Historic Blenheim and Fairfax County celebrates 100 years of its history, and the history of the region with a special day of activities, historic artisans and vendors, presentations, reenactors, and museum tours.

Event website: click here: https://www.fairfaxva.gov/government/historic-resources/fairfax-history-day

Silhouettes By Hand will be cutting silhouettes for visitors (for a fee) as well as discussing the fascinating "sciences" of Physiognomy and Phrenology (for free!). Visitors will also be able to review Physiognomy display on their own, or participate in lively interaction and personal presentation.

For 2022, Lauren will be presenting these topics in the context of the late 19th century. ‘Character reading’ from the head combined both physiognomy and phrenology together instead of considering them two different ’sciences’. Women’s suffrage had been an issue for decades, and women were trying to make our self-determination, eg: to self-regulate.

During the late 19th century, women were getting jobs, spending their own money, finally having a cent here and there to spend on fun items, and also looking to be taken in the world. Thus, the elements of face-reading, silhouettes, and suffrage all came together in one interesting moment in history.

Event Site:
The Civil War Interpretive Center at Historic Blenheim further interprets the site's history and the Civil War in the greater Fairfax area. In the exhibition gallery, house inscriptions, and pictographs from the house are reproduced and discussed in detail in the replica attic with full-scale images. The gallery also includes an illustrated timeline of Civil War events, artifacts that interpret the everyday soldier, biographies of several of the wall signers, and temporary displays.