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Smith-McDowell House Museum Features Mourning Traditions, Ghosts

The Western North Carolina Historical Association announces the opening of the exhibit, "In Loving Memory...Mourning in Victorian Asheville" through Feb. 27 at the Smith-McDowell House Museum on the Asheville campus of A-B Tech.

Museum visitors will learn how people in the region viewed death in the 19th century with exhibits and artifacts in two Victorian Era parlors representing the 1860s and 1880s. Displays will explain the origins of embalming in this country, the importance of post-mortem photography, customs of early wakes, hair jewelry, mourning flowers and other interesting information.

Visitors will be acquainted with the deaths in the Smith and the McDowell families, how they dealt with their losses, their burials on a hill behind the Museum and eventual re-interment in the Newton Academy Cemetery. They will also learn about the funeral arrangements for the Smith's and the McDowell's enslaved servants, who were buried in the South Asheville Cemetery.

The exhibit will display a variety of authentic artifacts and replicas: coffins and caskets, photographs, mourning art, covered mirrors, mourning cards, and mourning music. The Victorian fascination with death and dying is well known and led to extensive research into the subject by popular figures of the time, such as Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Haunts in the House is a special program on Friday evenings from Feb. 6 - 20.

The museum has been working with a team of paranormal investigators from L.E.M.U.R. to explore unusual activities in the circa 1840 mansion. Over a series of investigations, the team has used ultra and sub sonic audio enhancers, night vision devices, advanced photography, electrostatic generators, and temperate gauges to look for signs of paranormal activity. Through these investigations, the paranormal team has concluded that the Museum has at least four resident ghosts.

Joshua Warren, the president of L.E.M.U.R and author of Haunted Asheville and How to Hunt Ghosts, is the tour guide for this haunted evening event at the Smith-McDowell House. During the tour, the team of investigators will explain how to use scientific technology to monitor and track activity and demonstrate the use of their equipment.

Ticket prices are $30. There is limit of 10 participants each Friday night, so the opportunity to investigate will be very personal. Prepaid reservations may be made by calling 253-9231.

The Museum is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday from noon until 4 p.m. Mondays or Tuesdays are available by appointment for groups of 15 or more. Admission is free for members, $7 for adults, and $3 for children.

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