Kent State University Museum

Video tours of the Civil War exhibit

sarahume1 — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:11:27 +0000

We are nearing completion of our video tours of “On the Home Front.” We decided to break the entire video into shorter segments that correspond with the different sections of the exhibit. So far almost half of the segments are complete and up on YouTube. Ultimately they will all be viewable in the kiosk located in the gallery itself. Here is a taste of what the videos look like:

Sara Hume, Curator

Sometimes this job is just a little bit creepy!

Kent State University Museum — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:24:27 +0000

Taking a couple mannequins out for a spin.

Ready for their spray tan!

These mannequins are being repainted for a visit to another museum. It can be rather disconcerting to see them in their dismembered form!

1868 wedding dress and its underpinnings

sarahume1 — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:39:44 +0000

While working on our video podcast to accompany our Civil War exhibit we discovered that our photograph of an 1868 wedding dress lined up perfectly with the photo of the underpinnings. This gave us the idea to make a quick animation showing how the undergarments support the final look of the dress. Click on the image below to see the animation!

Sara Hume, Curator

Differences in interpretation while dressing

sarahume1 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:30:58 +0000

While dressing the mannequins for the latest exhibition, ‘A Day at the Beach’ it was brought home to me how much subjectivity there is in preparing the dresses for exhibition. In many cases I realized how many choices I had to make in creating the silhouette and accessorizing the dresses. Before arranging the mannequins on the platforms in the Alumni Gallery, my assistant, Joanne Arnett, and I photographed each piece. These photographs provide a perfect opportunity for comparing the way they are currently dressed with earlier photographs of the same pieces as they were dressed in the past.

The main difference between the two interpretations of the dress is that the front and back were reversed. The way the dress currently is has the fasteners up the front while the earlier dressing had the buttons in the back. By placing the buttons in the front there is an awkward placket just to the side of center front. While this is slightly unsightly I have concealed the opening with the end of the wrap. Dressing it with the fasteners up the front enables the collar to fall in a v-shape that echos the wrap. This orientation also puts the gathered, longer end of the skirt to the back.

There has been an alteration to the bodice of the dress which causes the front to lie slightly awkwardly and makes it difficult to fasten the top closure. I have chosen to fill the rather deep v-neck with a collar that is in our collection. The high necked collar of net is from the same period as the dress (ca. 1910).

The confusion over dressing this piece highlights the decisions that must be made by the curator. When the mannequin appears in the gallery, all of the alternative interpretations are obscured in favor of the one that has been selected. The dress as it appears in the gallery naturally appears correct. There is an authority lent by the museum that strongly supports the visitor’s perception that this is how the dress would have looked when it was originally worn. Seeing how radically altered one dress can appear when put on when the forms and accessories are swapped suggests just how challenging it is to dress a mannequin.

Sara Hume, Curator

Katharine Hepburn Travels to Ocala, FL

Kent State University Museum — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:08:26 +0000

The Katharine Hepburn exhibition went from this....to...

If you’re wishing you had another chance to see the exhibition: Katharine Hepburn, Dressed for Stage and Screen, you’re in luck. We recently finalized plans to travel the exhibition to The Appleton Museum in Ocala, FL. The exhibition will be on view there from November 19, 2011 – January 22, 2012. If you’re a ‘snowbird’ you’ll have that opportunity.

The exhibition traveled in a cozy, climate-controlled, air-ride suspension, exclusive-use truck with some very experienced fine art transporters. Nothing is too good for Kate (or any part of our collection)!

THIS! Packed and loaded on a semi bound for Ocala, FL

We made our list and we're checkin' twice...

Traveling an exhibition requires dubious list making to ensure everything that is supposed to travel is accounted for.

Brooks Brothers and Civil War Uniforms

sarahume1 — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:19:35 +0000

While we were dressing one of the Civil War uniforms in our new exhibition, ‘On the Home Front,’ we found that the label read “Brooks Brothers.”

The 'Brooks Brothers' label in the military overcoat

The military overcoat worn by Major General Jacob D. Cox

Upon further research, it turns out that the story of Brooks Brothers history as a provider of Civil War uniforms is not without controversy. In fact, the New York Times ran an article on just this very subject back in the Spring. (Click here for the article) To summarize this article, the poor quality uniforms that Brooks Brothers provided for the union army epitomized the widespread corruption and profiteering that was practiced by manufactures during the war. As seen in the article’s comments section, this interpretation of events has been called into question.

While it is true that Brooks Brothers did provide some uniforms of poor quality to a relatively small number of soldiers in the union army, this is overly simplifying a complicated story. As James M. Schmidt writes in his chapter on Brooks Brothers in Lincoln’s Labels: America’s Best Known Brands and the Civil War (Edinborough Press, 2008):

“The historical context is also important. In the years between the world wars, the Army’s quartermasters still complained of the vagaries of supplying a large army with uniforms and pointed to the very problems that had plagued Brooks Brothers in the Civil War: securing large lots of uniform cloth of uniform color of durable fabric suitable for the rigors of campaign.”

The problem of supplying uniforms for the Civil War was a relatively novel situation. A system for standardizing sizing was being developed so that clothing could be ready-made rather than custom made. The production of ready-to-wear for men was just in its infancy by mid-century. A comparable system for women’s clothing would not gain widespread acceptance until the turn-of-the-century. The problems facing Brooks Brothers rose from both the difficulties of developing the techniques for large-scale clothing production and the shortages in wartime.

The overcoat in the exhibition serves as an interesting example of Brooks Brothers’ products. This piece is in no way an example of the mass-produced clothing that the retailer was developing at this time. In sharp contrast to the ‘shoddy’ uniforms that provoked such criticism, this coat is an exquisite example of craftsmanship and high quality materials. The braid trim is particularly impressive.

The toggles, the pockets and the sleeves are elaborately decorated

As the quality and ornament on this coat indicates, it was worn by an officer. In fact, it belonged to Major General Jacob D. Cox. After serving in the war, Cox was elected governor of Ohio. This coat is now in the collection of the Western Reserve Historical Society. The details of this coat really confirm the value of examining the actual garments in order to glean a more complete story of the period than could be gained by simply reading about it.

Sara Hume, Curator

Dressing mannequins for the Civil War Exhibit

sarahume1 — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:06:01 +0000

The Civil War exhibit, “On the Home Front” is set to open exactly one month from today. We are continuing to frantically dress the mannequins in preparation for photography. The unbelievably large skirts require a staggering amount of understructure to achieve the correct shape. The following pictures show some of the underpinnings required to properly fit the mannequin to the dresses. There are about 30 dresses in total (as well as other assorted pieces such as uniforms, crinolines, corsets, hair jewelry and a quilt). The quantity of tulle, muslin and panty hose that these dresses have ‘consumed’ is difficult to imagine.

This is how it seems sometimes while we are working:

-Sara Hume, Curator

Photographing for the Civil War Exhibit

sarahume1 — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:41:39 +0000

In preparation for our upcoming exhibit, On the Home Front, we are feverishly dressing and photographing all the pieces that will be on exhibit. The crinolined skirts of the Civil War-era dresses are quite cumbersome so the whole process has become something of an athletic feat. Joanne Arnett, the curatorial assistant, has been doing the actual photography as well as helping with the dressing. Each piece that we dress becomes our new favorite, although the silk gauze evening dress with the green trim holds a place of honor in our affections. We have come to refer to it as “the barbecue dress” after Scarlett’s dress in the opening scene of Gone with the Wind. I wanted to share a sneak peak of some of the dresses as we progress. Enjoy!

-Sara Hume, Curator

New tools

Kent State University Museum — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:08:30 +0000

Broadbent Gallery, looking west

We’re always looking to improve the way we create exhibitions, and to find better ways to tell our stories. In an effort to minimize the handling of objects, we often turn to drawings and models to work out placement long before we ever touch a garment or object. The less we monkey around with artifacts, the longer they will survive to educate and entertain future generations. This is a responsibility all museums take very seriously!

To this end we’re starting to experiment with Google SketchUp, a 3-D modeling program that enables us to imagine the gallery virtually, and to place and move around the objects in a way much more like “reality” than a small model can allow. While still in the early phases, we’re looking forward to learning how to turn photos of objects into drawing components, and to be able to see the interaction of things in cyberspace. Then, when we install in the real world, we can move the artifact once and let it be, reducing both effort and risk. Yay technology! Watch this space for future developments as we “install” On the Homefront: Civil War Fashions and Domestic Life.

Jim Williams, Exhibition Designer/Preparator

Launch of Online Catalogue

sarahume1 — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:52:28 +0000

As the semester draws to a close, we have managed to complete a number of on-going projects at the Museum. The most significant of these has been the launch of our catalogue on-line.

While the interface now appears polished and finished, it has been a long and arduous process to get to this point. There were a number of technical delays in getting PastPerfect on-line up and running. Then once we finally got the website up, we had to select which images we wanted to include. One of our major projects (with enormous assistance from the student staff) has been properly naming, filing, and attaching the innumerable digital images to their appropriate catalogue record.

We welcome any feedback regarding the online collection. We will be continually adding images and updating the catalogue records to reflect research on the objects.

-Sara Hume, Curator

Our online catalogue!