Mourning Maine's Dead: Victorian Hair Jewelry & Crafts
2026-07-22 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | 7 Lake St. Rangeley ME 04970
In 19th-century Maine, death was ever present. To grapple with loss, Victorian Mainers could turn to art and craft to mourn and remember their loved ones. Their material-of-choice was human hair. Mary Baker made a good living crafting flowers, wreaths, and jewelry from human hair. Her Portland home-based business tapped into a national craze for Victorian hair jewelry which not only memorialized the dead, but also connected the living. From snips of a loved one’s hair in a locket, to braided hair friendship rings exchanged between schoolgirls, to a large-scale wreath of flowers containing the hair of an entire family, Mainers embraced hair art as a symbol of mourning the dead and celebrating the living.
On Wednesday, July 22nd, at 6:00 PM, Dr. Elizabeth DeWolfe will be speaking at the Rangeley Public Library. Elizabeth DeWolfe is Professor of History at the University of New England where she teaches courses in women’s history, archival research, and American culture. Dr. DeWolfe is a historical detective: she hunts archives for the traces of ordinary women, piecing together their all-but-forgotten lives from faint clues.
Dr. DeWolfe’s latest work, Alias Agnes: The Notorious Tale of a Gilded Age Spy, reveals the tale of a Maine stenographer turned undercover detective. Her previous work includes the award-winning book The Murder of Mary Bean which illustrates the great opportunities as well as the dangers for young women working in the textile mills of the 1830s and 1840s. DeWolfe has also written about the Shakers, Victorian hair jewelry makers, and a Maine woman’s battle with bullfrogs in the Great Depression.
This program is offered free of charge, but we request that you sign up so that we may know how many people are coming. Please stop by the library, call (207)864-5529, or RSVP on our website www.rangeleylibrary.org .
