The Montgomery County Historical Society has been working to collect and share the history of Montgomery County for over 70 years. As our county has grown significantly in recent years, the society has taken on the role of preserving our area’s unique past through its archives and public exhibits. Among the historical society’s several conservation projects, the preservation of dresses has remained a prime effort, led by curator and leading textile historian Elizabeth Lay.
The preservation process began after Lay discovered an infestation of carpet beetles in the society’s storage spaces. “I opened a box of bridal dresses to find a number of exoskeletons, or shed skin, caught in the veil,” Lay said. “Once we find the bugs in one box, we have to assume that there are many more.”
Carpet beetles are a common pest in many historic house museums, as they thrive in dark undisturbed boxes and feed on wool, furs and feathers. As a result, the Textile Conservation Laboratory was established to prevent further damage to the textiles. The lab is located in a small Cape Cod house at the Montgomery County History Society’s Rockville campus.
To rid of carpet beetles, the society keeps the textiles in a deep chest freezer, as commercial chemicals are not appropriate for use on the fragile pieces. Before loading them into the freezer, Lay first wraps the boxes in two layers of plastic to keep moisture off of the contents. She begins the freezing process by leaving the boxes in the freezer for 48 hours to kill the adults and the larva. Since eggs can survive this initial freeze, Lay warms the boxes for 24 hours after taking them out for the first freeze, then freezes them again for another 48 hours.
Once a week, Lay takes the boxes out of the freezer, removes any dead beetles, vacuums the boxes and stores the contents with fresh archival paper. At the same time, she checks for damage and updates the condition report on each piece. Finally, she stores the boxes in a different building where temperature and humidity levels are controlled to prevent future infestations.
This meticulous process takes about a week for each box of textiles, but Lay sees it as an enjoyable opportunity to look into the past. “My favorite thing at the museum is repacking the boxes of textiles,” she said. “While I do that, I am learning about how different fabric feels, how it ages, how the dress is made. I like to imagine how the person felt while they wore it.”
Lay will ultimately go through the society’s entire collection of textiles, which consists of about 2500 pieces. The elimination of these pests is vital to conserving the collection of gowns, dresses, military uniforms, and household linens that the society holds.
Some of the society’s pieces date back to several centuries ago. The oldest object of clothing in the collection is a silk embroidered waistcoat from around 1785. The waistcoat was worn by Charles Jones, one of the earliest patriots from Montgomery County who was also among the first to oppose the Stamp Act. His family says that Jones wore this waistcoat to the royal court in England. The society also has a large collection of 1920s flapper dresses.
The goal of Lay’s work is to permanently remove the pests to ensure that the textiles remain in good condition. “Our role as a museum is to protect the objects in our care for future generations to enjoy and study,” Lay said.
Every Thursday afternoon from 12 to 4 pm, the society opens up Lay’s work to the public by providing appointments that offer a behind-the-scenes look at her textile conservation efforts. Visitors are given the opportunity to see textiles that have never been on display and learn more about the history of fashion while Lay shares her knowledge about textiles.
Article by Moco Student staff writer Anna Chen of Richard Montgomery High School