Victoria Mansion

May's special exhibit, "A Legacy of Silk and Satin", features four brides whose wedding celebrations took place at Victoria Mansion.

The middle Libby daughter, Mary Louise, married Arthur Chamberlain on Thanksgiving Day 1899, in the Parlor of the Mansion. The dress was made at her father's store, the JR Libby Co. Their advertisements promoted the talents of Miss Dolly- their in-house dressmaker Nettie Dolly, who likely made this for Mary Louise.

Her granddaughter Joan LePage Chamberlain altered the dress slightly when she wore it for her 1955 wedding to Ralph Engelsman.

"A Legacy of Silk and Satin" will continue through the end of May. There are beautiful wedding dresses and vignettes throughout the house as part of the regular tour. We recommend buying tickets in advance on our website to make sure you have a time that will fit your schedule. victoriamansion.org/visit-us/

📷1. Mary Louise Libby in her wedding gown 2. Advertisements for the JR Libby Co and the label inside of Mary Louise' gown 3. Mary Louise's granddaughter Joan LePage Chamberlain Engelsman in 1955.

Our month-long celebration of National Textile Day is coming to an end on Sunday. This is your last chance to see "A Legacy Silk and Satin: Inspired by the Wedding of Victoria Mansion." There are beautiful wedding dresses and vignettes throughout the house as part of the regular tour.
We recommend buying tickets in advance on our website to make sure you have a time that will fit your schedule. www.victoriamansion.org/visit-us/

Victoria Mansion will be CLOSED on May 25th, for Memorial Day. We will re-open for tours at 10am on Tuesday, May 26th.

This painting from our Stair Hall is an allegory of Columbia, depicting the United States as a woman bearing a shield with stars and stripes, a staff, and a bald eagle. While iterations of Columbia had been used in decades prior to represent the country, she took on various roles in political cartoons, art, and advertisements during the Civil War, especially as women began to work as nurses on the battlefield, and organized to collect needed items or funds to send to hospitals for wounded soldiers.

Happy birthday to Queen Victoria! In celebration, we are offering free admission today for anyone named Victoria or Albert. (ID required)

May's special exhibit, "A Legacy of Silk and Satin", features four brides whose wedding celebrations took place at Victoria Mansion.

The oldest Libby daughter, Edith Libby, married William Cutter on June 23, 1897, in the Parlor of the Mansion. Her sister Mary Louise stood as her maid of honor.
One newspaper report described it as a "distinctively pink and white wedding" and that "Mr. David Webster... and a corps of assistants have been busily engaged all day in transforming the interior into a bower of beauty." (Mr. Webster was a designer at the JR Libby store and later worked for the Libby family as a cook.)

"A Legacy of Silk and Satin" will continue through the end of May. There are beautiful wedding dresses and vignettes throughout the house as part of the regular tour. We recommend buying tickets in advance on our website to make sure you have a time that will fit your schedule. victoriamansion.org/visit-us/

📷1. Edith Libby's bridal portrait 2. June 24, 1897, article from Portland Daily Press

May's special exhibit, "A Legacy of Silk and Satin", features four brides whose wedding celebrations took place at Victoria Mansion.

Alice Libby was the youngest daughter of the second owners of the Mansion. She married Merle Brown here on April 12, 1917. The newspaper reported that it was "one of the most important bridals of the week" but added that it was "a very quiet affair owing to family illness." Her father, JR Libby, was in poor health and unable to go downstairs so the ceremony was performed in the upstairs Sitting Room. One of Alice's nieces was the maid of honor, and another was the flower girl.

"A Legacy of Silk and Satin" will continue through the end of May. There are beautiful wedding dresses and vignettes throughout the house as part of the regular tour. We recommend buying tickets in advance on our website to make sure you have a time that will fit your schedule. victoriamansion.org/visit-us/

On warm days like today, we like to point out that Victoria Mansion is air conditioned!

Did you know that the tower originally functioned as a cooling system for the Morses and Libbys? Opening the tower windows would allow hot air to rise upward and out of the house during warmer days in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, we're able to utilize the vents from the house's original central heating system for air conditioning and air handling, which not only helps to keep guests, staff, and volunteers cool, but helps with climate control to protect the delicate furnishings and decoratively painted surfaces within the museum.

Plan your visit online any time at https://victoriamansion.org/visit-us/

Our National Historic Landmark is celebrating a new milestone in New Orleans style! We invite you to be a part of the Mansion’s next chapter while enjoying classic New Orleans cuisine and Preservation Hall jazz.
We hope you will join us for brunch at the Portland Country Club on May 31st. Proceeds benefit Victoria Mansion’s Forward Facing Campaign.

Tickets going fast! Buys yours now on our website:
www.victoriamansion.org/event/2026-nola-sunday-brunch

This dress that is in our current exhibit was not a wedding gown. This outfit (which included a jacket, not shown) was made around 1916 for a woman named Mrs. Amy Goff Gray. It was likely donated to the Victoria Society when they were building their costume collection.

Although little is known about the dressmaker, the ensemble is one of three known surviving examples made from silk manufactured at the Haskell Silk Company, which operated in Westbrook, Maine, from 1874 to about 1930. J.R. Libby, the second occupant of the Mansion, sold Haskell silk in his dry goods store in Portland. The remarkable quality of the hundred year old silk is a testament to the Haskell Silk Company’s guarantee that each length of fabric would “not to break, crock or shift.” Haskell sold millions of yards of silk to stores and garment makers nationwide until the company folded in 1930.

May's special exhibit, "A Legacy of Silk and Satin", features four brides whose wedding celebrations took place at Victoria Mansion.

Claire Morrill married Henry Dyson July 5, 1947, at nearby St. Dominic Church (now the Maine Irish Heritage Center.) Claire was the daughter of Woodbury Morrill, who was the caretaker of the Mansion from the 1930's to 1950's. The family lived in the servants' ell at the back of the building. Claire wrote that "When {museum founder} Dr. Holmes knew of my impending marriage, he very kindly suggested that we might like to use the first floor of the mansion for the reception... Our family has always held great affection for Dr. Holmes. His thoughtful gesture on that special day has never been forgotten."

"A Legacy of Silk and Satin" will continue through the end of May. There are beautiful wedding dresses and vignettes throughout the house as part of the regular tour. We recommend buying tickets in advance on our website to make sure you have a time that will fit your schedule. victoriamansion.org/visit-us/

📷 1. Claire Morrill on the Mansion staircase before her wedding 2. Morrill-Dyson wedding at St. Dominic Church 3. Henry and Claire Morrill Dyson at their reception in the Mansion. 4. Henry and Claire cutting their cake in the Mansion dining room.