The Seward House Museum in Auburn, NY is set to host Mourning or Macabre?: Victorian Death Rites on Friday, October 26th at 6:30 pm.
The scale of death wrought by the Civil War changed the ways Americans grieved for their lost loved ones. The Victorian generation posed for photographs with the dead and kept memento mori, physical mementos from the bodies of the deceased. They also developed a culture of funereal rites that strike the modern observer as dark and morbid.
Learn more about these curious customs with Director of Collections Matt Mac Vittie during this nocturnal tour of the Museum. Guided by flickering candlelight, Matt explores how the Seward family participated in Victorian death rituals at a time when the family often found itself beset by personal tragedy and loss.
Admission is $15 for members, $20 for non-members. Reservations suggested.
For more information, click here.
The Seward House Museum is located at 33 South St., in Auburn, NY.
Photo provided.
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