WILMINGTON — Downtown Wilmington’s historic Latimer House Museum looks a little different than normal during the month of October. The house’s mantel mirrors are covered in black crepe, the scent of rosemary permeates throughout the halls, and a coffin sits in the formal parlor.
These changes are part of the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society’s exhibit on Victorian mourning during the Halloween season. According to Travis Gilbert, manager of the historical society, the exhibit is meant to attract a younger, alternative audience to the museum.
“Our traditional audience is older individuals such as retirees,” Gilbert said. “With the morbid, somewhat quirky nature of our Victorian mourning exhibit, the historical society is trying to introduce our museum to a younger audience, perhaps 20-somethings on their way downtown for Halloween festivities.”
The community is invited to see the exhibition during the museum’s normal daytime hours, but for an extra layer of spookiness, special night tours will be offered on Oct. 26 and 28, from 7 – 9 p.m.
Living historians dressed in mourning, such as Linda Lashley, will educate participants on the mourning practices of Victorian Americans such as the Latimer family, who mourned for five children who died before adulthood.
Lashley dresses in mourning for the tours because she believes costumes reinforce the evening’s educational lesson.
“Visual tools, such as authentic costumes, assist in making the evening memorable for participants,” she said.
Lashley is a volunteer, like most of the individuals who contribute their time and energy for the historical society’s Halloween programming. Volunteer Alan Armstrong built a reproduction Victorian coffin for this year’s mourning exhibit.
“There was a lot of trial and error,” said Armstrong on building the coffin, “but it was a great learning experience and I was surprised to find the dimensions of a 10-year old Victorian girl on the Internet!”
On exhibit is a variety of ephemera, artifacts, and manuscripts related to death in the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society’s collections.
As archivist of the historical society, Carol Bragale looks forward to the month of October all year long.
“Our collections has unique artifacts that you won’t find anywhere else except at the Latimer House in October,” Bragale said.
Most fascinating, Bragale said, are the invitations to the funerals of Latimer family members who died as children.
“The invitations address the funeral as occurring at the Latimer House, which surprises many 21st Century Americans who are used to funerals occurring in funeral parlors,” continued Bragale.
According to Bragale, that is not the only difference between 19th Century and 21st Century funerals. Other differences included watching over the body at all hours to ensure the deceased was truly departed and covering up mirrors to ensure the soul would not become trapped inside the house.
Tours of the Latimer House Museum in mourning are offered Monday – Saturday, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Special night tours will be offered Oct. 26 and Oct. 28 from 7 – 9 p.m.
The exhibit will climax with a Victorian All Hallows’ Eve Wake at the Latimer House on Oct. 27. The wake features food, libations, live music by the Dixie All Stars Jazz Band, mock amputations, and tarot card readings.
For more information about the Latimer House in mourning, visit the historical society’s website at lcfhs.org.
Submitted by Travis Gilbert
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