the First Ladies National Historic Site in March of 2023. She is a native of North Canton, Ohio, but spent the past 25 years of her career in the Chicago area, where she worked in executive leadership and consulting positions for various nonprofit cultural organizations. She has a deep passion for women in history and is a nationally known scholar of the children’s author Laura Ingalls Wilder. In her current position as head of the National First Ladies Library and Museum, she works to further the knowledge and understanding of the many significant contributions made by all our nation’s First Ladies throughout the history of our country.