New Event! Sentimental Symbols at The Missouri Botanical Garden

color plate from The language of flowers by Miss Ildrewe 1865; The Biodiversity Heritage Library

Saturday, May 20, 2023

In collaboration with the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum, join the Mourning Society of St Louis for a special tour of the Missouri Botanical Garden focusing on 19th-century naturalism, sentimentalism and the art of floriography (communicating through flowers). We'll be passing through the Linnean House and the Gladney Rose Garden as we make our way to the Garden’s historic Victorian District. Guides in period clothing will cover everything from the Wardian case to fern fever and instruct you on the perfect arrangement to send to your sweetheart or your rival. We'll also be pointing out the meaning of the flowers, plants and trees we encounter along the way from the Victorian "Language of Flowers”.

This tour is free with Garden admission; 1st tour at 10am and final tour at 11:30am offers ASL interpretation (each 45 minutes long); tours begin at the Taylor Visitor Center at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

The Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum is one of the historic structures on the grounds of the Garden, and currently features a special exhibition Urban Garden Dreams: Student Community Art, on view through March 2024.

Find this event on Facebook

About Exploring Victorian Spiritualism

Are you wondering what to expect at our next event Exploring Victorian Spiritualism?

This unique event is a guided tour of the General Daniel Bissell House where members of the Mourning Society will take you through a timeline of the Spiritualism Movement from it’s beginnings in the 1840s spirit rapping cases through the automatic writing and spirit mediums of the late 1910s - highlighting a few of the famous spiritualists and skeptics of the era. You’ll learn about the history of spirit communication devices (including live demonstrations!) and experience a reenactment of a 19th century séance.

We can't promise any real spirits but we can guarantee you'll learn something new!

Tours start every 20 minutes. Space is limited as we are working in a historic home. Get your tickets now for this event by clicking on one of the links below and be sure to check out our other events coming up this year here.

Exploring Victorian Spiritualism SATURDAY, JULY 16, 2022 AT 10 AM – 2PM at the General Bissell House.

If you have any questions about this event or about the Mourning Society of St Louis please reach out using our contact form. We’d love to hear from you!

Please note that session times mark the start of a guided tour, not an open house. Guests should arrive prior their tour times to account for check-in. The General Daniel Bissell House is located at 10225 Bellefontaine Rd., St. Louis, MO 63137. Call (314) 615-8884 or email KPlunkett@stlouiscountymo.gov for more information.

Consolations of Memory 2021 Cancelation

Unfortunately, due to the high chance of thunderstorms throughout the day this Saturday October 2, we are cancelling the live event Consolations of Memory at Bellefontaine Cemetery 2021. This year's event was planned to be entirely outdoors with no nearby buildings for shelter. For everyone’s safety we thought it best.

If you have registered look for future communication about a ZOOM/Virtual option for this event. As always, safety and comfort are essential. Thank-you to all of our potential attendees and volunteers. We will update with virtual options as soon as they are available.

We hope to see you very soon at one of our other 2021 events!

Mourning Society Update: Feb 2021

We are back for another exciting year of events with a few new additions. You can find all of the details that are available on our events page. All of our events this year will require masks and registration to ensure safe social distancing. As usual if you have any questions please reach out to us.

Little Boy Blue: Losing a Child at The Field House Museum Saturday, April 17, 2021: The Field House Museum is partnering with the Mourning Society of St. Louis on Saturday, April 17, 2021 to bring you Little Boy Blue, a presentation delving into the loss of a child in the 19th century. Tickets are available!

Exploring Victorian Spiritualism at the Gen Daniel Bissell House Saturday, June 19, 2021: Join us for this special event at the Bissell House as we cover a timeline of spirit communication in the 19th century from the early spirit rapping cases to automatic writing, dark séances and spirit cabinets.

Consolations of Memory at Bellefontaine Cemetery Saturday, October 2, 2021: This isn’t quite like all the other fall cemetery tours. Rather than portraying the spirits of those buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery we portray the living, breathing people of the era who were left behind to mourn the loss of a loved one.

Twilight Tours at the Campbell House Friday, October 29, 2021: Experience the Campbell House period rooms dimmed to gaslight brightness and draped for mourning. Guests get the unique opportunity to walk through the Campbell House at night and learn about Victorian mourning customs.

A Haunted Christmas at the Gen Daniel Bissell House Saturday, December 4, 2021: Join us as we revive the 19th Century tradition of telling Christmas ghost stories.

Mourning Society Update: Nov 2020

Thanks to everyone who came to see us at the Campbell House tour and the Mourning Society Members who helped make the event happen in this strange year we are all dealing with.

Update: A Haunted Christmas at Bissell House has been canceled due to safety concerns. We hope you’ll join us next year for an extra spooky event!

A Haunted Christmas at The Bissell House

Join us as we revive the 19th Century tradition of telling Christmas ghost stories at the General Daniel Bissell House on December 5, 2020 from 11am-3pm. Space on this tour will be limited. Masks are required. Tickets can be purchased through the St Louis County Parks. $4 per person in advance, $5 at the door.

Mourning Society Update: Sep 2020 🎃

Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Perkins

Our favorite season is upon us and, although things will be a bit different this year, we are bound and determined to enjoy it. Our annual funeral reenactment, Consolations of Memory, Bellefontaine Cemetery is postponed until 2021 but you will be able to see us at the Campbell House the day before Halloween for their annual mourning themed tour (details below).

We are also rolling out online content throughout the month of October including a new series Strange Graves that will highlight the stories behind some of the St Louis area’s most beautiful, strange and historical burials.

Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up. There are already plans for new events and programming in 2021.

---

Twilight Tours at the Campbell House - Friday October 30, 2020 6pm-9pm

Experience the Campbell House period rooms dimmed to gaslight brightness and draped for mourning. Guests get the unique opportunity to walk through the Campbell House at night and learn about 19th century mourning customs.

Tour times, ticket purchasing information and social distancing details will be added as soon as they are available through the Campbell House Museum.

Join this event on Facebook

March events canceled due to COVID-19 precautions

Our March events Voting Daughters Opening Reception at the Foundry Arts Centre- Friday, March 20, 2020 and Standing Together - Saturday March 28 - 10:00 am to 11:00 am- at the St Louis County Library Headquarters have been canceled.

There will be news soon about more suffrage events this summer and you can preview our fall line-up on our events page. Stay safe everyone!

Please reach out to us with any questions.

Spring 2020 Updates

It may not feel like it yet but Spring is right around the corner. Here’s what we have coming up:

Voting Daughters Opening Reception - Friday, March 20, 2020 - 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM - at the Foundry Art Centre. "Voting Daughters" is an art exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of women's rights to vote and how that has impacted our modern landscape. Join us at the opening reception for a suffrage performance!

image courtesy of Jennifer Perkins

Standing Together - Saturday March 28 - 10:00 am to 11:00 am- at the St Louis County Library Headquarters. Celebrate 100 years of women's suffrage with the St Louis Suffrage League as we highlight the journey of the movement from the founding of the Women's Suffrage Association of Missouri in 1867, to the St Louis Golden Lane Protest of 1916 and finally the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920! This is a living history event. Audience participation is encourage

Suffragists Wanted!

If you have been interested in joining the Mourning Society or getting involved in reenacting / historical clothing now is a great time to get started! The years between the end of World War I and the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment are a great jumping off point and we have a ton of events coming up this year celebrating 100 years of women winning the right to vote. We need ladies and gentleman to fill our ranks. Even if you don't feel comfortable with a speaking part, having you with us cheering, signing and joining in really makes our events better. There are no membership fees to join and we have guides to help you create your interpretation. Visit our FAQ or Contact Us for more information.

Mourning Event Preview

We will be really busy with suffrage events this year, but we are looking forward to getting back to more mourning and death related events later this year and in 2021. Be on the lookout for news about new events through our social media pages. Our annual mourning events are already scheduled so make sure to add them to your calendar: Consolations of Memory at Bellefontaine Cemetery on Saturday October 3, 2020 and Campbell House by Candlelight on Friday October 30, 2020.

December Updates 2019

We are closing in on our last event of 2019 at the Bissell House on December 7th. We hope you can join us at the first of what we hope to be a yearly event highlighting the spookier side of 19th century Christmas traditions. This is a great chance to see the Bissell House which is usually only open by appointment. Admission is only $4 and includes refreshments!

A Victorian Holiday at the General Daniel Bissell House Saturday, December 7, 2019; 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Visitors to the General Daniel Bissell House will enjoy a unique holiday experience. Costumed interpreters will be on hand to tell Christmas ghost stories and play Victorian parlor games with guests. A gentleman will be on hand to provide brief tours of this grand old 19th century mansion.

This event is part of A Spirited Holiday Past along with 27 other historic sites, museums, and privately-owned homes joined together to present a grand holiday tour. For this one-day event, each venue will be decorated in a festive flair and serving refreshments. Many sites will also have special entertainment, whether it be a costumed skit, music, or seasonal activity. Make sure to check out the other sites that are part of this event including Bellefontaine Cemetery and The Campbell House!

This month and next will be busy with planning and booking new events for 2020 including a full schedule of suffrage themed events celebrating the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment and of course more death and mourning themed events. Make sure to check our event page for full details.

Please reach out to us with any questions or comments. You can use the contact form right here to send us a message.

Christmas with the Mourning Society

This year will be our first foray into the spooky side of 19th Century Christmas celebrations at the General Daniel Bissell House on Saturday December 7th from 10am to 3pm. The Bissell House is usually open by appointment only, so don’t miss out on this rare chance to visit with us at this beautiful historic home!

Visitors to the General Daniel Bissell House will enjoy a unique holiday experience. Costumed interpreters will be on hand to tell Christmas ghost stories and play Victorian parlor games with guests. A gentleman will be on hand to provide brief tours of this grand old 19th century mansion.

Refreshments will be available. Call 314-615-8800 or by email jmagurany@stlouisco.com with questions! $4 per person, no advance reservations needed.

The General Daniel Bissell House was built between 1812 and 1820 and is an outstanding and early example of the Federal style of architecture in the Missouri Territory. Daniel Bissell was an important figure in the early military history of the region, and the house reflects its occupancy by five generations of his family before they gave it to St. Louis County in 1961 with many of its original furnishings. The house is open for tours by advance reservation only.

This event is part of A Spirited Holiday Past - Twenty-nine historic sites, museums, and privately-owned homes are once again joining together to present a grand holiday tour. For this one-day event, each venue will be decorated in a festive flair and serving refreshments. Many sites will also have special entertainment, whether it be a costumed skit, music, or seasonal activity. Create your own tour or utilize the themed tours to enjoy the holiday spirit of yesteryear.

November Updates 2019

This October has been extremely busy, sort of stressful and ultimately successful thanks to the support from our amazing Mourning Society members, site volunteers and staff, attendees and of course our partners at Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum, Lafayette Park Conservancy, Jefferson County Library, and The Campbell House Museum.

We are taking a bit of a break from events but we are well on our way to planning more weird, wonderful, out of the ordinary historical experiences for you in 2020.

Also on our radar for next year is the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Leading into that celebration The St Louis Suffrage League will be marching in the Downtown St Louis Veteran’s Day parade on November 9th, 2019 and we will have a full schedule of events starting in March for Women’s History Month. If you are interested in marching with us or getting involved in our suffrage reenactments contact us for more information.

image courtesy of Curt Dennison

You can see us for our last event this year on December 7th, 2019 at A Victorian Holiday at the General Daniel Bissell House where we will be reviving the 19th century tradition of Christmas ghost stories. There will also be parlor games and other holiday entertainments.

As always, please reach out to us with any questions or comments. You can use the contact form right here to send us a message.

October Updates 2019

We had amazing weather this past weekend for our annual event Consolations of Memory. The rain held out until just after our last tour. Thank you to all of our attendees, volunteers and Bellefontaine Cemetery staff for making a memorable day for everyone.

It was a busy day for all of us, so if you didn’t get a chance to talk to us about something or thought of any questions you’d like to have asked please reach out to us here.

We have three more events this October starting with Death, Mourning & Memory at Lafayette Park this Sunday October 13th at 3:00 pm. This special lecture presented by our Mourning Society Members John Avery and Edna Dieterle is part of the Lafayette Park Conservancy Lecture Series.

Following that we have one more lecture Artificial Life: A History of Photography and Death at the Jefferson County Library Northwest Branch on Saturday October 19th at 1:00 pm and a very special evening tour of the Campbell House Museum on Friday October 25th starting at 6:00 pm: Campbell House by Candlelight. The Campbell House tour is close to being sold out so don’t wait to reserve your tickets.

We are hard at work planning our 2020 line-up with some new death themed events and several opportunities to celebrate the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment with the St Louis Suffrage League.

Consolations of Memory 2019

Who breathes must suffer, and who thinks must mourn.

There are limited numbers left in all three tours as of this morning. Register soon before time runs out for this free event! Click here to register

This October 5th, 2019 will be our fifth annual tour at Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum. We are incredibly lucky to have such a beautiful location for this special event every year. We owe a big Thank-you to all of the staff and volunteers at the cemetery for everything they do. If you haven't joined us before we hope you will this year.

About the tour

This isn’t quite like any other cemetery tour you’ll attend this fall. Rather than portraying the spirits of those buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery we portray the living, breathing people of the era who were left behind to mourn the loss of a loved one.

The theme of our 2019 is a simple one: The 19th Century Cemetery. As you make your way through the cemetery you will encounter Mourning Society members exploring grief and mourning, the rural cemetery movement and societal views on death and burial.

We’ll make our way to Hotchkiss Chapel for the funeral of 16 year old Maurice D. Blaine who died in August of 1866. This will be followed immediately by a procession down one of the bygone carriage paths to an old family lot for the burial service.

This event is free and open to the public but we do ask that you register with Bellefontaine Cemetery as space is limited.

Tours begin at 10am, 12pm and 2pm. Once you are parked, please proceed to the registration tent for assignment of your guide who will lead you through the stations of the event.  Complimentary parking and public restrooms will be available. Enter at the main gate of the cemetery and you will be directed to the parking area.

This is a rain or shine event (except for excessive lightning.)

About Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum

Find out more about all of our 2019 Fall Events

2019 Event Updates and more

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Perkins @fuzzy_baby_monsters from our event Consolations of Memory at Bellefontaine Cemetery

Things are a bit quiet for us over the winter months but behind the scenes we’ve been planning some fun, interesting, educational and creepy events for 2019. We’ll be covering some of that here but there is more information to come as we iron things out for this coming fall.

If you missed it we were featured in two episodes of the excellent St Louis Podcast Blinders Off: Necropolis Pt 1 and Necropolis Pt 2. You can listen on SoundCloud or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Make sure to check out their other great episodes about St Louis Parks, The Whiskey Ring Scandal and more.

This spring we’ll be celebrating the centennial of women’s suffrage in Missouri. Women finally won the long fight for the right to vote here in in March of 1919 and just a few months later Governor Gardner called a special session of the Missouri Legislature to ratify the 19th Amendment making Missouri the 11th state to do so.

~St Louis Suffrage League Meeting, Saturday March 9, 3pm – We’ll be meeting up at a special historic location to discuss St Louis Suffrage History, our upcoming events and building your late teens interpretation. If you are interested in attending this meeting or you want to find out more please contact us.

~Living History Fair at Bellefontaine Cemetery, Saturday June 8, 9am – Join us for this event celebrating the 100 year anniversary of women gaining the right to vote in Missouri. Learn about the women and men of the St Louis Suffrage movement from the founding of the Women’s Suffrage Association of Missouri in 1867 to the creation of the St Louis League of Women Voters in 1919.

Fall 2019 is already coming together with a few additional events in the works. Make sure to follow us here, Facebook or Instagram to join this year’s Cemetery Scavenger Hunt. Our regular events at Bellefontaine Cemetery and The Campbell House are already on the calendar. Details about exhibits and registration will be posted as they are available.

~Consolations of Memory at Bellefontaine Cemetery, Saturday October 5, 10am – Our annual 19th Century funeral reenactment

~Twilight Tours at the Campbell House, Friday October 25, 6pm - A special evening tour of the Campbell House Museum with a focus on death and mourning in the 19th Century.

November Updates!

We are wrapping up the Fall season and looking forward to planning more death and mourning related events in 2019. Our regular Fall events are already on the calendar but if there is enough interest we may add a few events earlier in the year. We'll also be helping celebrate the Centennial of women gaining the right to vote in Missouri at a few special events in the spring.

You can see our 1918 women's suffrage unit, The St Louis Suffrage Society, in the St Louis Veterans Day Parade on November 10 in downtown St Louis!

Starting in 2019 we'll be discussing more meet-ups and member events so stay tuned for more news!

October Updates!

We had a wonderful event this past Saturday at Bellefontaine Cemetery and even got into the Post Dispatch. How exciting! If you couldn’t join us this year for our annual cemetery walk and funeral reenactment, Consolations of Memory at Bellefontaine Cemetery, don’t worry! We have another event coming up in a few weeks at the Campbell House Museum on Friday October 26th.

Campbell House by Candlelight is a special evening tour of the museum where you’ll experience Robert Campbell's 1879 wake in the parlor and hear about the process of preparing the deceased for the funeral, Victorian mourning etiquette, dress, and cemeteries. There will be several unique original objects on display: antique coffins, post-mortem photographs, funeral ephemera, mourning and sentimental jewelry and more! Get your tickets here before they sell out.

In the meantime make sure to play along with our online Cemetery Scavenger Hunt. We still have three more weeks of posts to go before we finish up right before Halloween.

We now have an online sign-up for email updates about what we have coming up!

2018 Fall Events

It's that time of year again when we turn our thoughts into doleful channels for for “Who breathes must suffer, and who thinks must mourn,"

Consolations of Memory - Saturday October 6, 2018

Our fourth annual 19th century funeral tour will take place at Bellefontaine Cemetery on Saturday October 6th, 2018. This is a guided cemetery walk of the area surrounding Hotchkiss Chapel. During the tour guests will learn about funeral and burial practices, how the dead were remembered and the lives of those left behind to mourn the loss. The tour is followed immediately by a funeral reenactment, procession and burial service.

This year's event will focus on the Cholera Epidemic that plagued St. Louis in August and September of 1866 taking 3257 lives.

Tours take place at 10:00 am, 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm. Space is limited so please register for this free event.

Follow this event on Facebook

---

Campbell House by Candlelight - Friday October 26, 2018

Tom and Dan will be talking about the Campbell family plot at Bellefontaine Cemetery

We are so honored to be a part of this year's Campbell House by Candlelight Tour on Friday Oct 26th, 2018.

Enjoy a night at the Campbell House while you learn about Victorian mourning etiquette, dress, and cemeteries at the time. Witness Robert Campbell's 1879 wake in the parlor and about the process of preparing the deceased for the funeral. Don't forget to try some funeral biscuits!

Tours start every 30 minutes from 6pm to 8pm.

Reservations required. $15 per person, $5 for members. Click here to choose your tour time and buy your tickets

Follow this event on Facebook

Fall Events 2017

October 7, 2017 - Consolations of Memory at Bellefontaine Cemetery

This event is a guided cemetery walk of the area surrounding Hotchkiss Chapel. Along the way guests will learn about mourning practices and funerary customs of the mid-19th century. .

This is a free event but registration is required because space is limited - Register Here.

Follow this event on Facebook!

October 14, 2017 - A Haunting Stroll of 'TBA'

We are still in the process of working out the details of this secret event. Make sure to check back here for updates! Join us for this special walking tour and learn about the ghastly events and ghostly encounters that make this St Louis' most notoriously haunted neighborhood. Tours will be led by our members in historical clothing.

Tours will be held on the hour starting at noon and should take about 45 minutes. The price is $10 per person. 

Follow us on Facebook for event news and updates!

November 11, 2017 - To Ask for Freedom: 100 Years of Women's Suffrage

Join us for this living history event celebrating the Women's Suffrage Movement and the Suffragists of Bellefontaine Cemetery! The ladies will begin their march at 2:00 pm and make their way to Wild Wood Valley for a rally celebrating the words of famous St Louis Suffrage leaders such as Edna Gellhorn, organizer of the 1916 Golden Lane Protest, and Florence Wyman Richardson, the first president of the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League.

This event is taking place in honor of the release of the suffrage prisoners held in a District of Columbia workhouse in November 1917 and their continued efforts to fight for the right to vote.

After the rally,  guests are free to visit with the ladies of the St Louis Suffrage Movement and learn more about national events 100 years ago.

Follow us on Facebook for event news and updates!

In Mourning

Have you ever been interested in becoming a living historian but you weren't sure where to start? This is the first installment in a series of lectures and classes to set you on the right path. In this lecture you'll learn all of the basics for Civil War Era Mourning and Civilian wear. This is an essential start for anyone interested in participating in our October Event Consolations of memory on October 1, 2016 but it is open to anyone who has a interest in the subject - not just our potential participants. This is a free event!

We'll also have information about how to sign up for re-enactment opportunities with the Mourning Society of St Louis and Friends of Jefferson Barracks.

About our new event

Whether you’ve been to one of our past events at the Chatillon DeMenil Mansion or you’ve never been to one of our events before Consolations of Memory will be a new experience. Here is an overview of how the event will work:

Consolations of Memory: Death and Mourning in the Nineteenth Century At Bellefontaine Cemetery Saturday October 3, 2015

Upon entering the front gate of the cemetery guests will be led by signage to the visitor parking area. From there it’s a short walk to your first stop where you can sign in, pick up a program and ask any questions you may have before you make your way to the first graveside exhibit at the site of Bellefontaine’s first burial, Edward Rutledge.

Guests can set their own pace as they make their way up Balm, visiting several other graveside exhibits along the way, until they reach Hotchkiss Chapel.  There you’ll find Mr. Avery preparing for the funeral service. Inside the chapel columbarium you’ll learn about mourning customs and also get a chance to see our special exhibit Memento Mori featuring 19th Century mementos such has hair-work wreaths and jewelry, postmortem photographs and more.

Leaving the Chapel guests will find more outside exhibits by heading down an old carriage path just across from the Chapel entrance.

The Funeral Service will begin at 11 am, 1 pm or 3 pm (depending on the start time of your tour) and will be announced several minutes before-hand so guests have time to make their way to the Chapel.  The service will be immediately followed by a procession down the carriage path to the burial site.

You can find an interactive map of Bellefontaine Cemetery here on their website.

Consolations of Memory is free event but you must register to attend and space is limited. Please let us know you’d like to join us by registering for this event online.

Still have questions? Contact us!