Western Female Seminary Living History Society

04/25/2026

We have talked about this before, and this is a great visual. When looking at the outfits and fabrics in 1860s CDV images, it's tempting to assume the lights and darks in the images reflect the way modern black and white film (or a black and white filter in an editing app) would portray colors. But tintypes reflect colors differently--in ways that we can find unexpected. That CDV that shows a "light-colored dress" might actually be of something dark blue. Thanks to Charleston TinTypist for sharing these images.

03/27/2026

She's researching an era much earlier than we usually portray--but another reminder to check the ideas that "everybody knows" before you pass on myths.

03/06/2026

Another reminder to be careful to not pass on history myths when you are engaged with living history events and the public. One way stories get passed on is when volunteers at small sites hear stories from visitors and decide to include them in their own tours. (Bigger sites are more likely to have someone on staff checking the research of tour information, but it can happen there too.)
Nowadays, it also happens when AI history posts g*y shared. If the post has an AI image, it was created to get clicks, not to educate. Remember that a "large language model" is just looking for what it finds being said online most often. If people post an incorrect "fact" a lot, AI just sees the volume of the posts and assumes that's the correct version.

Instead, look for posts from actual museums that include photos of their actual artifacts. They are more likely to have research on what they have. (That's not infallible, but it will get you closer.) :)

02/12/2026

Born on this day in 1809, Abraham Lincoln. Pictured here: a detail featuring Lincoln's contribution to a unique and brilliant project begun in 1856 by a 17-year-old girl from Rhode Island named Adeline Harris Sears. Over the next decade or so, Sears gathered autographed pieces of silk from hundreds of celebrities — including such luminaries as Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and a total of eight US presidents — and incorporated them into a wonderful trompe l'oeil tumbling block design quilt (now at the ).

According to her grand-daughter the Lincoln signature was, due to a family connection, actually acquired in person, and Adeline was meant to have even danced with Lincoln at his inauguration ball.

More on the stunning work here: https://buff.ly/2VnkM0L

12/31/2025

Flashback to our 2023 skating day in downtown Cincinnati!
We're doing it again tomorrow--who's joining us! (Go check out the event page for details about the rink's new location downtown.)

11/03/2025

For those of you who have joined us every year for our New Year's Day skate on Fountain Square: Cincinnati is moving its rink from Fountain Square to the new Elm Street Plaza by the convention center.

We're checking out the details to see if it's still a spot where we can keep our New Year's skate tradition going.

11/02/2025

A day late for Halloween--but this how about a link to an 1820s book on culinary poisons?

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/a-treatise-on-adulteration-of-food-and-culinary-poisons-1820/?fbclid=IwdGRjcANzmphjbGNrA3OaZmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEeV-qzkj9dXAIZAjBsVfQP5-cmU7q5VnRQoOqoNyIXc9_4AOyoVgtZPEqjwtI_aem_hePJpplwjxMAZ7NHz6XAjQ&utm_content=buffer71cce&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

09/20/2025

An 1833 toy just for a Saturday morning fun post. (One of our members sometimes brings a reproduction 1830s zoetrope to events that works in a similar way.) :)

09/12/2025

A very entertaining--and researched--video to remind you that "courting candles" are a myth from the 1960's.
As living historians invited to educate the public at historic sites, make sure you check your stories before you share them.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOgaoM3jTag/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

08/26/2025

When you're doing research, don't forget your local small-town historical societies. While we should take "my grandma always said" stories with a grain of salt, local historical societies often have diaries, records of local businesses, and census records that tell us exactly who lived in a community at different times. That kind of specific-to-an-area information keeps researchers from over-generalizing or making assumptions.

The latest newsletter from the Coleraine Historical Society includes this information:
"1819, David Stone of New Hampshire built a cotton mill at the foot of old Colerain Pike hill which he sold to Timothy S. Goodman and Giles Richards in 1821 along with a grist mill, “a cotton mill” and a sawmill. Richards supervised operations, while Goodman furnished the capital. From 1822 to 1835, Giles Richards operated the Colerain Flouring Mill, the Colerain Cotton Mill, the Fulling and Carding Mill, Dye House, Saw Mill and The Giles Richards Store Concern."

That's not a primary source, of course. But the dates and names of the businesses are verifiable. And part of the story this information tells us is that textile manufacturing was happening "way out here" in the Cincinnati area very early on. These aren't the first or only documented mills in the area, just one more part of the story.

Someone once said "everyone you know knows something you don't." When we visit small historic sites and historical societies with all of our researched knowledge about material culture, clothing, and more, we can look for the topics our hosts have their own expertise in while we're there.

Send a message to learn more