The lady’s luncheon is alive and well at the New-York Historical Society. But it has been remade for the busy and accomplished women who today support the Upper West Side repository of some of America’s greatest treasures.

At the society’s annual spring fund-raiser yesterday, some 300 women took a tightly scheduled two-hour break from their workday to celebrate the society’s two new exhibits on America’s first ladies – and to cheer for one, Hillary Clinton, who won a Senate seat after two terms as first lady.

Mrs. Clinton said she was happy to provide the Smithsonian with the black pantsuit it requested for its traveling exhibit (the other exhibit is organized by the society).The suit “represents a lot of miles in New York during my campaign for the Senate” and also a turning point in first lady fashion history. “It’s the first pantsuit from a first lady and it represents changes in women’s lives,” Mrs. Clinton said.

The senator’s message to the assembled women was study the lives of first ladies as personal role models. “Each had their share of tragedy and disappointment. You can take some strength and comfort from that,” Mrs. Clinton said.

The whole audience perked up when Mrs. Clinton mentioned her meetings with that most fascinating first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. “I was fortunate to spend time with Jackie before her death. She was one of my husband’s earliest supporters,” Mrs. Clinton said.

Their first meeting came just after President Clinton had secured his party’s nomination. “Jackie invited me to her marvelous apartment, full of books and flowers,” Mrs. Clinton recalled, “She was convinced [Bill] would win and wanted to give me her ideas.”

The second visit came shortly after the inauguration. “I took the shuttle to New York from Washington – that was the last time I was allowed to take it, as first lady,” Mrs. Clinton said.

On that visit, “Jackie gave me courage and confidence about this new role that I was embarking on,” Mrs. Clinton said, “She had a very acute and wry set of perceptions about what life in the White House would be like for me.”

The event, called the Strawberry Festival Luncheon, is in its fifth year and raised $200,000 for the society. The name comes from an event the society hosted – an actual strawberry feast in June – from the 1850s to the 1960s. “Strawberry Festival – that has a nice ring to it,” Mrs. Clinton said.

In honor of the theme, strawberries were the fashion statement of the day. The society presented strawberry shaped pins designed by Kenneth Jay Lane to “first ladies of their fields,” including the vice president of marketing for the Beauty Bank, Jane Lauder; handbag designer Judith Leiber; the president of Hunter College, Jennifer Raab; the chief executive of Carver Bank, Deborah Wright, and the chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, Kathryn Wylde. Also wearing the pin, which came in shades of black, red, pink, and cream, were the society’s president, Louise Mirrer; its chairwoman, Nancy Newcomb, and a trustee and board member, Joan Jakobson. Many guests asked society staff how they could get one. No word, but stay tuned.

Mrs. Jakobson unearthed a comment from Mary Todd Lincoln on strawberries. On June 11, 1862, Mrs. Lincoln invited some friends to the White House with the following caveat: “We expect little or no company. The only inducement we can offer will be some strawberries.”

“We have lots of strawberries and Hillary Rodham Clinton,” Mrs. Jakobson noted, “Our day sounds like more fun.”

There are more public programs scheduled in conjunction with the exhibits, which run through June 5. Tonight, Cokie Roberts gives a talk on “Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation.”