Put on your favorite hat because on Friday, June 5th, the Starkweather Arts Center and the Starkweather Society will host an opening reception for an exhibition called "Hats Off!" The event is for all current residents. The exhibit will display hats from the Starkweather Millinery from the 1900s to the 1960s, and it will run until Saturday, July 25th.
The woman in the picture above is Emilia Starkweather - Helen Starkweather's mother and owner of the Starkweather Millinery. She made and sold hats for 30 years.
This photo was taken in Emilia's later years. It can be found in the Helen Starkweather Collection located at the Romeo Community Archives. In it, Emilia wears a green dress with a white bow on the left side of her chest and a square-cut neckline decorated with a white border. She also has on glasses and a silver necklace and looks straight at the camera. Due to her finger wave hairstyle, we can assume that the photograph was taken in the 1920s or 1930s. It's unclear if this is an actual color photo, or one that was colorized.
Emilia was born on April 23, 1874 in Ray Township to parents George and Elizabeth Garvin. The Garvins moved to Romeo in 1889. She would reside here for the rest of her life. Emilia graduated from Romeo High School in 1894 and taught for several years in nearby schools. In addition, she was active with the local Methodist Episcopal Church.
In November 1901, Emilia married Weed T. Starkweather of the prominent Starkweather family. About a year later, they would have their only child, Helen.
According to her obituary, Emilia later decided "to follow the millinery business, working first in the store of the late Sarah Stranahan [sister of Andrew and Charles Stranahan], then in Detroit and Indiana."
While it's unclear when she started to get involved in the hat business, she was ready to open up her own shop in April 1905 with the following announcement in The Romeo Observer.
The Cochrane building was located on 219 North Main Street in Romeo. Not only would Emilia operate her store from that address, but she also would live there. On top of that, that's the same building where the Starkweather Arts Center is currently at.
Emilia advertised exhibitions and sales in the local newspaper. They often looked like the one seen on the front page of the January 24, 1906 issue of The Romeo Observer.
Besides selling hats, Emilia also hosted events like a demonstration of the Spirella corset in 1916. An advertisement for it can be seen on the first page of The Romeo Observer's March 8th edition.
Now, you're probably wondering, "Why did Emilia open up a hat shop?"
There are plenty of possible reasons. One of them is that she may have wanted a change in her life. She spent several years as a teacher, so maybe she didn't feel satisfied in that position, hence switching to making and selling hats. However, a more concrete reason comes from her own family. Her husband Weed experienced mental health issues during his lifetime. He resided at the Pontiac State Hospital for over 10 years until his death in 1931. In a time, when men were expected to be the breadwinners, and women were supposed to cook, clean, and raise the children, this was not possible for Weed and Emilia. She had to step up and make money, and one way of doing that was going into the millinery business.
There were millineries in Romeo during the turn of the century, including the one that Sarah Stranahan operated, but the Starkweather Millinery most likely outlasted them. Emilia ran the business until her passing on September 8, 1935 in her home on 219 North Main Street.
Many people attended her funeral because they loved and respected her. Part of her obituary contains the following: "Mrs. Starkweather was deservedly popular, not only with the buying public, but with all who knew her and her friends were legion. She will be missed in the community where she had so long resided."
It's only fitting that an exhibition about Emilia's work would be in the same building where she operated her hat shop. Go check out "Hats Off!" at the Starkweather Arts Center from June 5 to July 25.
To learn more about Emilia Starkweather and the Starkweather Millinery, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890. If you want to search for articles on that topic, you can find the Romeo newspapers like The Romeo Observer on the Suburban Library Cooperative's Local History Digital Collection website.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Helen Starkweather Collection; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, April 4, 1905, p.4, January 24, 1906, p.1, March 8, 1916, p.1, and September 11, 1935, p.4; and Ancestry.com