MAILED: Oct. 2, 2001
EAU CLAIRE — To
help celebrate “Archives Week in Wisconsin,” Oct. 21-27, the University of
Wisconsin-Eau Claire will offer a workshop titled “Using Clothing Styles to
Date Photographs of Women, 1860s-1920s” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, in Room
2023A, McIntyre Library.
Guest speaker Laurann
Gilbertson, textile curator of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in
Decorah, Iowa, will teach students, faculty, staff, local historians and
genealogists several ways to estimate the dates of photographs based on the
clothing styles of the women in the photographs. Gilbertson will illustrate,
through slides, the prevailing women’s fashions for each decade from the 1860s
to the 1920s.
According to Gilbertson,
too often the photographs in our collections are unidentified. No names or dates
were recorded, forcing us to guess who is in the photograph and when it was
taken. Because women’s clothing styles have changed regularly and distinctly
over time, participants will learn how clothing can be useful in determining the
date of photographs.
Audience members are
encouraged to bring 1-2 historical photographs of women to test their new
knowledge and skills. A handout will be provided to assist participants when
working with their own collections at home. A question and answer session will
follow the presentation.
Admission is free and
refreshments will be included.
Gilbertson holds a
bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in textiles and
clothing from Iowa State University. Her article on dating photographs was
recently published in The Hoosier Genealogist, with a second article extending
the fashion description to the 1850s, 1930s and 1940s slated for June 2002.
Contact Heather Muir,
archivist and special collections librarian, McIntyre Library at (715) 836-3873
for more information.
-30-
RM/NW
[Administrative Offices]
[News Bureau]
UW-Eau Claire News Bureau
Schofield 201
(715) 836-4741
newsbur@uwec.edu
Updated: Oct. 2, 2001
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