The summer after my highschool graduation my father and brother and I took the volunteer training classes at New Salem. I was bewitched and fascinated by the history of the little town and the people who lived and worked there. I read all the materials that were given to me about the town and its people and found a deep passion for these long departed people and the place they - be it ever so briefly - called home.
Did we end up volunteering at New Salem? Donning the costume and sharing the history through activities and talk? No. Life intervened. I went to college. The following autumn I was married and 3 babies soon followed.
At last, after five years away, my husband and I plan on taking these classes again late this summer. My feet will once again tread those sacred pathways and my heart will once again leap for sight of a dear little cabin beneath sun-dappled trees, or the Sangamon river which was once the hope and dream of this little community.
Here on this blog I plan to document my progress as I learn more and research clothing of the 1820's and 1830's. I have a deep love for historical costuming and my favorite era is the era of the Early Pioneers to this area, pre-1830. The heyday of New Salem was the majority of the 1830's so I will be researching styles during that decade as well - focusing on the everyday, common dress of the working class, although sometimes it is hard to tell by looking at an original garment what class the lady was in who wore it!
You are very welcome to follow along if you like and help as I try to sort out what I find. I can't wait to recreate accurate ensembles for myself and my husband and three sons so that we may play the part as best we can of a Sangamon Settler.
Me in Fall 2008, my first attempt at a late 1820's style dress
Love,
