Historic Costume and Textile Collection

The Society’s Costume and Textile collection began in the 1940s when Eleanor Marsh and Eleanor Clemens Berry started collecting, storing, and caring for items donated by Cohasset residents and friends.

The Collection’s first home and exhibit space was in the Cohasset Village Police Station, which was leased by the Society in 1963 and named the Independence Gown Museum, where the Collection remained until 1983.

Although the Society stored some pieces in St. Anthony’s attic and the Lothrop House on Summer Street, it wasn’t until 2003, when the former Paul Pratt Memorial Library was purchased as the Society’s new headquarters, that the Collection found its permanent home.

During the intervening years from 1974 to 2003, costume and textile history experts, academic consultants, and a dedicated group of volunteers inventoried, cataloged, and properly stored the Collection in our dedicated Textile Storage Room in the Pratt Building.

The Costume and Textile Collection, now nearly 4,000 pieces, covers a range of women’s, men’s, and children’s clothing and accessories from the 1830s to 2000. Exquisite wedding dresses, extraordinary quilts, and embroideries are among the high points of this exceptional Collection, many of which are exhibited on a rotating basis throughout the year.

Past Exhibitions: Furbelows, Flounces, and Fripperies: The Gilded Age in Cohasset (2023), Baby It’s Cold Outside: Dressing for Winter in Cohasset (2024)

The Historic Costume and Textile Collection is closed to the public. Please fill out an in-person research application if you would like to make an appointment to see a specific item in our Textile Room.

Watch a curator-led tour of our popular 2023 exhibition, Furbelows, Flounces, and Fripperies: The Gilded Age in Cohasset!

Watch a curator-led tour of our 2024 exhibition, Baby It’s Cold Outside: Dressing For Winter in Cohasset!

White Silk Taffeta Ball Gown and matching headpiece with red taffeta trim, bows, lace, and fringe, ca. 1865. This dress was purchased at Vignon et Cie, Paris for $100 in 1865.

Worn by Maria Barnes Hooper (1827-1891).

Three-Piece light green silk dress with black velvet trim. Trimmed with braided leaves, bows, chenille and silk fringe.  

ca. 1875 Worn by Mrs. Emma Louise Ames Loder (1856-1911) mother of Naval Captain Ames Loder.

Center Medallion Crazy Quilt. Dresden Plate Center, with grandmother’s fan, corner hearts, and saw-toothed border. Tied, appliqued and embroidered silk, brocade, and damask with metallic maple leaves. 58 x 72 in. ca. 1885-1890.

Massachusetts Quilt Documentation Project #5350.

Black Silk Chiffon dropped-waist dress with woven floral-patterned bottom, cream silk chiffon and satin metallic design on bodice. Sequined bird embellishment at front. ca. 1923-24.