As U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and then the first female Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright often signaled her mood or opinions with the brooch she had pinned to her suit.
In a 2010 interview with Smithsonian Magazine, Albright said, "On good days, I wore flowers and butterflies and balloons, and on bad days, all kinds of bugs and carnivorous animals. I saw it as an additional way of expressing what I was saying, a visual way to deliver a message."
More than 200 of her pins are on display in the exhibition, Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Mo.
Albright is a professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. She also chairs Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm, and Albright Capital Management LLC, an investment firm with a focus on emerging markets.
Drawing on her perspective as a woman and a diplomat, Albright has argued that women's issues are not "soft," but — as she explained in a TED talk — they should also be a priority for global policy.
"I happen to think that women's issues are, as Secretary Clinton said when she was First Lady, 'Women's rights are human rights, and human's rights are women's rights.' And I argued including the whole concept of women's issues, not because I'm a feminist, but because I think societies are more stable when women are more politically and economically empowered," Albright told Up to Date host Steve Kraske.
"The issues that have to be dealt with are issues of life and death. I think women deal with those on a daily basis."
HEAR MORE: A conversation with Madeleine Albright at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, December 3, 6 - 8 pm. SOLD OUT.
Albright is the guest speaker for the 22nd Annual Luncheon hosted by the Women's Foundation of Greater Kansas City, on December 5, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm. SOLD OUT. To be placed on the waiting list, contact Alison Patterson, alison@womens-foundation.org or 913-831-0711, ext. 21.
'Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection' runs through February 22, 2015 at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, 500 W. US Hwy 24, Independence, Mo. 816-268-8200.
