First Ladies As curator of an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, Penn's Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw tells the stories of the women who supported U.S. presidents while in the White House. Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, associate professor of history of art, was the curator of the exhibition “Every Eye Is Upon Me: First Ladies of the United States” at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. Shaw returned to Penn this semester after taking an 18-month leave to serve as the Gallery’s senior historian and director of history, research, and scholarly programs. In a glass case in a Smithsonian Institution exhibition is a small cape, the ikat-dyed pink silk and fine black lace fanned out around a high collar in the center. The pleated taffeta fabric makes an almost perfect circle, except for an edge flipped over to reveal an interior inscription by the maker to the wearer.