Montgomery County exhibit shows how makeup became a symbol of female power
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CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – Society’s answer to what makes a woman beautiful significantly changed between 1870 and 1970, and continues to today. The way women wear and have worn makeup overtime has a story to tell, not only about the individual but about the fight for gender equality.
For example, red lipstick became a trend for the women’s suffrage movement it was a symbol of female power.
An exhibit at the Montgomery County Museum shows an amazing display of antique makeup and cosmetics along with pictures of cosmetic trends through time. It’s called “The Changing Faces of Beauty and Cosmetics 1870-1970.” It shows an evolution of not only the perception of beauty but statements about equality women were working to make.
Historians search for name of enslaved woman who made Christiansburg coverlet 150 years ago
The coverlet is on display in the Montgomery County Museum
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Just as slavery then erased her freedom, it continues today in erasing her past.
“Those public records that you can usually find for white families were not kept for African Americans,” said Montgomery County Museum Curator Sherry Wyatt.
The coverlet, donated by the descendants of the Trigg family who owned a large plantation in what is today’s downtown Christiansburg, is now on display at the Montgomery County Museum. It’s a rare pre-civil war piece that’s been surprisingly well preserved.