Farewell

Hello all!

Today is my last day of classes as well as my last day here as an intern at the Burgwin-Wright House.  I know, I can hardly believe it myself. The end of the semester seemed to catch me by surprise! I am so sad to part with all of you and I have loved sharing my experience through this blog. I learned a great deal of colonial history (no surprise there), but most importantly I have found a place that my writing has brought me close to.  After researching and writing for these blogs over the semester, I have come to know this house and the people who work here very well. It has been such an honor to work in such a wonderful and place and I would like to dedicate my last blog to sharing some of my favorite things about my experience.

First, the house. If you have not visited the house yet and taken the tour, my last request as your favorite intern blogger is that you do so. The house is absolutely stunning and I have not seen its equal in furnishings and décor. The staff here are really dedicated to keeping the Burgwin-Wright House’s history alive and are really passionate about sharing that history. Come visit!

Second, and most importantly of all, I have loved the people. My supervisor Christine has shown me so much of the history of this house and what it is like day-to-day as a museum manager. I love her enthusiasm for her job and the house. I really admire her dedication and I honestly believe my work ethic has improved because of her. I have enjoyed getting to know her and work with her throughout the semester. I am so grateful for all of her help as I asked questions and learned how to become a member of the Burgwin-Wright staff.

I would also like to recognize Brady, the museum guide, for all of his help as well.  Brady gave me my first official tour of the house on my first day here and has been my working pal in between tours. Since we were working on theses, my honors thesis and his masters thesis, we shared a common ground of understanding as the semester has drawn to a close i.e. stress. Thankfully we both passed! Whenever I have had the most random or obscure historical inquiry for my blog research, Brady was always happy to help me and I am really appreciative of his work.

The staff at the Burgwin-Wright House is always professional, but the great thing is that we have all become friends. We have all worked together and gotten to know each other, and there have been many laughs along the way. I have absolutely loved my time here and I am sad to leave, but graduation is upon me and a new chapter of my life is beginning. Thank you to all of you, my readers, for sticking with me on my journey. I appreciate every single one of you who returned each week to the Burgwin-Wright Way and took time out of your busy lives to read my words. I wish you all the best, and I hope each of you finds yourself on the steps of the Burgwin-Wright House.

Farewell,

Alex

Strait-laced

Hello all!

First, let me just say that it has been such a pleasure to write these blogs and share my experience and journey here at the Burgwin-Wright House.  I am even more thrilled to know that I have readers who are invested in my blogs and return weekly to read them.  As a writer this is extremely gratifying, especially when they leave comments because then I can see the breadth of my audience.

Recently, a reader commented on the April 2^nd blog post, “Vanity,” specifically about the difference between corsets and stays. Since I have a keen interest in the history of women’s fashions myself, I was happy to be given the opportunity to delve deeper and explore an area I’m unfamiliar with. Especially since I have since learned that there are three portraits in the Burgwin-Wright House of ladies connected to the history of the families- one is wearing stays, the other two corsets. 

Stays were the precursor garment to the corset and were popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  Unlike the design of corsets, stays were designed to encase a woman’s figure and hide its shape.  The bosom was flattened and the stays made a woman’s figure appear straight-lined instead of curved. The waist would be cinched in, but the design of stays was to support a woman’s body, not suppress it or force it into an unnatural shape, see below.

As the eighteenth century wore on and into the nineteenth century, waists began to shrink and the bosom became more accentuated to what we commonly see in period dramas today.  The corset was designed to achieve the perfect hourglass figure; however, these ideals led to serious health risks.  Corsets could severely harm a young woman’s body if tied too tightly which would then cause internal organs to shift, breathing to be labored and constricted, and ribs to break with the added danger of those ribs puncturing lungs and shifted organs.  Below is an illustration from The New York Medical Journal in 1887, of the damage done to a woman’s body after wearing a corset.

As you can see, the idealizations of female beauty during this time period could be quite fatal.  While corsets and stays are utilized in the present for costume dramas and the occasional historic re-enactment, their influence is still obvious to this day. The hourglass shape has not lost its appeal, although you will not see many women signing up to be caged by their apparel, especially when corsets and stays were made out materials such as baleen, metal, wood, pasteboard, or packthread. Beauty standards may still be unrealistic and demanding, but definitely not enough to squeeze myself into a corset!

One thing is for sure, I am thankful to be a woman in the twenty-first century.  Learning about the history of a historic home and the lives of the people who have lived here has shown me my own freedom.  I don’t have to suffocate in a stays/corset or wear a dress my entire life.  I can throw on my blue jeans and do whatever I please, and I am grateful.

Until next time,

Alex

http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/clothes/

http://www.history.org/history/clothing/women/wglossary.cfm

http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/clothes/corset_damage/

http://www.history.org/history/clothing/women/wglossary.cfm

www.history.org

Tradition

Hello all!

I hope many of you had the opportunity to enjoy the Azalea Festival this weekend! What I love most about it is that it is rooted in tradition. Traditions are powerful because they can bring people together, whether they are family, friends, or even strangers.  Traditions, especially old ones, have ideas and aesthetics attached to them that can practically transport you to another time.  Perhaps those of you who went noticed the young women dressed as southern belles in full Scarlet O’Hara fashion? Even though this is the twenty-first century, and those southern belles probably had a smart phone hidden on their person somewhere, we hold on to our origins and celebrate them through tradition.

At the Burgwin-Wright House, our primary focus is the Colonial aspect of the house’s history since that is the era the house was built in. However, the house is still here today, which means it has had many lives beyond its Colonial life-span, and there is evidence of the following centuries on the Burgwin-Wright property. An important example that everyone will encounter regardless of if they come to the Burgwin-Wright House for a tour or pass by on the street is the wrought-iron fence that surrounds the front garden. The fence is a remnant of the house’s Victorian history and was added to the property during either the 1845-1850 or 1880 renovations, although a strong argument can be made for the 1850 updates because the house was going through some extensive updates, including new ionic columns, center front stair, palladium doorway, to get more in vogue with architectural trends of the time.

The Victorian era (1837–1901) is remembered for its emphasis on ornate design, which Henry Magaziner notes in his book, The Golden Age of Ironwork: “During the Victorian period a romantic, picturesque movement developed, permeating all the arts, internationally.… In cast ironwork, this translated itself into ornamental fences, railings, and treillage”(147).

When looking at the iron gate at the Burgwin-Wright House, the romanticism that Magaziner describes is quite apparent; the gate features a curly floral design that was quite characteristic for the Victorian era.  The fence itself is a bit more austere, with straighter lines and points, but is still rounded at the top.  Opulence was key in the Victorian era, from a simple fence to the manner of dress.

The fence in contrast with the Colonial façade of the house reveals an ongoing tradition of preserving a still living history.  Even though the Burgwin-Wright House mainly focuses on its Colonial history, evidence of progression and change over time, such as the iron fence, show how places and people have evolved.  Centuries have past within the walls of the Burgwin-Wright House, and we celebrate that history through our guided tours and the tireless work of the staff who keep the Burgwin-Wright House looking its best and keeping its history alive and remembered.  That is what tradition is at its core meaning: to remember what once was and honor it. In fact, these blogs I’ve been writing are a chronicling of recent history at the Burgwin-Wright House. Maybe someday in the future someone will dig up these old blog posts and in doing so, I’ll have made a small contribution to the history of this grand house.

We shall have to wait and see.

X

Alex

Candlelight

Hello again!

If you live here in Wilmington then you already know what the big event is this weekend: The Azalea Festival! If you have not been before, the Azalea Festival is a street fair that takes over downtown Wilmington with art kiosks, live music, fresh food, and shows. Today (April 8^th) is the official kick-off and it runs till Sunday, April 12^th. For details, check out the Azalea Festival’s website linked here. It is sure to be a beautiful and fun weekend!

Here at the Burgwin-Wright House, work is still underway to rejuvenate the outside of the house but it is looking more and more beautiful each day. The gardens are really blooming now (Check out our Instagram for pictures! We are @TheBurgwinWrightHouse) so I’ve been walking through the garden every day when I come in for work. Spring flowers and sunshine can really lift the spirit, especially at this time of year for students since the end of the semester is fast approaching.

Inside, the house is as warm and inviting as it has always been, but especially now with the sunny weather we have been having. If you have been keeping up with my blogs, you might remember my blog post about the gorgeous yellow dining room on the second floor of the Burgwin-Wright House. Well with daylight savings and the spring sun, the room absolutely glows! However, when the sun goes down the crystal chandelier is turned on. The chandelier is Irish circa 1800 and is outfitted from top to bottom in clear crystals. It was originally used with candles and later converted for electricity.

While the crystals on the chandelier are lovely to look at, they also served a more practical function. In John Burgwin’s day, when the sun went down the only source of light was candles. The sole use of candles was not only a fire hazard to say the least, but they could only provide limited amounts of light, even with multiple candles in a room. By covering the chandelier in crystals, the crystals provide a reflective surface for the light to bounce off of and illuminate the room more effectively.

Similarly, the parlor has a chandelier as well. The parlor chandelier is Dutch circa eighteenth century. While the chandelier in the parlor does not have crystals like the one in the dining room, it is made of brass. Brass’s shiny surface is also an effective means to spread light through the room without being quite as decadent as a crystal chandelier. The brass chandelier is a little more casual and works well in a room like the parlor that is used throughout the day.

I cannot imagine what it would have been like to live in perpetual mood lighting every night of my life. Candlelight is lovely to be sure, but the flick of a light switch and the longevity of a light bulb is a definite necessity today.  On those late nights when I am writing, a candle simply wouldn’t do!

Until next time!

X

Alex

Vanity

Hello again!

If you have been downtown these past few weeks, you might have noticed all the workmen and ladders at the Burgwin-Wright House. The house is getting a fresh coat of paint and is already looking brand new. With the gardens blooming and the house looking its best, it is truly a sight to behold.  Spring is often considered a time of rebirth, or to rejuvenate after burying ourselves in scarves and coats through the winter. Vibrant colors fill shop windows, the days become sunnier and warmer, and being outdoors becomes a necessity.

Many ladies, especially here in the South, begin to break out their sundresses around this time. I cannot imagine what the women in the colonial era had to deal with since they could wear nothing less than full-length skirts with petticoats, and not to mention waist-cinching corsets. My morning routine is fairly simple: I brush my teeth, wash my face, put on a bit of makeup and some clothes, and I’m ready to go.  A young woman in the colonial era needed a personal attendant, usually a slave, to help her get through the multiple layers of getting dressed, styling her hair, and preparing her for the day’s activities.  If you have not guessed this already, the process could be quite lengthy, especially when preparing for a special occasion.

There is evidence of this process in the Blue Room on the second floor of the Burgwin-Wright House. The Blue Room is outfitted with items that would typically be found in a young colonial woman’s room. The key object is the vanity or dressing table, placed just after the foot of the bed on the south wall.  The vanity is a mahogany Chippendale piece, circa 1770. Its obvious function is to provide a mirror to aid in getting ready, but what makes the dressing table so interesting is its not so obvious function.  The mirror folds down to turn the vanity into a writing desk and has compartments specifically for paper and other writing materials. The piece is also on wheels so it can easily be moved around the room, locks for privacy, and handles so it can be transported whenever the lady travels.

The double nature of the vanity is what really grabbed me about the piece.  I imagined John Burgwin’s daughter, Caroline preparing for the day but perhaps dedicating a portion of her morning routine to writing letters or journaling. When I look at portraits of women from the colonial era, they seemed so perfectly refined with their gowns and coiffed hair, that I believed them to be quite vain. This is not to say that society has changed much in this regard; we care for our appearances greatly, whether we admit to it or not. The vanity’s usability as writing desk reminded me that people, regardless of their era, are more than just what they appear to be. Perhaps Caroline’s morning routine was her prime time to record her most personal thoughts or write important correspondences to family or a beaux. Even my own morning routine has its small moments where I stop and write e-mail or have a longer breakfast so I can catch up on my reading.

Now that I have been working at the Burgwin-Wright House for three months, I have realized how accustomed I have become to this house and interacting with its history. I feel that I have ownership of it in a small way since I spend so much of my time here. Despite the fact that I am constantly looking to the past when I write these blogs, it’s important to remember that the history is still on going and that I am a part of it. I am here, an intern at the Burgwin-Wright House in 2015, interacting with a historic place and making it a part of my own history.

Until next week,

X

Alex

The Strange Brooch

Hello!

If you read my blog post last week about the history of the grandfather clock, I am happy to tell you that the clock is now in working order! The clock now ticks away every passing second with a lively pace. It is quite moving to see something so old come back to life, especially since I’m listening to a sound that was heard by people over two hundred years ago. I find that these small things, like a ticking clock, resonate with me the most in places of historical significance; it is one of the few ways that my life and experience can actually intersect with the past. I can know the history of a place, but my footsteps make the floor creak, I can hear the clock tick, and I can peruse the yellowed pages of an old book… The moments where I can personally interact with history are the moments that I truly feel connected to the past.

Recently, I was admiring a portrait in the parlor of the Burgwin-Wright House of Sarah Caroline Wright Strange.  Sarah was a later descendent of the Wright family, the second owners of the house, and was the daughter of Dr. Thomas Henry and Mary Allan Wright.  The portrait was done between 1857 and 1860.  In the painting Sarah is wearing all black; this was not a fashion trend of the time, but a sign of someone in mourning.  We do not know who Sarah was mourning but we are certain that she was mourning because of her jewelry.

During the nineteenth century, mourning fashion was already part of the tradition of setting aside a length of time for mourning and wearing a commemorative piece of jewelry for the recently deceased. Mourning fashion became particularly prevalent after Queen Victoria of England lost her husband in 1861. Queen Victoria wore her mourning apparel for the next forty years, and made her court do so as well.  The fashion quickly spread throughout Europe and to America, which was right around the time that Sarah sat down for her portrait.

In the painting Sarah is wearing an ornate brooch with matching earrings.  You can see from the painting that the brooch is black with white flowers, the white flowers being a symbol of mourning.  The painting was done in dark hues and the design on the brooch was not depicted in detail, so it is a bit difficult to make out what exactly was on the brooch, but luckily for us, we have the brooch and earring on display in the bookcase in the parlor.

These are the moments that I love: I am looking at the painting of Sarah, and it’s a lovely painting to be sure, but seeing the actual brooch itself completely changes my perception of the painting. The brooch is physical evidence of her grief, of a time in her life that we in the modern day will never know about.  This makes the brooch a symbol of sorrow, but also of mystery. If you have a particularly fanciful imagination like I do, then you can concoct so many reasons or motivations as to who Sarah was mourning for. I can see and touch the brooch (not that I’m allowed to, it’s an antique!) and I can envision Sarah getting ready for the day and putting on her brooch to sit for her portrait.  Sarah herself becomes more concrete and three-dimensional when I can connect her portrait to something physical and real.

When history becomes too far out of reach, it is easy for a modern audience to disconnect. Looking at a record book or a list of names of a people, who lived in a certain place at a certain time, just becomes information and holds no more significance than a grocery list. Seeing the physical evidence of a person from long ago makes you see that these people were just as real as you are, with lives of intricate depth.

Until next week!

X

Alex

Sources:

http://www.historic-northampton.org/virtual_exhibits/hairjewelry/intro.html

http://www.historicnewengland.org/collections-archives-exhibitions/online-exhibitions/JewelryHistory/themes/Mourning.htm

Tick Tock

Hello!

I’m happy to be back and writing again at the Burgwin-Wright House after a lovely spring break!  Time with family is always a welcome treat for me, so it was nice to be in my own house for a week! As always time slips away from you when you have fun, and I’ve snapped back into my school schedule as if I never left.

Speaking of time, one of the few interior furnishings that I am always interested in when I visit any home are clocks. There is just something about the style of a clock that really tells you a great deal about the person who owns it. There are ornate gothic clocks that tick the minutes to the witching hour, neon digital clocks that scream you awake for work, the classic black and white clock face that students stare at as the last ten minutes of class approaches, and the funny cuckoo clocks that sing and dance on the hour at your grandma’s house. Each kind of clock gives you an idea of the person or people who interact with them. 

Here at the Burgwin-Wright House, we have our own grandfather clock sitting at the top of the stairs on the first landing. The design of the clock is Chinese with elaborate depictions of landscapes and wildlife. Flowers frame the clock face with more elaborate depictions of nature going down the base, with birds, people, and a dragon. What is so interesting about this clock is that it is not of Chinese origin; the clock is English circa 1740. This might seem an odd choice in style for an English clock but this was quite common during the Georgian era.  Designs from the Far East were popular amongst Western Europeans, and since not everyone could afford to import Chinese furniture or design items, they began making the designs themselves (Pile 207). 

The clock is not as exotic as it seems, but the imitation of Chinese art to my untrained eye is quite believable. On my first tour through the house I noticed the clock immediately and believed it to be Chinese.  Some might describe this piece as a knock-off but I look at it as a testament to the tastes and the ingenuity of the people of Georgian Era. Sure, the clock is not actually Chinese but the English clockmakers and designers who built this clock had to learn and master a new artistic style for the clock to be realistic. In doing so, the English gained exposure to another culture and view of life.

Today, accessing another culture is not a difficult task when we have Google and fast means of transport by airplane or train. In the Georgian Era the only means of transportation to another land was by boat or horse. If you wanted to find out more about another culture you would have to read a book that was most likely dated. We have more access to the world with the swipe of our fingertips today, and yet the Georgians managed to bring another culture into their lives in very creative and beautiful ways. 

The old grandfather clock at the top of the stairs tells me that the people of this time had a taste for foreign culture and a desire to see more of the world. I can relate to that very well, and even though hundreds of years separate us, we can still share a common ground with our Georgian ancestors.

Until next time!

X

Alex