Gallery of First Lady Gown Collection

A longstanding feature of the South Dakota State Capitol is the “First Lady Gown Collection.” The collection, which features a doll-sized replica of each first lady’s inaugural gown, was created by the South Dakota Federation of Republican Women and it was refreshed for the state’s 125th anniversary in 2014.

Since that time, new dolls have been added for Bryon Noem, who as the state’s first “First Gentleman” is represented by a tuxedo, and for Sandy Rhoden.

Below is a gallery of each First Lady and First Gentleman in the collection:

Margaret Mellette 1889-93
Martha Sheldon 1893-97
Annie Lee 1897-1901
Eunice Herreid 1901-05
Mary Ellen Elrod 1905-07
Lavinia Crawford 1907-09
Florence Vessey 1909-13
Emilie Byrne 1913-17
Lydia Norbeck 1917-21
Harriet McMaster 1921-25
Gertrude Gunderson 1925-27
Sarah Bulow 1927-31
Elizabeth Jane Green 1931-33
Lorena Berry 1933-37
Elizabeth Jensen 1937-39
Vera Bushfield 1939-43
Emily Sharpe 1943-47
Madge Mickelson 1947-51
Vivan Anderson 1951-55
June Foss 1955-59
Lorna Herseth 1959-61
Florence Gubbrud 1961-65
Borghild Boe 1965-69 (Gov. Nils Boe, a bachelor, is represented in the display by his sister.)
Patricia Farrar 1969-71
Nancy Kneip 1971-78
Anne Wollman 1978-79 (Wollman, who succeeded to office upon Kneip’s resignation, did not hold an inaugural ball. Mrs. Wollman is represented by the dress she wore to Wollman’s swearing-in ceremony.)
Mary Dean Janklow 1979-87
Linda Mickelson 1987-93
Patricia Miler 1993-95 (Gov. Miller was a widower at the time that he succeeded following Gov. Mickelson’s death. Later that year, he married Patricia Caldwell, and she is represented in the display with her wedding dress.)
Mary Dean Janklow 1995-2003
Jean Rounds 2003-11
Linda Daugaard 2011-19
Bryon Noem 2019-25
Sandy Rhoden 2025-