FAIRHOPE, Ala. — On Jan. 20, 1953, an unseasonably warm and sunny day in Washington, D.C., Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower took the oath of office to become the 34th President of the United States of America.

The Bible on which he placed his hand was the same one George Washington used when he became the nation’s first president.

The crowd that lined the parade route to the Eisenhower inauguration was estimated at 750,000, according to press accounts of that day.

“The world and we have passed the midway point of a century of continuing challenge,” Eisenhower said in the first speech he gave as president. “We sense with all our faculties that forces of good and evil are massed and armed and opposed as rarely before in history.”

He spoke before an audience that included Harry Truman, members of the Supreme Court, Gen. George Marshall and Herbert Hoover, the last Republican president before that day — and one woman who now resides in Fairhope.

“Dwight called and said he wanted us to be there,” Lucy Eisenhower said Monday. She was the president’s sister-in-law, married to his older brother, Edgar, an attorney at the time in Tacoma, Wash.

Tomorrow is Ms. Eisenhower’s birthday. She will be 87.

This week she donated the gown she wore at the inaugural ball that night to the Fairhope Museum of History.

“It’s a beautiful gown,” said Amanda Barfield, recreation program coordinator at Carroll Place in Fairhope, an assisted-living facility where Eisenhower lives. “Can I borrow it?”

Eisenhower smiled.

“It would fit you and look good,” she said. “I’ll loan it to you.”

The group of people in Eisenhower’s room laughed. They were there to see the gown that had been taken out of storage before it was delivered to the museum.

“Say something to make me laugh, otherwise I’ll cry,” Eisenhower said, as the gown was draped across her lap for pictures. “I’m so sentimental.”

Eisenhower grew up in Birmingham before moving to Baldwin County where she graduated from Robertsdale High School, her niece, Penny Nelson, said.

Nelson, of Robertsdale, said that Eisenhower — then Lucy Dawson — moved to New York City after high school to study photography and business in college.

She lived in Washington, D.C., and then moved to Tacoma, where she met Edgar Eisenhower, a prominent attorney, Nelson said.

“I was actively involved in politics all my life,” Eisenhower said. “We campaigned for Dwight.”

Nelson said that Eisenhower was a delegate to Republican national conventions from Washington state several times and was also a big supporter of Barry Goldwater’s run for president.

On the wall in Eisenhower’s room is a ticket to the July 1952 Republican convention in Chicago and the invitation to the inauguration of her brother-in-law.

“The inaugural committee requests the honor of the presence of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar N. Eisenhower to attend and participate in the Inauguration of Dwight David Eisenhower as the Thirty-Fourth President of the United States of America,” the invitation reads.

On a table is a framed picture of Eisenhower wearing the gown she wore that night more than 50 years ago.

“She was a very beautiful woman,” Nelson said. “She also modeled while in New York.”

Nelson said that when her aunt and uncle visited Baldwin County, they would always stay at either the Grand Hotel or the hotel in Malbis.

“They knew one of the Malbis’ daughters,” Nelson said. “She would send them boxes of Greek pastries and camellias to take back home.”

Nelson said that Eisenhower moved to Houston after divorcing from her husband and then to Fairhope in 1997, where she lived at Quail Creek before moving to Carroll Place two years ago.

“She was always involved in everything,” Nelson said. “When she moved here, she said she planned to slow down and not join any groups. But before we knew it, she was in the Welcome Wagon and the local writer’s group.”

Eisenhower said that in addition to visiting the White House, she also went to Camp David.

She also played golf at Augusta National Golf Club where the Master’s Golf Tournament is held and where President Eisenhower vacationed.

When asked how she played that day, she did not miss a beat.

“The caddies kicked the balls out of the trees for us.”

Grand Opening Schedule

• 10 a.m., Ribbon cutting with dignitaries, museum plaza.

• 10:30, Unveiling of the Craig Sheldon sculpture, museum plaza.

• 10:45 & 11:20, Folk dancing by the Marietta Johnson School folk dancers, museum plaza.

•10:45 & 12:45, Story of Fairhope Founders and the Single Tax Association presented by FSTC board members, second floor of museum.

• 11 & noon, Story of Marietta Johnson presented by Maggie Mosteller-Timbes, first floor of museum.

• 11:30, 12:30 & 1:30, Story of Craig Sheldon presented by family members, museum plaza.

• 11:45 a.m., Flo Schneider will present the story of her grandfather, C.L. Coleman, who served on the first Fairhope City Council and donated money to build the city’s first water tower, second floor of museum.

• Museum tours will begin every 30 minutes, beginning at 11 a.m.

• Children’s entertainment will also be provided in the plaza throughout the day.

• Jammin Folks will provide music at the museum plaza throughout the day.

• Commemorative coins and pins will be on sale that day, $5 each.

At the Fairhope

Public Library

• 10:30, noon & 2, For adults: “A Walk through Old Fairhope” will be presented by Cathy Donelson.

• 11:30 & 1:30, For children: “Southeast Indians” will be presented by Jackie Matte.