Sorry, this is taking the place of your usually-scheduled fashion plate. There is a
new museum (partial) collection out there, available for your perusal! In the main, it consists of scans of photographs, especially ones of the Adirondacks taken by Seneca Ray Stoddard around the end of the 19th century, street scenes in Glens Falls, NY, and portraits of citizens of that town.
And I know about it because my job for the past couple of months has been to clean up the files and get the database ready for uploading. It's been a wonderful change from office work, believe me. I've gotten to know a lot of Victorian Adirondack hotels, and done a ton of genealogical research for the people files.
The benefit of having me do it is that whenever a photo is of interest to people looking for historical fashion details, it's been tagged with "Clothing & Dress" in the search terms. Check it out! I've made sure that there are even Pinterest buttons on each file, to facilitate pinning.
At the moment, there are
no objects from the collection in the online database, but that will change. On Monday I began to photograph a few smaller objects that would fit in the picture-taking area, and I hope to be able to dress some of the wedding dresses on mannequins before I leave. The Chapman has a fantastic costume collection for such a small, upstate institution, and the world needs to see it.
As you read this, I will be on the bus to New York City for a big interview. I may or may not be panicking.
