The Southold Historical Society will host a couture and antique clothing sale Thursday, July 23 through Saturday July 25 from 1 to 4 p.m. The sale will be held at the Cosden-Price Gallery in the Reichert Family Center, which is located at 54127 Main Road, Southold, NY.
The collections committee of the Southold Historical Society will raise funds through the sale of designer and antique clothing — including period and designer coats, dresses, handbags, hats and shoes.
Proceeds from the sale will go toward the preservation of a Civil War Banner which the organization acquired last year. The banner was originally created for the Mattituck “Wide Awake” Club, a paramilitary campaign organization affiliated with the American Republican Party during the United States 1860 presidential election. Local newspapers report that on the day before the 1860 election, the “Wide Awake” groups of the North Fork marched in a torchlight parade through Southold in support of Abraham Lincoln.
While the banner survived mostly intact over the years, it now requires preservation work to ensure its long-term survival.
“It is surprising how expensive conservation of valuable textiles is,” said Chris Wruck, a member of the Collections Committee. “But the banner is so rare and important that it merits to be fully preserved.”
