Pricing starts at $110 for 7 virtual lectures, a color book shipped to your house based on the online lectures, Share What You Wear on Friday evening, and much much more!
Online registration will open at 12pm EST May 1, 2021.
Online registration will open at 12pm EST May 1, 2021.
Virtual Lectures
So You Want To Be A Farmer (or A Farmer’s Wife)?
presented by Susan Lyon Hughes
Friday 9:45-10:45
Today we can have strawberries in January and oranges in July – and we have forgotten about the seasonality of life in the early and mid-19th century. This presentation will provide important background information about farm life including the technological developments, transportation improvements, animal husbandry, land management and crop evolution that made up the complexities of 19th century agriculture. The development of breeds of animals, month-by-month tasks on an average farm, and home skills associated with farming will be addressed.
presented by Susan Lyon Hughes
Friday 9:45-10:45
Today we can have strawberries in January and oranges in July – and we have forgotten about the seasonality of life in the early and mid-19th century. This presentation will provide important background information about farm life including the technological developments, transportation improvements, animal husbandry, land management and crop evolution that made up the complexities of 19th century agriculture. The development of breeds of animals, month-by-month tasks on an average farm, and home skills associated with farming will be addressed.
Life on the Changing Frontier
presented by Elizabeth Stewart Clark
Saturday 8:45-9:45
From 1830 to 1870, the boundaries of the American frontier change dramatically, and with them, so do communities, amenities, and opportunities! Exploration, social expansion, interactions with indigenous communities, settlement patterns, communication, commerce, notable personalities… from the hardscrabble to the elegant, we’ll explore the adventures that await you on the frontiers!
presented by Elizabeth Stewart Clark
Saturday 8:45-9:45
From 1830 to 1870, the boundaries of the American frontier change dramatically, and with them, so do communities, amenities, and opportunities! Exploration, social expansion, interactions with indigenous communities, settlement patterns, communication, commerce, notable personalities… from the hardscrabble to the elegant, we’ll explore the adventures that await you on the frontiers!
Needful Things:
Essential Everyday Objects in Antebellum American Households
presented by Nicky Hughes
Sunday 11:15-12:15
This presentation will introduce participants to objects commonly found and used daily in the homes of middling families in the antebellum era – very roughly, the second quarter of the 19th century. These items would have been perfectly familiar to most such folks, and should be similarly familiar to persons seeking to accurately re-create the lifestyles and experiences of Americans before and during the Civil War. Some attention will be given to seasonal, regional, and economic class variations in commonplace objects, but the objective will be to provide a guide for the selection and acquisition of affordable and generally representative reproduction and original objects. The presentation will take those in attendance from room to room through a routine day, describing essential objects encountered in each place and situation. Cookware, food storage containers, beverage and condiment bottles, food preparation tools, china, glassware, silverware, toiletry essentials, bedding and other textiles, furniture, lighting devices, and such will receive attention. Examples of period items will be shown in photographs, accompanied by images of currently available reproductions. Some critical objects will be displayed and will be available for hands-on examination. Current sources of goods will be recommended, and a list of printed and online references will be provided.
Essential Everyday Objects in Antebellum American Households
presented by Nicky Hughes
Sunday 11:15-12:15
This presentation will introduce participants to objects commonly found and used daily in the homes of middling families in the antebellum era – very roughly, the second quarter of the 19th century. These items would have been perfectly familiar to most such folks, and should be similarly familiar to persons seeking to accurately re-create the lifestyles and experiences of Americans before and during the Civil War. Some attention will be given to seasonal, regional, and economic class variations in commonplace objects, but the objective will be to provide a guide for the selection and acquisition of affordable and generally representative reproduction and original objects. The presentation will take those in attendance from room to room through a routine day, describing essential objects encountered in each place and situation. Cookware, food storage containers, beverage and condiment bottles, food preparation tools, china, glassware, silverware, toiletry essentials, bedding and other textiles, furniture, lighting devices, and such will receive attention. Examples of period items will be shown in photographs, accompanied by images of currently available reproductions. Some critical objects will be displayed and will be available for hands-on examination. Current sources of goods will be recommended, and a list of printed and online references will be provided.
Sheer Pleasure: Transparent Accessories, 1830-1870
Instructor Carolann Schmitt
Section C3
Saturday 10:00-11:00
Transparent accessories add grace, elegance, and delicacy to a garment. They can greatly change the
appearance of a dress, taking it from plain to fancy, from simple to refined. Sheer fabrics from the mid-19th century are glorious: finely woven, light, airy. They have body, a smooth hand, and lovely drape. They were available in a variety of fibers -cotton, silk, linen, wool, pina; and a variety of fabrics - organdy, organza, lawn, batiste, mull, cambric, clear muslin, Swiss dot, net, point d'esprit, lace. From these fabrics, period seamstresses and needleworkers created a variety of light and airy accessories including caps, headdresses, mantles, collars, cuffs, undersleeves, tuckers, chemisettes, fichus, pelerines, canezous, overbodices, shawls, mantles and cloaks. Profusely illustrated, this class will use primary sources including images, written descriptions and original garments as we discuss styles, fabrics, construction techniques, and when and where these accessories were worn.
Instructor Carolann Schmitt
Section C3
Saturday 10:00-11:00
Transparent accessories add grace, elegance, and delicacy to a garment. They can greatly change the
appearance of a dress, taking it from plain to fancy, from simple to refined. Sheer fabrics from the mid-19th century are glorious: finely woven, light, airy. They have body, a smooth hand, and lovely drape. They were available in a variety of fibers -cotton, silk, linen, wool, pina; and a variety of fabrics - organdy, organza, lawn, batiste, mull, cambric, clear muslin, Swiss dot, net, point d'esprit, lace. From these fabrics, period seamstresses and needleworkers created a variety of light and airy accessories including caps, headdresses, mantles, collars, cuffs, undersleeves, tuckers, chemisettes, fichus, pelerines, canezous, overbodices, shawls, mantles and cloaks. Profusely illustrated, this class will use primary sources including images, written descriptions and original garments as we discuss styles, fabrics, construction techniques, and when and where these accessories were worn.
Voices from the Sumter County Museum
Instructor Mackenzie Anderson Sholtz
Section E1
Sunday 10:00-11:00
Often when a garment is donated to a museum’s collection, there is very little information given with the garment as to the original wearer or the donor’s family. Explore items from the Sumter County Museum which have more information. Among others, discuss two mid 19th century dresses and the family history of Elizabeth Ann Fullwood Aycock.
Instructor Mackenzie Anderson Sholtz
Section E1
Sunday 10:00-11:00
Often when a garment is donated to a museum’s collection, there is very little information given with the garment as to the original wearer or the donor’s family. Explore items from the Sumter County Museum which have more information. Among others, discuss two mid 19th century dresses and the family history of Elizabeth Ann Fullwood Aycock.
It's All in the Bag
Instructor Jessamyn Reeves-Brown
Section E4
Sunday 10:00-11:00
Work-bags, purses, tobacco-bags, carriage-bags, carpet bags, shoe-bags, watch-pockets, reticules ... while there wasn't really a mid-19th-century equivalent to the modern tote-your-life-around handbag, much as we'd like there to be, there were an amazing array of special-purpose fabric "baskets," pockets, and bags made at home by diligent fingers. Whether you are a city mouse of fashion or a country mouse with more practical needs, you can enrich your impression with an understanding of the styles and uses of mid-century bags, and open up a wealth of possibilities with a resource list of free on-line period projects.
Instructor Jessamyn Reeves-Brown
Section E4
Sunday 10:00-11:00
Work-bags, purses, tobacco-bags, carriage-bags, carpet bags, shoe-bags, watch-pockets, reticules ... while there wasn't really a mid-19th-century equivalent to the modern tote-your-life-around handbag, much as we'd like there to be, there were an amazing array of special-purpose fabric "baskets," pockets, and bags made at home by diligent fingers. Whether you are a city mouse of fashion or a country mouse with more practical needs, you can enrich your impression with an understanding of the styles and uses of mid-century bags, and open up a wealth of possibilities with a resource list of free on-line period projects.
