“The Loves of Aaron Burr: Portraits in Corsetry and Binding”

Aaron Burr, the third Vice President of the United States, lived in Washington Heights' Morris-Jumel Mansion from 1832 to 1835. Although he was a proponent of gender equality (in 1800 he submitted a bill to allow women to vote), Burr was a notorious lothario. Designer and costumer Camilla Huey spent ten years researching the influential women in Burr’s life; this exhibit focuses on eight of them, including his second wife, Eliza Jumel; his daughter, Theodosia Burr Alston; and his first love, Margaret Moncrieffe. To represent them, Huey has created eight corsets based on each of their heights and measurements, displayed in the second-floor period rooms and down the main staircase. Look closely and you’ll see the dames’ handwritten letters woven into each piece.