Wedding Dress, 1918

This dress was worn by Virginia Palmer Bradfield Ward for her wedding in 1918. It was an exquisite, expensive gown. It remains in remarkably good condition. The overskirt feels like rayon, which may help to explain the excellent condition of the piece. Virginia Palmer Bradfield Ward was born 1897 in Grand Rapids, MI. She was born in to one of Michigan's oldest mining families.Her great grandfather, Charles Henry Palmer, was a pioneer investor and developer of mines and railroads in Michigan's Up…