A History Colorado exhibit offers a powerful look at the role women have played in grieving families

By In The NoCo,

Published October 9, 2025 at 5:35 AM MDT

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Victorian Death Experiences features unusual and macabre artifacts such as hair jewelry, rooms decorated for mourning, and stories of death’s presence in Denver.

Courtesy of History Colorado

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"Death, for Victorian women, was a deep and sacred act," says Cat Jensen, education coordinator with the Center for Colorado Women's History. "Women were preparing bodies for death... hosting wakes and end-of-life ceremonies, and taking on the social and emotional labor that makes sure that everyone felt safe and compelled to mourn in the way that they needed to."

Courtesy of History Colorado

A coffin is displayed in the center of a room in an old home, recreating a wake, as part of the History Colorado program called Victorian Death Experiences.

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Victorian Death Experiences explores the mourning customs of the Victorian era, spiritual beliefs regarding death, and the important role women played in death and burial practices of the past.
Guests are encouraged (but not required) to dress in period mourning attire and come prepared to attend a wake.

Courtesy of History Colorado

Victorian Death Experiences is a Halloween attraction with a historic twist.

The program takes place in the historic home which houses the Center for Colorado Women’s History in Denver. Visitors see rooms decorated for mourning. They hear stories of death in the Old West. And they see fascinating artifacts, like hair jewelry made partly from the hair of a deceased loved one.

Above all, the program highlights the central role that women have traditionally played when a loved one died – preparing bodies for burial, hosting wakes, and other acts that allowed people to mourn at the end of life.

“Death, for Victorian women, was a deep and sacred act. Women, regardless of race or class, have long been the arbiters of life and death,” said Cat Jensen, education coordinator for the center.

Cat spoke with In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole last October about the program, which is now in its third year. We’re listening back to that conversation today.

Victorian Death Experiences takes place on selected Thursday and Friday evenings throughout October. Find more information and tickets here.