Dress
PeriodCirca 1850 - 1855
Place MadeNew Jersey or Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
MediumSilk, glazed linen, cotton
Dimensions58 in. (147.3 cm)
ClassificationsCostume, Women's
Credit LineGift of Adeline Yard Lawrence, 1933
Object number1988.724
DescriptionA young woman's dress of pale pink plain woven silk, constructed as one piece, with a wide boat neck, plain bodice with double vertical darts, and a rear closure with brass hook and eye fastenings. The gown includes short sleeves with double ruched bands applied horizontally, with the sleeve ends trimmed with white lace. The gown's waist and sleeve seams are piped. The wide skirt is gathered to the waistband with box pleats, and the skirt hem is edged with light cotton tape. Both skirt and bodice are lined with lightweight glazed white linen. All seams appear to be hand-sewn. The bodice includes five whalebone stays sewn into the four front darts as well as the center front. An inked inscription was written along the inside back of the waistband reading "E. Yard." The gown includes an earlier textile inventory number T1974.68.Curatorial RemarksAdaline Swift's pale pink silk gown was a suitable style for a young unmarried girl. Although her daughter Emma Yard's name appears written on the inside of the waistband, the gown itself was clearly made in or around 1850 or so and may even have served as Adaline's graduation gown from the Pittsfield Young Ladies' Institute. A close examination of the dress reveals that Adaline wore it at least several times, as the center front of the gown just below the neckline has a number of small pinhole scars, most likely from a brooch or pin that Adaline would have worn to ornament the gown. The garment was designed for warm weather wear, and both bodice and skirts are lined with lightweight glazed linen fabric. It may be that Adaline's daughter Emma wore the gown for some special occasion at the Freehold Young Ladies' Academy, where Adaline sent all her daughters.NotesThis gown was owned and worn by Adaline Clark Swift Yard. Born in 1837 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Adaline attended the Young Ladies' Instittute in Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, from 1847 to 1849. In 1856, she married James Sterling Yard (1826 - 1900). The couple moved to Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey, where James worked as owner and editor of the Monmouth Democrat. The couple purchased a fine Italianate house on Main Street and raised five children. Adaline Clark Swift Yard died in 1912 at the age of 75. Her obituary described her as "a pioneer summer resident of Ocean Grove."
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