Headdress
Headdress
Headdress

Headdress

Object number2013.1.1
Date1951
MediumFeather/Felt/Nylon/Polyester
Credit LineGift of Dolores Sippos
DescriptionFeathered headdress: two green, two yellow, and two red feathers attached at top. Red felt forehead band. Multicolored images of an American Indian in a canoe with tepees, mountains, and cattails in background. Yellow ties on end for tying behind head.Dimensions13.75 x 17.5 x 35 in. (34.9 x 44.5 x 88.9 cm)
InscriptionsHandwritten on canoe: "CLOUDER PORT I...2/24/1951".
Historical NotesPart of a collection of items worn by donor Dolores Sippos' mother, Dolores Beiter, and other members of the Fraternal Order of the Daughters of Pocahontas, #114 Council, Redman Hall, Arlington Avenue. Mrs. Beiter belonged to the group c. 1937-1958 when the hall burned down and the chapter closed. The ladies auxiliary of the Improved Order of Red Men (IORM), a fraternal/patriotic society, raised funds for orphans and primarily for a home for the elderly called the Degree of Pocahontas Home for the Aged. In the 1930s there were four councils in the Pittsburgh region. The DOP wore quasi-Native costumes and used quasi-Native terms/rituals in their meetings. The IORM call themselves the "America's oldest fraternal organization," tracing their roots to 1765.The DOP was authorized in 1885. They support various charities and educational programs. Mrs. Beiter was very involved and was often away at meetings and conventions. Many of her Arlington Hill neighbors were also members. Mrs. Beiter was of German descent and a practicing Roman Catholic. Her husband Herman Beiter was a millwright at Jones and Laughlin in the South Side. They were married in 1936, she joined the order in 1937, and they had their daughter the next year in 1938.
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