One of the more unexpected things available in Milner Library is the Ueckert Circus Wardrobe Collection. An amalgamation of over 1,200 circus costumes, accessories, and props from the 1880s to the early 2000s, the collection is one of the most comprehensive collections of circus wardrobe in the country.
In October of 2022, Milner Library was awarded a Save America’s Treasures grant to support the preservation of the Ueckert Circus Wardrobe Collection. This grant helped to fund a conservation assessment to identify if these costumes were being stored correctly, to flag any items that needed to be repaired, and to identify significant materials and techniques used to make the pieces. For two weeks this summer Colleen Callahan and Shae Masterson, two professional textile conservators from Costume & Textile Specialists, visited Milner to complete their assessment. With the assistance of student worker Grace Benefiel, Conservator and Preservation Specialist Becky Koch, and Conservation Technician Jessica Martin, they carefully examined every costume in the collection.
The assessment led to several surprising discoveries about the collection, one of the most impressive being that many pieces were entirely handmade, which means that sequins and feathers were painstakingly applied by hand. Some rare pieces were also found, including 19th century underwear. Underwear might not sound very exciting, but it is typically used until it is worn out then discarded and replaced with the newest styles, so not many examples of historical underwear still exist. There are several pieces of underwear in this collection, whether they be underwear that was modified to become a performance costume, or simply underwear that was packed in a forgotten trunk for many years.
Funds from the Save America’s Treasures grant have also been allocated to assist with researching the collection. The grant participants include principal investigator Becky Koch, library conservator at Milner Library; Maureen Brunsdale, head of Special Collections at Milner Library; Rainie Themer-Bosquet, program director of Gamma Phi Circus; Maritza Atayde, assistant coach of Gamma Phi Circus; and Colleen Callahan and Newbold Richardson, who are both textile conservators at Costume and Textile Specialists. Participants from Gamma Phi are still hard at work researching the provenance and stories behind individual wardrobe pieces. Their work will continue through fall of 2024.
The information discovered during the conservation assessment along with the details our researchers are uncovering will make this collection of great value to historians not only of the circus and performing arts, but also to textile and costume researchers. Having all these items available to researchers in a single repository, especially as part of an institution already known for its unmatched circus collections, will facilitate interdisciplinary research at Milner Library.
