Curators at the soon-to-reopen Warren County History Museum hope to engage the public with a glimpse at history through the lens of bridal gowns that have found their way into the museum’s collection, along with the stories of the women who wore them.

The “Brides of the Past” exhibition will introduce visitors to the different styles of wedding dresses and bride’s maid gowns worn by the women of Warren County, and explore what their dresses and wedding ceremonies can tell us about life in the past, explained museum volunteer Angie Hilbert. The exhibition will be available for viewing July 1 through Aug. 30.

The museum is run by the all-volunteer Warren County Historical Society. It was closed to the public last March amid the wave of COVID-19 shutdowns. July will be the first time since then that the museum has opened its doors to general visitors.

Hilbert said the museum’s curators hope the bridal gown exhibition gets people interested in visiting again. This is actually the second time the museum has offered the display, after a relatively popular showing in 2017, Hilbert said. 

“When you look at a wedding, it’s a time of hope. Everyone is looking at the  future when they get married,” Hilbert commented, making the showcase a good way to put a year of depressing disconnection (and no weddings) in the past.

Hilbert explained that each of the gowns will have its own story to tell about who its owner was and what their life was like.

“It’s looking through time, as far as the different wedding gowns,” she commented. “You have that big wedding day, and that’s the most wonderful thing. But it’s really the entire life of the marriage that matters.”

One of the stories told through the exhibition is that of Franklin Schowengerdt and Laura Wightman, whose family residence is still maintained in downtown Warrenton as a historical property. The two were childhood friends in the 1870s, and their families remained connected even after Laura’s father died and her family moved away.

“On September 21, 1887, there was a double wedding,” reads the description of the wedding attire. “Laura Wightman married Franklin Schowengerdt and her widowed mother, Sarah, married Franklin’s father, Ernst, at ceremonies in St. Louis. The couples were welcomed to their Warrenton residence with a reception complete with an orchestra.”

All of the wedding dresses, bride’s maid gowns, and some grooms’ attire, were gifted to the Warren County Historical Society by local families. Many contributors also provided historical materials such as newspaper clippings and photographs that are also on display with the attire.

When the dresses aren’t on display, they’re kept in acid-free boxes in order to preserve them. Historical society members are eager to have the dresses out of storage for visitors to appreciate them. Volunteers have been working for weeks to set up the exhibition, and hope visitors will find a lot of interest in seeing how styles have changed over the years and how different eras in American history affected how people celebrated their marriages.

The Warren County History Museum will be open to the public Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays from 1-4 p.m.