Slippers

by Mika Altidor

My wife’s last slippers, Oct. 29th 1841, aged 54
Source: anonymous donor/found in collection
Eleanor Foreman Brooks
Eleanore spelt 5 different ways
Foremen spelt 3 different ways
Including, unfortunately, your son’s death certificate that listed you as “Ellen Fairmen”
I hope you know that I am being gentle with your shoes
That your husband cared so much that he wrote three separate notes on them to mark how important they were, you were, to him
That your daughter kept your shoes
And so did her daughter
And so on until they ended up from Brattleboro Vermont to Portland Maine in the care of Westbrook College
Then later given, in 1993, to the Maine Historical Society
Then picked up by a historic clothing intern in the summer of 2025
I hope you know that I am being gentle as I measure the frayed silk laces
The worn toe box, the flaking leather
As I take pictures on my iPhone
Type a description on my computer
I hope you know that I am being gentle as I place inserts inside to prevent them from collapse
And gentle as I make a handling tray
And, I hope you know
I really do, please believe me
That I am being gentle as I flag them for de-accession
And write in the comment section
Shoes belonged to Vermont woman and do not have relevance to the Maine Historical Society”