Bound to Please:  A History of Corsets

Exhibit Opening October 1st, 7pm-11pm

Oklahoma Territorial Museum

Guthrie, OK

The Oklahoma Territorial Museum is pleased to announce the opening of Bound to Please: A History of Corsets, an exhibit that showcases undergarments as a symbol of growth in women's history from the Middle Ages through the present.

Jennifer Lynch, exhibit designer, said, "Clothing has always been used as a way to illustrate social standing. Corsets, any undergarments worn to hold and sculpt the torso into a desired shape, were a staple of feminine fashion for centuries. Not only did the corset create a uniform fashionable silhouette for those who wore them, it

also advertised positive messages about its wearer, such as status, self-discipline, beauty and sexuality.

However, following World War I, corsets were no longer fashionable in the wake of rising political and social equality for women. In fact, corsets became a symbol of physical control over women's bodies. Corsets have shaped ideas of beauty and fashion that are still evident today. In recent decades the corset has gained new life as a form of artistic and sexual expression."

This exhibit will show in the historic Carnegie Library of the Guthrie Museum Complex from October 1st until May 31st, 2012. The exhibit opening will be on October 1st from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m and is FREE and open to the public.  There will be food and Oklahoma artist, Nicole Moan, will be featured during the opening with a short fashion show.  One of her pieces will be auctioned off that evening. For more information, call (405)282-1889 or email guthriecomplex@okhistory.org.  The museum is located at 406 E. Oklahoma Ave, Guthrie OK, 73044. 

Overholser Mansion/Overholser House [20791.1-20791.7]/State Museum Collection [20699.79.136.1-20699.79.136.23]/Oklahoma Historical Society Collection [16283.]

Oklahoma History Center 

by J.A. Pryse

The Overholser Mansion Collection [20791.1-.7], The State Museum Collection featuring the Overholser Mansion [20699.79.136.1-.23] and the Oklahoma Historical Society Photograph Collection featuring the Overholser Mansion [20229, 16283] take us back in time to an elegant and exciting lifestyle. The photographs range from the years 1903 through 1974. The visitor can experience each room and essentially walk where the Overholser family walked; stepping into a true Oklahoma treasure.

The mansion, built in 1902, does not stand alone in the luxurious and historically significant Heritage Hills; in the heart of Oklahoma City. The Overholser Mansion is a twenty-room, 11,000 square-feet, Victorian style brick and stone structure that, takes one, "back in time experiencing first hand life as the Overholser family did over one hundred years ago." In 1970 the mansion was nominated to [the] National Register of Historic Places for its architectural significance and its association with Henry Overholser as a 'humanitarian' and for his role in "Urban Planning". At this time the

Overholser Mansion - Corner of NW 15th and Hudson Street, Oklahoma City

residence was "unchanged on the outside" and "but for electricity in the elaborate (once gas) lighting fixtures, the interior is much the same as when the mansion was opened to admiring friends with a gala reception in early 1904. In almost every detail it [the mansion] remains as it was 65 years ago. With few exceptions; the brocaded silk draperies and imported curtains of lace and linen are still at windows and doors...the original hand-loomed carpets and Oriental rugs still cover the polished hardwood floors. The gleaming woodwork of Antwerp oak and mahogany remains, as does most of the period furniture, the urns and vases, the crystal cut glass, the Chinese porcelain and jade, the collections of Meissen, Dresden and Sevres." The residence has a high arched ceiling, two stairways, and entrances at the east side of the residence as well as the south side of the residence and nine fireplaces.

Over the years the mansion has experienced small alterations and repairs but remains remarkably unchanged. The mansion in its entirety can be viewed within the collections at the Oklahoma Historical Society Research Center. The stunning decorations, the original images of the mansion, the alterations, the bedrooms, the sitting rooms and many more areas that one could not experience on a guided tour.
 
Bibliography:

OklahomaHistorical Society, "Henry Overholser Mansion." Accessed September 3, 2011.

http://www.okhistory.org/outreach/affiliates/overholsermansion

Oklahoma Historical Society, "Henry Overholser." Accessed September 3, 2011. http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/O/OV003.html

The Overholser Mansion, "Homepage." Last modified 2010. Accessed September 3, 2011. http://www.overholsermansion.org/.

Ruth, Kent. Oklahoma Historical Society, "The National Register of Historic Places - Inventory Nomination Form." Last modified June 22, 1970. Accessed September 3, 2011. http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/70000536.pdf. 

Marshaus, Allison, and Lynda Schwan. The State Historic Preservation Office, "The National Register of Historic Places - Inventory Nomination Form." Last modified January 25, 2010. Accessed September 3, 2011. http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/70000536.pdf

Overholser Mansion Collection, Oklahoma Historical Society Research Division. [20791.1-20791.7]