Hair Wreath, Presque Isle, ca. 1860 MMN #98916

Among the features in this exhibit by the Presque Isle Local & Legendary Civil War community grant team is the way people memorialized and remembered the war after it was over. One unusual method was creating hair "jewelry" such as this hair wreath. When possible, actual hair from the deceased was used in the wreath, but often soldiers who died in the war did not make it home. Despite its distance from the battle, Maine's Star City sent 22 percent of its population off to war--roughly one-half of its men. Of those, one-third died.

Speaking of the Civil War, there's just one more week to see our exhibitions This Rebellion: Maine and the Civil War and From Slavery to Maine. After that, you can visit This Rebellion virtually in this online exhibit.