• CASE 1—WHAT IF...?

• CASE 2 —PHOTOGRAPHY ARRIVES

• CASE 3—VISIBLE REMNANTS

• CASE 4 —ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE PAST

• CASE 5—PEELING BACK THE LAYERS

• CASE 6—TIMELESS ACTIVITIES

• CASE 7 —ENCROACHMENT OF URBANIZATION

• CASE 8 —COLONIAL SITES DURING THE CIVIL WAR

• CASE 9—EVOLUTION OF HISTORIC SITES

• CASE 10 —RESTORATIONS

• CASE 11—RE-ENACTMENTS

• CASE 12 —HENRY WHEELER'S EYE PT. I

• CASE 13—HENRY WHEELER'S EYE PT. II

• CASE 14 —HENRY WHEELER'S EYE PT. III

• CASE 15 —HENRY WHEELER'S EYE PT. IV

• CASE 16—DOCUMENTING OF CONDITION

• COLONIAL AMERICANA TODAY

• EXHIBITS PAGE

• CLEMENTS LIBRARY

Colonial Photography—Viewfinder on the Past

Grasping the Past through Re-creations.

The need for established cultural and genealogical roots finds expression in the form of theatrical re-creations of historic events, a pastime that grew in popularity and sophistication during the late 20th century.

Case 11

Reenactors of Revolutionary Fife and Drum Trio. Gelatin silver print. Ca. 1910. The wigs of this fife and drum corps give a slightly comic edge to what is otherwise a fairly accurate re-creation. The shallow snare drums are likely Civil War era.

Colonial Wedding Dress. Albumen print. From: Record of the Metropolitan Fair in Aid of the United States Sanitary Commission, Held at New York, in April, 1864. Hurd and Houghton. 1867. These three women are re-creating a Nieuw Netherlands wedding, wearing the silk dresses brought over from Holland in the 17th century. This re-creation was staged for the Metropolitan Fair held to benefit the United States Sanitary Commission in New York City in 1864.

Susan B. Howell. Bull-Wells Family Pageant Photo Album. Gelatin silver prints. 1912 A colonial family history (whether accurate or not) has been clearly delineated by the descendants of William Bull and Sarah Wells. The Bull-Wells family, early Hudson River Valley settlers, were photographed during this charming reenactment of their ancestor's wedding and the construction of the colonial homestead that appears at the site of this re-creation.

 

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