 No one could have imagined what Seed's Wilhelmina Cole Holiday's grandmother was sewing when she said to her granddaughter always be aware and sensitive to beauty. This early teaching laid a foundation for a life's work of gathering and preserving art created by women. After more than 50 years of collecting, Wilhelmina co-founded the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, along with her partner Wallace. It is the only major museum in the world dedicated to telling the story of women in the arts. The impact of this renowned institution has been stunning. It boasts works by more than 800 women artists, dating as far back as the 16th century. It has garnered the support of more than 200,000 members since its doors opened in 1987 and more than 1.2 million people have enjoyed its collections and exhibitions. Mrs. Holiday, we congratulate and thank you for giving us this national treasure, the first National Museum devoted to women in the arts. I really want to thank Elizabeth Sackler for giving this honor to the National Museum of Women in the Arts and I'm happy to accept it on the museum's behalf because it truly has been the work of thousands. You know, when we started out, it just, I was so naive, it didn't even occur to me that anyone would object to it. There, there wasn't a single there wasn't a single woman artist in the text used in every major, every college and university in our country, Janssen's History of Art when we started. The Metropolitan Museum of Art had a show by a woman in 138 years. So it just seemed that we should show the contribution of women to the history of art because we knew women had been painting because of our collection. We worked so hard to put it together. Well, I was mistaken. The feminists said this is some white glove establishment and the old dowagers said this is some feminist movement. And with this controversy, they did us the biggest favor they could possibly have done because it became a good story and the newspapers picked it up and the story went everywhere, it went off on the wires or something. At any rate, it certainly heightened the awareness of the museum. My husband and I walked into the Brown Hotel in London and the concierge said that was quite a story in the Sunday paper. So I guess, you know, we had to be grateful that we were finally really becoming known and over the years, it has been so exciting to to see the wonderful wonderful the inheritance we have in our country of volunteerism and philanthropy. I've had so many people come to me from places in Europe and say it could only be done in America. And I guess it's right. It didn't even occur to us to go to the government for money. But at any rate, it has been a wonderful wonderful experience and Elizabeth Sackler has helped us from the very beginning. Most of all, I think it's wonderful that she's a dear friend and thank you very, very much.