Fashion on the Front Lines: Dressing America in the Civil War

How do clothing and conflict intertwine? What can a hoop skirt, a soldier’s shirt, or a nurse’s apron reveal about a country at war with itself?

Join Emma Rowland at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum on July 11, 2026 at 2PM for an immersive journey into the clothing and material culture of the American Civil War. This richly illustrated lecture explores how Americans dressed, from the battlefield to the home front, and what those garments reveal about identity, survival, patriotism, and profound societal change. Guests will explore: Women’s wartime dress, from everyday work clothing to the iconic silhouette of the 1860s. How shortages, blockades, and industrial shifts altered what people could buy, sew, and repair. The clothing of soldiers and nurses, including Clara Barton’s own wartime attire. The hidden labor of garment work, from enslaved seamstresses to Northern factory workers. What surviving garments and primary sources tell us about race, class, gender, and resilience during the war. Set in Clara Barton’s preserved boardinghouse, where she lived while launching her mission to find missing Union soldiers, this program connects the threads of material culture with the human stories that shaped the conflict. Visitors will leave with a deeper understanding of clothing as both artifact and witness to one of the most turbulent periods in American history. This program is ideal for fashion-history enthusiasts, Civil War scholars, museum professionals, and anyone interested in the lived experiences behind 19th-century clothing.

Emma Rowland is a museum educator and historical costumer whose work highlights the social and cultural history of American dress. She collaborates with the Lee-Fendall House Museum and works for Alexandria Colonial Tours, where she researches, hand-sews, and interprets historical clothing for public programs. Emma’s work blends archival research, material culture study, and storytelling to make fashion history accessible and engaging for modern audiences.

This presentation is included with admission to the museum and FREE for members.