https://moconfederacy.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/A3ABA344-A469-4666-8A1D-099722820634
Label: One of a pair (2) of silk (satin?) slippers, women’s. Consisting of leather outsole with a 1/2 inch wooden heel; satin upper lined with possible linen or cotton hemmed with a running stitch; no toe box; possible wooden counter covered with the satin and two satin ribbon tie across the middle. The outsole is attached with one peg at the toe. The heel is attached with two nails. Misses size 10-11. Pair is not left/right.
The above picture is of a pair of women’s slippers from 1864 during the civil war era. These were the slippers worn by Rosa Clara Gregg on her wedding day. It is made of leather, which we can insinuate is a very valuable material in this time period being that it is worn by the bride at her wedding. The pair of shoes also does not have a distinguishable right or left shoe, which I found quite strange. Perhaps this makes it even more valuable. There are many silences happening in museums currently. A lot of them will not tell citizens the whole truth about certain artifacts, or they will just simply leave out crucial information. Obviously, they do this to censor the horrors of true history from those who are not prepared to listen and interpret it all. This does leave those who do want to know the full story behind each artifact cheated out of that luxury. It also leaves regular citizens informed with a false sense of the history behind certain artifacts. There absolutely should be a change to the way history is presented in museums. There should be separate descriptions for each artifact. One would have tame information, and one would have vulgar information. This way, those who really want to know all the details can and will find out by reading both descriptions. Regular citizens surely would want to read up on all the facts as well. Museum staff would have to monitor children reading the descriptions though, because some of the history behind certain artifacts is too much for young children to take in and handle. It is absolutely awful how some history is kept from people. People deserve to know the whole truth and not be fed this lie that the history behind a lot of things is peaceful. In reality, history is very violent and unethical, and everyone deserves to know that. This is for us to better ourselves as human beings and society as a whole. I am very glad that now in the 21st century this information is coming out, and we are reshaping the way history is and always will be taught.
What an interesting find in the American Civil War Museum collections! I enjoyed reading about your exhibit label and additional reflections about the representation of historical objects in museums. Your label is very informative in describing the materials and purpose of the shoes, it is clear that they must have been very special since they look so ornamental. To build onto your reflections about silences in museums, I think it is also important to acknowledge the challenges that museums often face– like lack of funding, staff, and resources to create stronger displays of their objects. On some level, it is true that museums would like the objects/art to speak for themselves. However, this often leaves those objects decontextualized, which can be problematic. I agree that museums are appropriate spaces for learning outside of classrooms, and we should all be invested in strengthening these spaces.