Dirty Laundry: Witness to Life, Death and Creation

The importance of stained clothing as witness to history has long been recognized. As far back as the seventeenth century, the garments of beheaded kings were carefully preserved. Archaeologists and dress historians value soiled garments for the information they can reveal about a culture. Conservators are challenged to preserve the soiling as historical evidence while preventing further degradation of the clothing. In this exhibition, the intimacy of soiled clothing brings historic events to life.

I envision this exhibition taking place in the Stevens Gallery of the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Exhibition Flow

The walls will be painted gray to provide the least distracting backdrop for the clothing. The labels will be on posts in front of each object using white text on a gray background. The gray carpet and steel posts will prevent the space from reading as too sterile. Objects will be arranged in mostly chronological order.

Flow of the Life Section

In 1920 the Boston Red Sox traded 25-year-old outfielder and pitcher Babe Ruth (b. 1895 d. 1948), nicknamed the Bambino, to the New York Yankees. In his seven years with the Yankees the Bambino helped them win seven pennants and four World Series Championships. Dirt from the numerous games Ruth played is still visible on this historic jersey.

Isabel Margaret Platt-Hepworth (b. 1915 d. 1980) made this dress in the ten days between Captain Alfred Thomas Jakins Bell's proposal and their wedding. The ceremony was arranged hastily as Bell was expected to be posted overseas shortly to serve in World War II. Due to clothing and fabric rationing, the dress was lent to five other brides during the war. The reaction of perspiration with the copper threads in the bodice lead to a green patina stain on the underarms.

During World War II, Vivian Bullwinkle (b. 1918 d. 2000) enlisted as a nurse in the Australian Army Nursing Service and was posted in Malaya. As the Japanese army advanced, Vivian was among a group of nurses and civilians being evacuated back to Australia aboard the Vyner Brooke in February, 1942. The ship was bombed in the Banka Strait and the passengers shot. Vivian survived despite the bullet wound in her left side. After recovering in the woods on Banka Island with the help of locals, Vivian realized her best chance of survival was to surrender to the Japanese. She was careful to hide the conspicuous bullet hole with her belt, and lived out the war. The singed bullet hole is still visible to the left of the buttons of the dress.

Neil Armstrong (b. 1930 d. 2012) wore this spacesuit as he took mankind's first steps on the moon on July 20, 1969. The success of this lunar mission fulfilled a national goal by the late President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to land a man on the moon within a decade. The suit still bears evidence of sweat stains and lunar dirt from the trek that followed these first steps. The unique materials used in the garment, such as Beta cloth - a textile made of woven silica fibers that is similar to fiberglass - pose interesting challenges to conservators as the sweat left on the uniform is proving corrosive.

Ceremonial dances are a longstanding tradition in the history of the Baining people. Soot stains from bonfires mark this mask as being worn during a night dance. The masks are made by stretching barkcloth, or tapa, over a bamboo structure and are then decorated with red and black paint. The large, accentuated eyes are common in Baining masks. Although the pieces take months to create, they are discarded after one use. This particular mask bears oil stains from the makeup and perfume used by the performer.

This semen-stained classic Gap shirtdress worn by White House intern Monica Lewinsky bears proof of her relations with then-president Bill Clinton. After President Clinton denied the relationship, the dress served as a key piece of evidence in the subsequent investigation. President Clinton was nearly impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice before being acquitted on both counts and serving out the rest of his Presidential term.

Flow of the Death Section

When the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired this caftan and leggings, curators believed they were from the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). It was archaeologist Anna Ierusalimskaja who confirmed they were nearly identical to objects she had excavated from the North Caucasus mountain site of Moshchevaja Balka in the present day Republic of North Osetiya-Alaniya. Organic matter and insect remains further proved they had been buried until recently. Stains on the garments allowed conservators to determine they had been buried on a body, even going so far as to deduce exactly how the body had been positioned when it was laid to rest.

Charles I (b. 1600 d. 1649) became king of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1625. His unpopular policies and attempts at absolute monarchy lead to the English Civil War from 1642 to his defeat in 1645. After refusing to establish a constitutional monarchy, Charles I was beheaded for high treason on January 30, 1649, at which point the monarchy was abolished and the Commonwealth of England established. Charles I was wearing this knitted vest at his execution, and the blood-stained garment was passed down in the family of his physician Dr. Hobbs before being donated to the Museum of London in 1925.

Admiral Horatio Nelson (b. 1758 d. 1805) of the British Royal Navy was widely admired as a great national hero during the Napoleonic Wars. On October 21, 1805, Nelson was shot through the spine during the Battle of Trafalgar while wearing this coat. The bullet hole is still visible at the left shoulder of the garment. The left sleeve and tails bear bloodstains, likely from his secretary John Scott's death earlier in the battle. A statue of Admiral Nelson stands in the center of Trafalgar Square to this day in recognition of his naval victories.

President Abraham Lincoln (b. 1809 d. 1865) was fond of shaking hands and carried an extra pair of gloves in his back pocket for this reason. On the night of April 14, 1865, this exact pair was in Lincoln's back pocket when John Wilkes Booth fatally shot the president in the back of the head. The gloves bear the bloodstains of the assassination to this day.

The White Star Line ocean liner RMS Titanic, nicknamed "The Unsinkable Ship," was crossing the Atlantic Ocean from Southampton, UK to New York when it hit an iceberg on April 15, 1912 and sank. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew, over 1,500 perished with the ship. The RMS Carpathia, carrying Dr. Frank Blackmarr, came to the rescue of those who had made it into lifeboats. Dr. Blackmarr was helping the survivors when he took this life vest as a souvenir. Water stains from that tragic night are still visible across its canvas surface.