Mary Lincoln Extra Credit Questions

[L Verge]

One more hoop story and I'll quit... The first year that Surratt House opened, we started a weekend event featuring a Victorian Craft Fair, which brought out between 800-1000 visitors. Most of the crafters were set up under a huge tent outdoors, but some were in our period rooms. This required having at least six costumed guides for crowd control, etc. They circulated through the house and grounds.

I happened to step out of one of the upstairs bedrooms and see an "empty" hoop laying on the floor at the top of the stairs. Obviously, one of our ladies had stepped out of it, but why leave it laying there? With hoop in hand, I began searching for its owner. I finally found her outside on the front lawn talking with someone. I walked over to her, held out the garment, and asked if she was missing something. She looked at me as if I had lost my mind -- until she patted her skirts and found how flat she was.

Obviously, the hoop had come untied at the waist, and she had stepped out of it without realizing what had happened and went on about her business. Some of you will know who the lady was/is -- Joan Chaconas, who is much better at Lincoln history than she is at portraying a Civil War lady!