The 1919 Tour Event at the Abernethy-Shaw House

 

The Tour Event

In April of 2025 the Abernethy-Shaw House was a stop on the Talladega Pilgrimage Tour of Homes.  For the occasion the House was staged by the current owners and their guests as it might have been if the occupants for the weekend were a house party in 1919.  This effort was supported by grants from the Talladega Pilgrimage and the Liberal Arts Department of the Ringling College of Art and Design. These grants allowed for the employment of a professional musician, Rodger French a professional accordionist and New Vaudeville band leader, who performed during the entire tour playing repertoire from the period. 

The tour ran from the Edwardian Period through to the 21st Century, from the public facing parlor to the intimacy of the vintage costume closet. The tour attempted to reflect the changes embodied in two paradigmatic cultural shifts, the transition from the Victorian/Edwardian to the Modern and the transition from the Modern to the Post-Modern.  

The focus of the 1919 Tour of the home was the historical moment of the vinal approval of women's right to vote.  The Nineteenth Amendment Flag which added a star every time a new state approved the amendment was hung at the front of the house. As visitors arrived they were given a postcard in vintage style which include a QR link to this web site which included historical background for the event and a virtual detailed guide ti the home. Visitors were also offered their choice of on of the three replica button designs supporting Women's Suffrage drawn from actual buttons from the suffrage movement.  Most guests proudly wore their buttons while on the tour.  The volunteer docents wore their buttons as well as sashes supporting Votes for Women.

Here are the links to some of the virtual elements of the event including the historical background articles for the period of Alabama in 1919 as well as some background to the characters and performers during the April 2025 Talladega Pilgrimage Tour of Homes.

Photos and Videos from the 2025 Tour of Homes
Detailed Guide to the Abernethy-Shaw House
Celebrate Women's Right to Vote
Characters You Can Met on the 1919 House Tour
Women's Suffrage in 1919
Women's Fashions in 1919
Automobiles in Alabama in 1919
The Literary Landscape of 1919
Child Labor in 1919
Vaudeville in 1919
Vaudeville Wives in 1919
Authentic Hula in 1919
Professional Baseball in 1919
Meet Special Guest Performer: Rodger French