Entertaining, Blush-worthy Exhibition Illuminates Taboo
Subject
In early Maryland, a "night table"
such as this ca. 1800 beauty with a Carroll family
provenance was much more convenient than a
middle-of-the-night dash to the privy. This example is
designed to appear as if it is a small chest of drawers
when closed and includes the technological advance of a
flush mechanism.
Photo by Jay VanRensselaer / HIPS
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By Heather Egan Stalfort Johns Hopkins University
Museums
The myths, manners and material goods of personal
hygiene and cleanliness in early-19th-century Maryland are
explored in Next to Godliness: Cleanliness in Early
Maryland, a student-curated
focus show that opens with a free reception from 5 to 7
p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 28.
On view at The Johns Hopkins University's
Homewood Museum from Thursday, Jan. 29, through
Sunday, March 29, this entertaining and blush-worthy
exhibition illuminates a taboo subject that isn't
found in history books, offering keen insight into the
daily lives of early Marylanders, from the way
they smelled to what a typical trip to the bathroom
entailed.
Museum guests will be privy to the story of a time
before public sanitation systems and laws,
and when scientific theories about germs were just
developing. The title of the exhibition comes from
the ancient Hebrew proverb "Cleanliness is next to
godliness," which was later adopted as a Christian
ideal. The lighthearted mantra for keeping fresh and tidy
belied the often life-or-death importance
of hygiene to people of the day. When Charles Carroll Jr.
built Homewood as his country house in 1801,
he deliberately chose an airy, woodsy haven so that he and
his family could flee humid summers in
downtown Baltimore, where epidemics of yellow fever and
cases of ringworm were causes for concern.
Next to Godliness is the culmination of the
undergraduate seminar Introduction to Material
Culture, taught during the fall 2008 semester by Catherine
Rogers Arthur, Homewood director and
curator. The class of 10 students met weekly in Homewood's
wine cellar to discuss their research,
findings and exhibition planning, which centered on such
themes as bathing, shaving, dental care,
cosmetics, feminine hygiene, standards of personal
cleanliness and housekeeping.
Acting as curators, the students spent the term
researching period sources such as newspaper
ads and housekeeping manuals, and examining surviving
objects, including a ca. 1805 fancy French
traveling bidet with a silver-plated basin that belonged to
Betsy Patterson Bonaparte, a rare ca. 1815
pewter bedpan marked by Baltimore pewterer Samuel Kilbourn
and a ca. 1800 night table/commode
with an early flush mechanism and a Carroll family
provenance.
The material culture seminar is part of the Krieger
School of Arts and Sciences'
Museums
and Society Program, an interdisciplinary minor that
helps undergraduates establish meaningful
connections with local and regional museums.
Funding for the exhibition was provided by the late
Anne Merrick Pinkard, whose contribution
to Homewood also makes it possible for the undergraduate
seminar in material culture to be repeated
in successive years, with different topics contributing to
an ongoing understanding of early-19th-century life at
Homewood.
The exhibition is on view to visitors during regular
guided tours of the museum, offered every
half hour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and
noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (the
last tour departs at 3:30 p.m.). The exhibition is free
with museum admission: $6 adults; $5 seniors;
$3 students, Johns Hopkins alumni and retirees, and
children over 5; free for museum members and
Johns Hopkins faculty, staff and students with ID.
Learn More
Homewood Museum will host a Brown Bag Lunch on the
first Thursdays of February and March
in conjunction with Next to Godliness: Cleanliness in
Early Maryland. Drop by anytime between noon
and 2 p.m. to see the exhibition and join a discussion with
Homewood director and curator Catherine
Rogers Arthur about what life was like before running water
and today's endless assortment of
toiletries. The event takes place in the historic house's
original wine cellar. Bring your own sack lunch;
dessert and coffee will be provided. Free with valid
J-Card.
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2009
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