Mourning the Memory

The Victorian mourning traditions are today considered morbid, outdated, and even strange. However, there is one mourning custom that society decided to hold onto – mourning cards, now referred to as “memorial cards.” Not much about the style of the cards has changed since the 1800s, save for the removal of the black border.

Notice how both cards, front and back, have black borders, indicative of death/mourning. Each card has a photo of the deceased on the front, with their age and the date and location of their death. The back of each card varies. Sister Louis-Bertrand has a simple black cross with an orderly list of psalms and prayers. Emilia Perron’s is a more intricate design printed with a silver luster that reflects in the light. The prayer is printed in an elegant and artistic style font. Both are printed in French. We hold these cards in our collection because both women died in Fall River.

Customs ebb and flow throughout time and it is of no surprise that most Victorian mourning traditions have passed. Curiously memorial cards have withstood the test of time. In “Beyond the Dark Veil,” a book about mourning practices and postmortem photography, we are reminded that “many Victorian mourning customs focused on preserving family bonds with the departed. ‘Mourning is a form of memory,’ wrote one widow in 1887. ‘When we mourn, we keep our loved ones alive in memory.’”

So, perhaps, in our own way, an old Victorian convention is still aiding in preserving the memory of our loved ones today. An important tradition indeed.