The photography & storytelling of Laura Stotts Photographer • Preservationist • Genealogist • Speaker
North Carolina, USA
Joined October 2022
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✨ I’m Laura — photographer, storyteller, genealogist & preservationist.
I document forgotten America: abandoned places, ghost towns, cemeteries, pioneer trails & their stories.
If you believe our country’s history is worth preserving, come wander the backroads with me. 🇺🇸
A demonstration of what appropriate mourning attire for a widow would have looked like in the 1870s, from deep or full mourning during the first 6–12 months after her husband’s death, to the second stage known as ordinary or second mourning.
But dressing like this wasn’t realistic for everyone. During Reconstruction, poor and working-class widows often couldn’t afford to follow all the rules of mourning etiquette.
Instead of buying an entirely new wardrobe, a woman might dye a dress she already owned black, replace the buttons with black ones, and make a veil from whatever material she had available. She also might not remain in mourning nearly as long as a middle- or upper-class woman could afford to.
For a lot of women during this period, especially in the South, survival simply came before etiquette.
I had a “Waking the Dead” event to attend right after church today, so I had to run home for a quick outfit change before heading to the historic Propst House in Hickory, NC.
Hosted by the Hickory Landmarks Society, I spent the afternoon teaching guests about Victorian customs and traditions surrounding death, mourning, and funerals, including the very specific rules of mourning attire and etiquette.
My outfit would have been appropriate for the second stage of mourning during the height of the 1870s. Deep mourning could last anywhere from 6–12 months, during which dress was strictly black. Once a woman entered the second stage of mourning, white could be introduced at the collar and cuffs, something that would have been considered highly inappropriate during deep mourning.
I had a “Waking the Dead” event to attend right after church today, so I had to run home for a quick outfit change before heading to the historic Propst House in Hickory, NC.
Hosted by the Hickory Landmarks Society, I spent the afternoon teaching guests about Victorian customs and traditions surrounding death, mourning, and funerals, including the very specific rules of mourning attire and etiquette.
My outfit would have been appropriate for the second stage of mourning during the height of the 1870s. Deep mourning could last anywhere from 6–12 months, during which dress was strictly black. Once a woman entered the second stage of mourning, white could be introduced at the collar and cuffs, something that would have been considered highly inappropriate during deep mourning.
Today I was part of the Hickory Landmarks Society’s “Waking the Dead” event at the historic Propst House in Hickory, teaching visitors about Victorian customs and traditions surrounding death, grief, and mourning.
I dressed to represent the second stage of mourning, known as ordinary mourning, which typically lasted anywhere from six to nine months. I was pretty excited with how my outfit turned out!
After the strict rules of deep mourning, women could begin adding decorative details like black lace, white trim at the neck and wrists, and mourning jewelry such as a black-and-white cameo. Instead of the traditional bonnet and veil worn during deep mourning, black ribbons and roses could be added to the hair, with long ribbons hanging down to represent weeping.
I tried to keep my outfit as accurate as possible, down to the black stockings, which would have been wool and held up with garters.
I had so much fun bringing a little piece of Victorian mourning culture to life and sharing the meaning behind it with visitors. 🖤
Perfect weather for the Fall Festival today at Hart Square Village in Vale, North Carolina! 🍁
Come spend the day exploring 100+ historic structures, traditional crafts, demonstrations, and Appalachian history.
Today | 10 AM–5 PM
📍 Vale, NC
In case you missed it… 👉🏻
New Episode of “Chris Farrell’s On Watch”: Diary of Abandonment — Recovering Lost History w/Laura Stotts
Links ⬇️
YouTube: youtu.be/kv89N7pUwK8
Rumble: rumble.com/v7h4sla-diary-of-…
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2kq…
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
Diary of Abandonment retweeted
Goldfield was briefly the biggest city in Nevada after a massive gold strike. It boomed around 20,000 at its height between 1902 - 1910.
It had saloons, gambling, brothels, famous shootouts, and Wyatt Earp himself lived there for a stretch.
✨Guest Speaker!✨
Genealogy Conference
Saturday, Nov. 14th
9am - 3pm
First United Methodist Church
Morganton, NC
Hosted by the Burke County Genealogical Society
Diary of Abandonment retweeted
I would’ve googled Tonopah Cemetery before I posted this, if I were you.
From Grok: Official accounts from the Town of Tonopah and cemetery materials state that the causes of death (and related details) on the markers were added in recent decades based on Allen Metscher’s historic research. These were not on the original headstones—only about 30% of the headstones are original. Many were rebuilt under his guidance by the Tonopah Conservation Crew using old materials for an authentic look.
