What’s under your hat?  The Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts is pleased to present The Tangled Tale of Hats and Hair that begins October 21st and continues through December 27th.

Our hats and hair speak about our culture and our histories. They illustrate protest and rebellion, mourning and loss, celebration, and happiness. They protect us, defend us, announce us. They communicate who we want to be; they speak to where we are from. Our hats and hair signal our interests, our fashion sense, and who we are. 

This exhibit looks at hats and hair in our corner of the state through time. How have hairstyles and headwear changed? What did people do centuries ago that we still do today? What did they do that we wouldn’t dream of doing? Where do the lines blur between fashion and utility? How do you express yourself through hats and hair? 

Take a stroll through history and consider the many meanings of hats and hair. The items and images in this exhibit are personal stories of self-expression that connect us with the past. Explore the styles, accessories, and products that Shoals residents have used to express themselves over several hundred years. From bone hair pins used by Native Americans to Victorian hair extensions; from military headwear to straw boaters and bonnets; and from pompadours to purple hair, imagine the perspective of the people beneath the hats and hair.

This collaborative exhibit features artifacts from all four City of Florence Museums:  Pope’s Tavern, The Florence Indian Mound Museum, the Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House, and Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts. Also included are items from the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the Florence High School Collection, Belle Mont Plantation, and local Shoals residents. Special thanks to Dr. Cheryl Price of the University of North Alabama and her Victorian Literature class for their assistance in identifying objects in this collection.