Programming & Partnerships

On this page, you'll find a listing of select conference lectures, interviews and publications, and museums and historical societies that Anneliese, the Sewphisticate, has presented or partnered with in the past.  Samples of session descriptions are included to help inform of potential offerings.  

If you're interested in booking your own presentation, please see Anneliese's current offerings and contact information at: Book at Fashion Program 

Museum Programming:

New York Historical Society, DiMenna Children's History Museum (NYC)

• Hidden History: Chinese Soldiers in the American Civil War - June 4, 2023

Session description:  Join us in person at the Museum as we explore the untold story of Chinese soldiers in the American Civil War, with historical interpreter and Chinese American, Anneliese Meck.  Learn about courageous individuals serving on land and at sea, as well as their struggles for citizenship, civil rights, and belonging in the country they called home.  Families will interact with photographs and primary sources to redefine who gets a Civil War story – what “hidden histories” will you uncover? 

Explore the set-up for this living history program: Tiktok - “Hidden History: Chinese Soldiers in the American Civil War".  

Activity description:  Anneliese will lead participants through an interactive examination of photographs and primary source documents to piece together individual stories and discover a history beyond the photographs.  Participants will be presented with three sets of color-coded study cards, and asked to make observations about the depictions.  Who or what is in the photograph, and what assumptions can be made?  What information might be missing? 

• "Hidden History: Chinese Soldiers in the American Civil War" was also presented at the Genesee Country Village & Museum during the annual Civil War school field trip day on May 19, 2023

Penobscot Marine Museum (Searsport, ME) 

• Wearing an 1880s Dress with Anneliese Meck - virtual fashion presentation on March 10, 2022
• Virtual Museum Field Trip & Meet-And-Greet - virtual presentation for museum studies students and summer interns on July 19, 2022

The Castle Museum (Marietta, OH) 

• "That Chinese Girl": How Mamie Tape Won the Right to Go to School - virtual history camp presenter, on July 6, 2021

Session Description:  The United States has often been described as a nation of immigrants, promising freedom and opportunity to those who arrived in America – but not everyone was welcomed. As early as the 1850s, Chinese immigrants were treated unfairly, with laws that made it difficult to enter the country, and restrictions on where they lived, worked, and educated their children. In this presentation, students will learn about the lives of Joseph and Mary Tape, who were Chinese immigrants living in San Francisco; as well as the struggles of their daughter, Mamie Tape, in getting to attend a public school in 1884. Referred to as “that Chinese girl” in the newspapers, Mamie Tape’s perseverance, and the winning decision in the Tape v. Hurley (1885) case, made history in the rights of all children to public education. Several primary sources, including court documents, a letter from Mrs. Tape, and photographs of the family, will be used to explore how the Chinese community fought for their civil rights and equality

 

John L. Wehle Gallery, Genesee Country Village & Museum, (Mumford, NY) 

John L. Wehle Gallery collaborations with curator Brandon Brooks:

• Fashion in Flux: Transitional Fashions of the 1820s, An Historical Get-Ready-with-Me (August 26, 2023 - in-person) (September 26, 203 - virtual)
• Ladies of the '80s: An 1880s Historical Get-Ready-with-Me (September 2022)    
• How to Get Dressed in the 1830s, Historical Get-Ready-with-Me (August 17, 2019)  

Select Historical Village Programming: 

• Hoop, Hoop, Hooray: An 1860s Historical Get-Ready-With-Me (June 14, 2023) - this talk was done twice for museum members-only, featuring a live dressing of two models: one dressing as a working class woman, and the other as a lady of leisure 
• Fabulous Fashions (multiple showings, 2021-2022) - for group rentals and as a museum members-only walking tour.  These included a timeline of fashions, 1800-1870, with "touch tables" of reproduction clothing, and a live dressing of a model in 1860s clothing.  
• All Dressed in Red Fashion Show (July 2021) - featured red-colored fashions spanning the entire 19th century, modeled by live models or displayed on dress forms 
• From Plants to Pants (multiple showings, 2021) - live flax processing demo and talk about flax history; flax as a fiber, from field to fabric; and linen cloth.

• Fashion Fun, a five-day summer camp for ages 8-12 (2016 class, 2017 class)
• Other programming, (2014-present): historical fashion walking tours; talks on natural fibers; dressmaker impression; live demos: weaving, spinning on a walking wheel, natural dyeing, candlemaking

Historical Societies 

Newstead Historical Society, Rich-Twinn Octagon House (Akron, NY)

• Getting Dressed in 1823 for the Newstead Bicentennial - upcoming presentation: October 2023 
• Spring Teas at the Rich-Twinn Octagon House (April 2023) - modeled and discussed 1880s fashion, and played Victorian parlor games with tea guests 
• Candlelight Tours at the Rich-Twinn Octagon House (December 2022) - modeled and discussed 1850s fashion during the open house hours 
• Getting Dressed in the 1860s - presented: October 13, 2022

Sanborn Area Historical Society (Sanborn, NY)

• Getting Dressed in the 1860s - upcoming presentation: October 2023 

Wilson Historical Society (Wilson, NY)

• Getting Dressed in the 1880s - upcoming presentation: November 2023 

Newark Valley Historical Society, Bement-Billings Farmstead Museum (Newark Valley, NY)

• Historical Fashion Show, co-hosted with Rhonda Bickford (June 9, 2018) - timeline of 19th century fashion including live models and historical clothing displays 

Select Conferences

Conference lectures:

Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums (ALHFAM), 2023 annual conference, hosted at Sauder Village, (Sauder, OH)

• Living History Institute - co-presented with Debra Reid (The Henry Ford) and Nathan Schultz (Fort Ticonderoga) - June 23, 2023.  My portion detailed DEAI (Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion) framework at a large living history site, and more importantly, how to launch a holistic approach at similar institutions. 

Half-day workshop description: Join in the inaugural Living History Institute (LHI). LHI seeks to provoke a critical analysis of the methods and practices of living history in a discussion-based environment and apply that information. Participants will leave with the tools to critically analyze and refine their own practices. LHI starts with a half-day immersion into living history: its origins, meanings, and methods; pathways into the profession; strategies to introduce or review, revise, and regenerate living history at a site; and strategies to create more complete, inclusive living history.

• Also attended: 2020 virtual conference; and helped my site, GCV&M, host the 2017 annual conference

Niagara County Federation of Historical Agencies, hosted at the Sanborn Farm Museum (Sanborn, NY) 2023

• Getting Dressed in the 1880s - presented: April 29, 2023 

Session Description:  Just as with today’s clothing trends, the fashions of the late-19th century changed rapidly – and it would simply not do to be caught in an out-of-date style!  From boots to bustles, petticoats and parasols, learn about the many layers that ladies were wearing to achieve that Bustle Era silhouette.  Anneliese will discuss the lengths it took to be fashionable, while getting dressed in a historical reproduction of an 1880s ensemble, complete with the proper undergarments, day dress, and accessories.  Antique clothing enthusiasts, public historians, museum docents, and wearers of clothing, alike, are invited to experience how period correct costuming can be an effective tool for public education, entertainment, and engagement with social history and material culture. 

  

Corsets & Cravats, 2021, 2023: annual conference & virtual programming about mid-19th century social history and material culture

• Striking Rich in the Land of Exclusion: Chinese American Experience, 1830-1900 - virtual lecture on December 19, 2023 

Session Description: During the mid-19th century, dreams of gold and miles of tracks brought thousands of Chinese immigrants to the United States – the land of opportunity, discrimination, and exclusion.  As Chinese communities bloomed in the bustling cities along the Eastern and Western coasts, and across the rural and rugged frontier, so did the strength of anti-Chinese sentiment, which culminated in the landmark Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.  This presentation explores the largely untold history of America’s Chinese, giving voice to their collective struggles, perseverance, and community resilience through exploitation, legalized discrimination, vigilante violence, and efforts to expel the Chinese from the country they called home. 

In part a personal research journey, as the speaker connects with her own Chinese American heritage, the goal is to reclaim the Chinese American story, and how it is represented (or not) in living history.  Participants will be encouraged to draw from both individual experience and unique perspectives when forming civilian impressions, and empowered to confront the more painful parts of American history.  

• Orientalism: Eastern Fashion & American Fantasy - virtual lecture on December 28, 2021

Session Description:  Exotic fashions from the faraway East have delighted and defined style and luxury in the West for centuries. This presentation explores the complex, cross-cultural borrowing and imitation that is “Orientalism,” and reveals how Eastern cultures became American commodities. From Indian cashmere and the Paisley pattern, to Chinese silks and brisé fans, discussion will feature select, mid-19th century articles of clothing, accessories, and textiles with Asian and Middle Eastern origins. For the modern reenactor and living historian, new appreciation and appropriate incorporation of these often familiar, common, and fashionable items enhances culturally-competent civilian impressions.

 

Costume On Conference, September 2020: international, online conference for historical costuming

• If the Coat Fits: Chinese Soldiers in the American Civil War

Session Description:  If the coat fits, wear it – and the Chinese men who volunteered to serve in the Civil War did, fighting for a country that would later discriminate, exploit, exclude, and all but forget their remarkable contributions to the culture and creation of the United States. This presentation explores the Chinese-American experience, and tells the stories of individuals from both sides of the war, on land and at sea. Period attitudes and depictions will be referenced, and may contrast with the successful people they were then, and continue to be today. The goal is two-fold: to highlight an untold history, and to inspire participants to draw from personal experience and other, unique perspectives when developing costumed impressions for historical reenactments and events.

• Orientalism: Western Taste for Eastern Fashion 

Session Description:  From Indian chintz prints and banyans, to Chinese silks and brisé fans, and Turkish smoking jackets complete with tasseled caps, the fashions of the East have enchanted the West for centuries. This presentation chronicles the complex, cross-cultural borrowing and imitation that is “Orientalism,” with an emphasis on the textiles, garments, and accessories that have shaped menswear from the late-16th through 19th centuries. Select examples of historic portraiture, fashion plates, and extant garments from museum collections will accompany the discussion, and help the modern costumer navigate the divide between cultural appreciation and appropriation.

 

Select conferences I've attended:

• American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) 
• 2023 Annual Conference in Boise, ID 
• 2022 Annual Conference in Buffalo, NY
• Domestic Skills Symposium, Genesee Country Village & Museum 
• 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 - museum staff: including assisting with registration, luncheon, and museum crafts-in-the-village sales table
• Citizen's Forum of the 1860s - weekend conference providing education speakers and workshops for Civil War reenactors and living historians
• 2019 Maumee, OH - attendee 
• 2018 Monroe, MI - scholarship recipient and attendee  

Select Publications & Media: 

LinkedIn News: Coloring Outside the Lines, September 1, 2023: "How Historical Interpreter Anneliese Meck Uses Costume Design to Bring History to Life" by Lora Korpar

History News magazine, Vol. 7, #3, 2022: "Doing History with Public Historian and Costumer Anneliese Meck"

National Geographic, September 25, 2020: "Historical Interpreters Share Their Sides of the Story" by Jennifer Barger and Heather Greenwood Davis 

Erie Chinese Journal, March 15, 2018: "Designing Your Dreams" by Cynthia Marek Lundeen

Genesee Country Village & Museum Blog, July 14, 2017: "That These Dead Shall Not Have Died in Vain" by Anneliese Meck - an article honoring the contributions of Chinese Soldiers in the American Civil War.

(Page Last Updated: September 2023)