The primary bedroom was the personal bedroom of Ida and W.P.H. McFaddin from 1906 until Ida's death in 1952. Mamie used this room as her personal space after her mother's death. The room's current decoration represents a remodeling of the space in the 1930s. In addition to serving as a place of rest, the primary bedroom was also the management center of the home. Here, Ida managed social, family, and business concerns.
Floor 2
Second floor of the McFaddin-Ward House Museum
Primary Bedroom
The bathroom was remodeled in the 1950s after Ida McFaddin’s death. A door from the bath leads to a small hall connecting the north bedroom, where Ida’s young boys once slept.
General Audience Tour
The bathroom was remodeled in the 1950s after Ida McFaddin’s death. A door from the bath leads to a small hall connecting the north bedroom, where Ida’s young boys once slept.
The primary closet is original to the home's design. It's assumed that Ida had this closet to herself, considering that W.P.H. used the North Bedroom as a dressing room. Not all of Ida's clothing, accessories, and shoes fit into this storage space. It was customary to rotate clothes between this closet and additional storage areas on the third floor, based on seasonal fluctuations. The latched doors kept clutter hidden from view and also provided protection from dust and sunlight, detriments to the care of delicate textiles.
Mamie occupied the Primary Bedroom after her mother's passing in 1950. This would've been her closet at that time.
The audio clip below is an excerpt from an oral history interview collected from Mamie McFaddin by June Smith for the Beaumont Enterprise and Journal on August 2, 1974 when Mamie was 78 years old. June asks Mamie about purchasing clothing at the turn of the 20th century.
Oral History Transcript:
June Smith - Did your mother have them [her clothes] made?
Mamie Ward - Mother had them, yes, Madame Dunlevy in Cincinnati [Ohio] made Mother’s trousseau and her clothes for years and years and years until we got good shops in Houston. Madame Dunlevy. When we would go up to West Virginia, she would stop by and select things. Madame Dunlevy went to Europe and got her materials from Europe and we'd select them and on our way home she [ICM] would stop back for fittings. She [Madame Dunlevy] sent then, one dress in a box, and I can remember how thrilled I was when those boxes came, to see the beautiful dress. The [dresses] were really something very different and very unusual; they were really works of art. They were stuffed with tissue paper, and when you'd take them out, they were in perfect condition. The dress that I wore in my cousin's [Kydie McKee] wedding..I was a flower girl..Madame Dunlevy made my dress for that, because I was the flower girl.
June Smith: And she was in St. Louis?
Mamie Ward: Oh no, Cincinnati, Ohio. See, on our way to West Virginia, Cincinnati is only a three hours ride from West Virginia. My family always shopped in Cincinnati, my West Virginia family, shopped in Cincinnati. So my mother, we'd stop on our way up for several days in Cincinnati for Mother to make her selection and tell Madame Dunlevy what she wanted, and then she'd come back in the fall to have her fittings. There was a tailor in Cincinnati where she had her suits tailor-made. Now that was before we had shops, good shops in Texas. My wedding trousseau was all bought in Dallas, at Neiman's.
General Audience Tour
The primary closet is original to the home's design. It's assumed that Ida had this closet to herself, considering that W.P.H. used the North Bedroom as a dressing room. Not all of Ida's clothing, accessories, and shoes fit into this storage space. It was customary to rotate clothes between this closet and additional storage areas on the third floor, based on seasonal fluctuations. The latched doors kept clutter hidden from view and also provided protection from dust and sunlight, detriments to the care of delicate textiles.
Mamie occupied the Primary Bedroom after her mother's passing in 1950. This would've been her closet at that time.
The audio clip below is an excerpt from an oral history interview collected from Mamie McFaddin by June Smith for the Beaumont Enterprise and Journal on August 2, 1974 when Mamie was 78 years old. June asks Mamie about purchasing clothing at the turn of the 20th century.
Oral History Transcript:
June Smith - Did your mother have them [her clothes] made?
Mamie Ward - Mother had them, yes, Madame Dunlevy in Cincinnati [Ohio] made Mother’s trousseau and her clothes for years and years and years until we got good shops in Houston. Madame Dunlevy. When we would go up to West Virginia, she would stop by and select things. Madame Dunlevy went to Europe and got her materials from Europe and we'd select them and on our way home she [ICM] would stop back for fittings. She [Madame Dunlevy] sent then, one dress in a box, and I can remember how thrilled I was when those boxes came, to see the beautiful dress. The [dresses] were really something very different and very unusual; they were really works of art. They were stuffed with tissue paper, and when you'd take them out, they were in perfect condition. The dress that I wore in my cousin's [Kydie McKee] wedding..I was a flower girl..Madame Dunlevy made my dress for that, because I was the flower girl.
June Smith: And she was in St. Louis?
Mamie Ward: Oh no, Cincinnati, Ohio. See, on our way to West Virginia, Cincinnati is only a three hours ride from West Virginia. My family always shopped in Cincinnati, my West Virginia family, shopped in Cincinnati. So my mother, we'd stop on our way up for several days in Cincinnati for Mother to make her selection and tell Madame Dunlevy what she wanted, and then she'd come back in the fall to have her fittings. There was a tailor in Cincinnati where she had her suits tailor-made. Now that was before we had shops, good shops in Texas. My wedding trousseau was all bought in Dallas, at Neiman's.
Prie-dieu is French for "pray to God." This kneeling prayer desk was for Ida's private use. The raised shelf supports a person's elbows or a book. Ida and Mamie were devout members of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Beaumont, first established in 1877 as "Mission of the Good Sheppard." The name was changed in 1880. They regularly attended services and participated in fundraising pursuits.
About the Object:
Ida's preie-dieu was produced around 1865, possibly in the Netherlands, in the Rococo Revival Style. It is made of Rosewood, Oak, and Walnut.
General Audience Tour
Prie-dieu is French for "pray to God." This kneeling prayer desk was for Ida's private use. The raised shelf supports a person's elbows or a book. Ida and Mamie were devout members of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Beaumont, first established in 1877 as "Mission of the Good Sheppard." The name was changed in 1880. They regularly attended services and participated in fundraising pursuits.
About the Object:
Ida's preie-dieu was produced around 1865, possibly in the Netherlands, in the Rococo Revival Style. It is made of Rosewood, Oak, and Walnut.
The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 when a revival of patriotism swept the nation. Women felt excluded from men's organizations so they started their own. Ida was an active member of the organization, serving as the State Regent for the Texas D.A.R in 1931 and eventually vice president of the national organization. Ida was always considered a leader in her communities, even at a young age, often willing to commit to leadership roles.
One of Ida's many responsibilities within the organization was to travel the state of Texas starting new chapters.
She also belonged to other genealogical associations such as the Colonial Dames, Daughters of the Barons of Runnymede, First Families of Virginia, and United States Daughters of 1812.
The group's objectives are:
Historical - to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence.
Educational - to carry out the injunction of Washington in his farewell address to the American people, "to promote, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge, thus developing an enlightened public opinion…";
Patriotic - to cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of American freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of country, and to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of liberty.
About the Object:
These medals were awarded to Ida McFaddin for her endeavors within the Daughters of the American Revolution organization.
General Audience Tour
The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 when a revival of patriotism swept the nation. Women felt excluded from men's organizations so they started their own. Ida was an active member of the organization, serving as the State Regent for the Texas D.A.R in 1931 and eventually vice president of the national organization. Ida was always considered a leader in her communities, even at a young age, often willing to commit to leadership roles.
One of Ida's many responsibilities within the organization was to travel the state of Texas starting new chapters.
She also belonged to other genealogical associations such as the Colonial Dames, Daughters of the Barons of Runnymede, First Families of Virginia, and United States Daughters of 1812.
The group's objectives are:
Historical - to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence.
Educational - to carry out the injunction of Washington in his farewell address to the American people, "to promote, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge, thus developing an enlightened public opinion…";
Patriotic - to cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of American freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of country, and to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of liberty.
About the Object:
These medals were awarded to Ida McFaddin for her endeavors within the Daughters of the American Revolution organization.
The Royal Typewriter Company, founded in Brooklyn in 1906, focused on producing portable typewriters in a new era of consumerism and increased mobility. In order to cater to both the men and women of the 20th-century household, Royal's marketing system employed a two-part campaign, highlighting the fashionable color combinations of the typewriter for women and the functionality of the product for men. The sleek, green-on-black color scheme of the McFaddin's Royal typewriter might have catered to Ida McFaddin's impeccable taste for design, but was also utilized by her for business and in correspondence on various occasions
General Audience Tour
The Royal Typewriter Company, founded in Brooklyn in 1906, focused on producing portable typewriters in a new era of consumerism and increased mobility. In order to cater to both the men and women of the 20th-century household, Royal's marketing system employed a two-part campaign, highlighting the fashionable color combinations of the typewriter for women and the functionality of the product for men. The sleek, green-on-black color scheme of the McFaddin's Royal typewriter might have catered to Ida McFaddin's impeccable taste for design, but was also utilized by her for business and in correspondence on various occasions
Green portable model, glass topped round keys; in dark brown faux alligator cloth covered case.
1930, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.This child's chair dates back to the 1890s, around the time Mamie, the McFaddin's firstborn daughter, was born in 1895. Though Mamie was entering her teenage years when the McFaddins moved into the home, her brothers, Perry and Caldwell, were still young enough to utilize such small furniture. Ida was a doting mother. The chair's placement in the Primary Bedroom symbolizes her sentimental attachment to her children, who slept nearby when young in the Green Bedroom and North Bedroom.
General Audience Tour
This child's chair dates back to the 1890s, around the time Mamie, the McFaddin's firstborn daughter, was born in 1895. Though Mamie was entering her teenage years when the McFaddins moved into the home, her brothers, Perry and Caldwell, were still young enough to utilize such small furniture. Ida was a doting mother. The chair's placement in the Primary Bedroom symbolizes her sentimental attachment to her children, who slept nearby when young in the Green Bedroom and North Bedroom.
For married, upper-class women such as Ida McFaddin and Mamie McFaddin Ward, leisure was a typical part of their day. Afternoon naps were frequent for the McFaddin ladies, and were a welcomed respite, especially during the warmer months of the year. The exquisitely decorative daybed in the Primary Bedroom allowed Ida to rest without disturbing the bed made by household staff every morning. The similar color scheme of the daybed to the Primary Bedroom also shows Ida's quest for decorative cohesion among the rooms of the home.
General Audience Tour
For married, upper-class women such as Ida McFaddin and Mamie McFaddin Ward, leisure was a typical part of their day. Afternoon naps were frequent for the McFaddin ladies, and were a welcomed respite, especially during the warmer months of the year. The exquisitely decorative daybed in the Primary Bedroom allowed Ida to rest without disturbing the bed made by household staff every morning. The similar color scheme of the daybed to the Primary Bedroom also shows Ida's quest for decorative cohesion among the rooms of the home.
Daybed with low-ends that have heavy turned top posts with eagles, leaves, and flowers supported by a framed panel and two turned posts with acanthus leaves; on four carved and turned feet; with green brocade covered upholstery and two pillows; probably a conjured antique made in New Orleans.
circa 1930, New Orleans, LA
Primary Bedroom
