Exhibit shows old-time fancy mourning garb
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| News staff photo by STEPHEN LANDRY Virginia Strahan, in historical mourning clothing, offers visitors a look at how Civil War-era residents mourned their loved ones during a presentation at the Narragansett Historical Society in Templeton on Saturday. |
Rebecca Leonard
News Correspondent
TEMPLETON The grieving process is different for everyone, and in the 19th and early 20th centuries, there was quite a disparity in outward expressions of mourning for rich or poor women who had lost husbands.
The Narragansett Historical Society’s monthlong event “Death Becomes Her” demonstrates their process.
“Being a widow was a plus for some women especially the wealthy, but poor women didn’t have it as well,” said Virginia Strahan, coordinator of the event.
The event is meant to display and demonstrate the grieving process of women in the town from about 1815 to 1915. According to Ms. Strahan, she’s trying to show the positive aspects of widowhood throughout the Victorian era.
Women of the time period, when losing a husband were expected to mourn his loss, wearing nothing but black clothing for about two years. However, Ms. Strahan said, that doesn’t mean that they couldn’t be stylish.
Wealthy women could afford rich fabric and consistently stay up to date on the changing fashion throughout the years that she was mourning.
According to Ms. Strahan, as the woman’s grief lessened she would add colors to her black wardrobe – some adding hints of white, or red. More color would be added as the end of her grieving period approached.
After the death of a husband, the wealthy widow would benefit with a status change due to acquiring her husband’s assets. In addition to her own money, if she had it, she would become a “wanted woman.”
While the symbolic mourning clothes symbolized a woman’s deep mourning, it also signaled that she was sexually experienced and unattached, Ms. Strahan said.
“A widow was a catch in the right circles,” said Ms. Strahan.
Ms. Strahan told of a diary entry she had read in her research where a young woman was approached by a man at her father’s funeral. The man told her that she “looked charming in her mourning clothes.”
Women that were not lucky enough to have money, experienced their grieving process in a different way.
Instead of top-quality fabric, they were given mourning clothing from relatives or had to dye their other clothes. They weren’t as “charming” because they couldn’t afford to keep up with the current fashion and they didn’t have a huge fortune coming to them. They would often remain unmarried and have to live with a different head of household, such as a relative or friend.
Oftentimes, the death of the husband was unexpected, especially during the Civil War, so families weren’t able to plan what would happen to the woman, or children.
“Many women refused to dress for mourning during the Civil War, because there was so much death,” said Ms. Strahan, “They wanted to focus on something else.”
Dressing for mourning eventually tapered out around World War I for much of the same reason why women refused during the Civil War – there was too much death. Another reason for the disappearance is due to a national pride, and belief that everyone should be focusing on the country and not themselves.
“A widow’s life after the death of a loved one is dreary,” expressed Ms. Strahan.
People can find out more about women’s grieving process by attending the historical society’s “Death Becomes Her,” exhibit throughout the month of October on Saturdays from 1to 5 p.m. and Tuesdays from 6 to 8 p.m.
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