A traveling exhibition interpreting domestic servitude in the turn-of-the-century South will spend the fall at Sweet Briar College. "From Morning to Night: Domestic Service in the Gilded Age South" will be on display Sept. 1 through Dec. 8 at the Sweet Briar Museum.

Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is free.

Organized by the Maymont Foundation in Richmond, the exhibition is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. In addition, the College has the endorsement of the Virginia Association of Museums and has partnered with the Legacy Museum of African-American History in Lynchburg for the exhibition and related activities.

Unidentified laundress, ca. 1900. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress.For the exhibit, the Maymont Foundation supplies large information panels including photographs and historical descriptions. Each venue, however, is responsible for collecting artifacts to augment the display. To that end, a committee from the Legacy Museum has gathered many domestic service-related items from the Central Virginia area.

"They have been incredibly generous in finding things for this exhibition," Sweet Briar Museum director Christian Carr said. "There's really a fantastic partnership between these two smaller museums. It's sort of informal at this point, but we're looking forward to strengthening it."

When one thinks of the Gilded Age (ca. 1880-1910), Edith Wharton-esque images come to mind — magnificent candelabras, 75-piece place settings complete with asparagus and fruit forks, and Tiffany windows. "It was a feast for the eyes," Carr said. "An explosion in the population of the world of goods. ... Everything had a specific purpose [and] it was a badge of honor to know how to use them. It separated one class from another."

A butler in the residence of President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.What isn't always considered, however, is who was polishing all of that silver. In the Northeast, domestic workers were primarily new immigrants, such as the Irish, Carr explained. "In the South, by and large, they were black former slaves. ... Being paid for their work was a new way to navigate. [It was] very specific to the Southern experience. We had that experience here at Sweet Briar."

As part of the exhibit, from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, there will be a reception at the museum and tours of Sweet Briar House. At 6 p.m. in Josey Dining Room, there will be a lecture by Dianne-Swann Wright, guest curator for the Legacy Museum's exhibit "Deep in My Heart: The Rise of Jim Crow in Virginia, 1865-1954." The cost of dinner is $6.75 for the public and $5.50 for SBC faculty and staff. For more information on the Legacy Museum, visit their Web site.

Maymont, a 100-acre Gilded Age estate in Richmond, is home of the permanent exhibition, "In Service and Beyond: Domestic Work and Life in a Gilded Age Mansion." The 3,000-square foot display depicts what it was like for domestic servants to work in the home of Virginia railroad magnate James Dooley and his wife, Sallie. For more information about Maymont, visit their Web site.

For more information about the Sweet Briar exhibit, contact Carr at (434) 381-6246 or ccarr@sbc.edu.