Photo by Don Nissen
art of the Bartholomew County Historical Society’s exhibition opening Thursday is shown.
History’s commonalities through the years will be on full display at the newest Bartholomew County Historical Society’s exhibit.
“Out of the Wardrobe: The Clothing of Bartholomew County’s Past” begins with an open house from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the nonprofit museum at 524 Third St. in downtown Columbus.
The display runs through early November.
“As I have often said, history may not repeat itself, but it certainly rhymes, and that is on full display in this exhibition,” said Jared Anderson, the society’s collection manager and curator.
He referred to a portion of the 70-piece exhibit with an 1860s women’s dress next to a 1980s women’s dress, showing remarkable similarities. The two-floor display highlights a broad range of fashions from the 1860s to today, according to Anderson. He figures nearly every decade in that time period is featured in some way.
He and historical society intern Paige Rice, a Purdue University student, launched the idea and curated the collection, drawing from the society’s offsite storage of some 800 items of clothing.
Most of the exhibition consists primarily of women’s articles.
“Through the years, many people have not donated men’s clothing,” Anderson said. “Mostly, it’s women donating women’s items.”
One piece that might especially catch the eye of local history buffs will be the late community philanthropist Clementine Tangeman’s U.S. Red Cross uniform worn during her service in Italy in World War II. The late Xenia Miller donated the clothing.
A favorite item of Anderson’s is a dress festooned with a hodgepodge of stories from The Republic. The item, made for Bartholomew County’s sesquicentennial celebration, in 1971, features stories about the celebration. Another fashion that he believes will be popular with visitors is an ornate, heavy velvet opera coat that he believes women would have worn to society gatherings at places such as The Crump Theatre in perhaps the 1920s.
He guesses that a younger audience might smile and reminisce over local resident Allen Smith’s jersey worn on the TV show “The Biggest Loser” in 2009 when he lost more than 100 pounds and found a new lease on life.
“All of this that we have here,” Anderson said, “is really quite the assortment.”
Admission to the museum is free, but donations are encouraged.
