The Farm House Museum has been host to many exhibits about different aspects of 19th century Victorian life, but one aspect it has never covered was death.

The “Mourning Rituals” exhibit shows what the typical house of a woman in mourning would have looked like in the 1800s.

“We choose to do this exhibit because it was one part of the Victorian era that had not yet been covered,” says Jennifer Schulle, exhibit curator and graduate student in textiles and clothing.

Schulle says in the 19th Century, death would usually take place in the home. Following the death of a loved one, there would be a period of mourning. The exhibit includes objects, documents, poems and photographs that all display how people dealt with death.

All of the clocks on display are stopped at the time that the person passed away, all of the blinds are closed and all of the mirrors and non-religious paintings are covered.

On display are items including a child’s casket, handwoven jewelry made from the hair of the deceased and poems dedicated to death.

During their time of mourning, women would wear all black, Schulle says.

They would usually mourn their deceased loved one for a year and one day. The extra day was added to mourn the anniversary of their death.

Schulle said a widow would have to refrain from going to any social gatherings and she would not be able to accept any social invitations, even weddings. If the family member of a woman died before woman’s wedding, sometimes the wedding would be postponed.

Although mourning rituals for women were very strict, Schulle says, they were less strict for men. Children did not have to participate in any mourning rituals.

Kathleen Hickok, professor of English, says the Farm House Museum focuses primarily on the rituals for women because the household was their domain.

“It was the woman’s job to stay home,” she says.

The men also mourned if a family member died, Hickok says, but they were not able to follow so many rituals because of their obligations.

“[Men] couldn’t set aside everything if a baby died,” she says. “They had to keep up with their jobs.”

Although children were never required to participate in any of the mourning rituals, there were many mourning rituals for a deceased child.

Included in a memorial to deceased children are photos of their bodies.

This practice was common at the time, Hickok says, because families did not have albums of photographs of their family members before their passing.

When a child died, it would be the last time a family could take a photograph.

“They didn’t have [photographs] and they didn’t want to forget what their loved ones looked like,” she says.

“It seems a little morbid to us now. We like to remember our loved ones alive.”