The early costume collection of the Monmouth County Historical Association will be featured in an all-day seminar to be held on April 8 in Freehold Borough.
“Whatever Shall We Wear: 18th and Early 19th Century Clothing and Accessories in Monmouth County” will be conducted by Bernadette M. Rogoff, principal of Small Museum Design and former curator of museum collections of the Monmouth County Historical Association.
The costume and textile collection of the association provides a unique opportunity to view a wide range of clothing and personal accessories that were owned by men, women and children from the area, according to a press release.
The day-long event will begin with an overview of early Monmouth County, its residents and the textile collection itself. Twenty-five selected garments and accessories will be on view. Participants will be given a rare opportunity to carefully examine the items on display, their construction techniques and materials. Discussion will also focus on family provenance and the social standing of owners, according to the press release.
The first garments to be examined will be a pair of cloaks dating from the mid-18th century that belonged to husband and wife John and Moyka Longstreet Reid. The mysterious origins of a man’s gold bullion-embroidered suit from 1800 will also be discussed.
Several garments from the Hendrickson family clothing collection will include Mary Lloyd Hendrickson’s wedding shift and stays from 1793, her husband John Hendrickson’s pale blue satin wedding breeches, and an early 19th century printed cotton child’s dressing gown worn by their son Charles Hendrickson.
The influence of Monmouth County’s vibrant Quaker community will be represented by a woman’s olive green silk round gown from circa 1790, compete with silk shawls, kerchiefs and bonnet that accompanied the gown.
And finally, participants will have an opportunity to view the association’s single rarest garment: a simple early 19th century printed cotton calico short gown worn by Elizabeth Dorn, an African-American woman who worked for three generations of the Hartshorne family from the 1770s until her death in 1850 at the age of 90, according to the press release.
The seminar will be held at 70 Court St., Freehold Borough, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A registration fee of $125 per person includes lunch. Registration will be limited to 25 participants. For more information, call 732-462-1466, ext. 11.
