Posted Oct 23, 2016
FRAMINGHAM – Two simple cotton dresses from the 1830s tell the story of a mother’s love.
Anna Foster likely sewed by hand the simple matching garments for herself and her young daughter Emily. A line of pinholes in the little girl’s dress show where the hem and sleeves could be let down as the girl grew.
But the dress never needed to be let out. Sadly, little Emily died of scarlet fever when she was just 7.
“It’s a beautiful but sad story,” said Annie Murphy, executive director of the Framingham History Center. “The fact her mother held onto the dress speaks clearly to the sentiment.”
The mother-daughter dresses are just two of the items in the FHC’s upcoming exhibit “History in the Stitches: Framingham Fashion through the Centuries.”
Through the stories behind the clothing in the center’s collection, visitors can peek inside the lives of residents who lived in Framingham throughout the town’s history. Each piece of clothing in the exhibit has been extensively researched, and much is known about many of the owners, so visitors can learn about how they would have worn or used the items.
The Fosters lived in the historic Pike-Haven House, Murphy said, a home that predates the town’s founding in 1700. Built in 1696, it remained in the same family for 252 years until 1948. Located at on Belknap Road, the gambrel was one of the homes featured on the Framingham House Tour in May.
The FHC has culled just a few pieces from its enormous collection of dresses, uniforms, bustier tops, skirts, petticoats, hats, lace and other accessories for this exhibit, Murphy said. In its collection, there are more than 300 dresses alone, Murphy said, so many that the museum has yet to properly preserve many of them.
Murphy, as well as curator Stacen Goldman, the museum’s education coordinator Laura Stagliola, Framingham State University intern Chelsea Hathaway, costume collections manager Kathryn Khanwalker and FHC volunteers, including Nancy Hulme, have been busily working to put the exhibit together. It will showcase clothing from the pre-Revolutionary War period through the Roaring ’20s, including 13 dresses from 1772 to 1927. Visitors will see wedding dresses, tea gowns, kimonos, flapper dresses, hats and more.
On a recent visit, museum workers and volunteers arranged clothing to show how women in the 1830s would typically dress for a tea party or “salon” with intimate friends in the privacy of their own homes. One dress is made with “changeable silk,” which appears to change colors in different light, while other pieces of clothing in the exhibit are made with silk, cotton, velvet and crepe Georgette, among other materials.
The Framingham History Center, Murphy said, has been fortunate to receive donations from the families of some of the town’s famous residents, including a 1772 wedding dress worn by Elizabeth Temple, wife of Lt. Josiah H. Temple, a Revolutionary War hero for whom Temple Street in Framingham is named.
A free opening party for museum members and donors takes place Thursday, Oct. 27, 6 to 8 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to wear clothing from their favorite fashion era when they join the festivities.
“Clothing tells compelling stories that are relevant every day,” Murphy said.
“History in the Stitches” opens Oct. 28 at the Framingham History Center, 3 Oak St., Framingham. Admission is free for members, $5 for non-members, and $2 for Framingham State students with ID. Call 508-626-9091 or visitframinghamhistory.org for more information and to join or donate to the FHC.
Nancy Olesin is the arts editor for the Daily News and Wicked Local. Contact her at nolesin@wickedlocal.com or follow her on Twitter @WickedLocalArts.