History

Antique garments tell tales of Brunswick’s past

BY ERIK ANDERSON

Special to The News-Post

Articles of clothing are among the best museum exhibits for helping visitors feel a personal connection to history, according to James Castle, director of the Brunswick Heritage Museum.

“I think a visitor to a museum [mentally] puts themselves in the textile, and that provides an enhanced experience when visiting,” he said. “The one thing we can always relate to in history is, No. 1, food, and No. 2, clothing.”

The museum staff feels an especial obligation to care for their collection of approximately 200 historical garments that date from the late 1700s through the mid-20th century, Castle said. Donated by families with deep connections to Brunswick’s past, especially to its railroad history, the clothing items were among the first of the museum’s artifacts and a large part of the rationale behind the museum’s founding in the 1970s.

In addition to their importance for educating the public, clothes can tell professional historians a lot about a community’s past, Castle said. A given era’s popular fashions can reveal everything from cultural preferences to concrete economic realities.

Unfortunately, these valuable sources of information have short shelf lives compared to other classes of artifacts, like pottery or metalwork. If garments are to survive intact for centuries, they need attention and care.

When Kelly White recently stepped into the role of the museum’s volunteer curator, she recognized the need to protect the collection and applied for a special conservation grant from the Costume Society of America, an organization focused on the “understanding of appearance and dress practices of people across the globe,” according to its website.

The CSA granted the museum $1,500 to fund the first of a three-step process White plans for the garment collection: preservation, conservation and display.

During the preservation step, White says the grant will cover the costs of assessing the current condition of each textile item and purchasing the most upto-date storage materials. If any items require conservation (i.e., repair), she will apply for another grant to cover the costs of professional care. The final stage of the plan — displaying all the items in the collection — is a goal for several years into the future.

While White believes the collection is in good shape because it has always been well cared-for by past staff (See MUSEUM 10) ABOVE: Volunteer curator Kelly White looks through historical garments at the Brunswick Heritage Museum on Monday. The museum received a grant for the care and inventory of historical garments. LEFT: A historical garment is displayed.

Staff photos by Katina Zentz

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